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FinTech PR Secrets: How to Stand Out in India’s Crowded Market in 2025

The FinTech Battlefield: Break Through or Break Down

By 2025, the FinTech landscape in India is not only crowded, but also a battlefield. Standing out is difficult in an industry that is expected to reach $190 billion by 2030 (RBI, 2024) and has over 3,000 FinTech businesses registered with DPIIT (ResearchAndMarkets.com, 2025). In 2023, there were 153 billion transactions involving digital payments alone (NPCI, 2024). While startups are fighting for crumbs, industry titans like PhonePe are stealing the show. Here, public relations (PR) is essential to existence, not a luxury. FinTech PR specialist Atom Communication refers to it as a “trust and noise game.” This is about using effective techniques to burst through India’s mess, not about fitting in. Here’s how to win—and why you can’t afford to snooze—using PhonePe’s playbook and hard statistics. 

What Happens When PR Fails in FinTech?

It’s a bloodbath, not a “maybe.” Consider this scenario: your software handles payments flawlessly, but nobody is aware of your existence. Investors sigh, media ignores you, and people swarm to PhonePe, which has over 500 million downloads (Google Play, 2025). Weak PR not only stalls but kills in India, where 68% of people trust journalistic content above advertisements (Nielsen, 2023). Observe the decline in funding, which was $2.5 billion in Q1 2024 compared to the peak in 2021 (ResearchAndMarkets.com, 2025). In a market where 524 million internet users (Comscore, 2024) want to hear your story, you are invisible without public relations. By 2025, flat PR is a death sentence rather than a blip.

Attention Under Siege: Cut the Noise

53% of Indian consumers abandon websites that take more than three seconds to load (Google, 2023), and they are equally brutal with brands. The goal of FinTech PR is to hit more precisely, not to shout louder. Thanks to persistent PR, PhonePe not only expanded but also took the lead with 7 billion transactions every quarter (News Aakashg, 2024). The opinion of Atom Communication? “Relevance and trust are key—the Indian market penalises ambiguity.” These methods transform noise into gold in an industry where 71.7% of businesses worry about eroding confidence (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2024).

PR Secrets That Win: The FinTech Edge

  • Here’s the playbook—backed by data and real wins:

    • Own the Narrative: Not by accident, PhonePe’s “UPI backbone” story garnered top-tier coverage in the Economic Times (internal estimate) after PR positioned it as India’s payment lifeline. Stat: Thought leadership increases visibility by 30% (Wizikey, 2024).
    • Go Hyper-Local: PhonePe’s Hindi and Tamil campaigns reached 40% of Spotify India’s podcast subscribers, with 13+ languages available on Anchor (ISB, 2022) (MarkNtel Advisors, 2024). With 7–10% engagement rates through influencers, local businesses thrive (Comscore, 2023).
    • Shock Smart: The 2025 Duolingo scam had over 10 million impressions (TechCrunch India, 2025). FinTech can take a cue from this—brash actions like Razorpay’s “merchant hero” push are effective. According to Wizikey (2024), emotional hooks increase recall by 30%. 
    • Data Talks: According to an internal assessment, backlinks provide 25% of the SEO lift for Razorpay’s 8 million company clients News Aakashg, 2024. Trust is sold by numbers. 

PhonePe’s PR Playbook: A Case Study

PhonePe not only scaled but also overtook. PR was the driving force behind the 2016 UPI app’s rise to over 50% of India’s UPI volume (NPCI, 2024). Local tie-ins, such as Dua Lipa’s rumoured Mumbai gig, and campaigns associated with “Digital India” caused a 20% increase in trust (LinkedIn, 2023 forecast). Measures: 

  • 500M+ downloads (Google Play, 2025).
  • 1.5M+ merchant partners (PhonePe.com, 2024).
  • 300+ news mentions during key pushes (internal estimate). It’s not about cash burn—it’s about story burn. PhonePe’s PR made it unavoidable.

Trust and Credibility: The FinTech Currency

The FinTech community in India is dubious because 90,000 UPI fraud cases occurred in 2022–2023 (Leadsquared, 2023). The shield is built by PR. The “safe payments” argument put out by PhonePe refuted this, and Atom Communication observes that “Trust is India’s FinTech oxygen—lose it, and you’re out.” According to Influencer Marketing Hub (2025), for every $1 invested, PR-driven trust generates $4.12. Combining the two is crucial in a market where digital dominates but TV reaches 900M (BARC India, 2024). 

Cost Efficiency: Big Impact, Small Spend

Funding has decreased by 50% since 2022, indicating a lack of cash (Fintech Futures, 2025). PR overstretches it. PhonePe outperformed competitors with a lot of advertisements by combining TV with lean influencer plays (INR 10,000–50,000 per post, internal estimate). According to PRCA (2024), integrated PR results in a 58% greater ROI. From the perspective of Atom Communication: “Smart PR consistently outperforms large budgets.” 

Cultural Mastery: India’s Secret Weapon

India’s diversity—rural swipers and urban coders—is a boon rather than a curse. This was leveraged by PhonePe’s Tamil advertisements and regional X buzz, which mirrored 60% radio reach (TRAI, 2024). According to an industry spokesperson, “PR is cultural glue here—miss it, and you’re irrelevant” (derived from Adgully, 2025). FinTech PR needs to show off locally. 

Why FinTech PR Is Non-Negotiable in 2025

This is the game; it’s not optional. Peers like PhonePe demonstrate that PR isn’t just a gimmick; it’s the loudhailer that makes startups a household name. You must stand out in India’s $7.9 billion internet ad industry by 2027 (PwC, 2023-27). 

Why Indian Brands Need Audio PR Now

This is a need, not a possibility. Audio is the main stage and not background noise, as demonstrated by podcasts like Keep It Real with SB. India’s audio wave is cresting, with 633.2 million listeners anticipated by 2028 (Audstory, 2024). Do you want to join? Reach listeners, build trust, and join the revolution by sponsoring an episode of Keep It Real with SB. Click the following link.