The unbanks

PerkStreet is one of many companies in Boston and nationwide using technology to reinvent financial services. Call it Finance 2.0. Call it fin-tech - short for financial technology. Whatever you call it, the sector is exploding.

Last year alone, venture capitalists invested $834 million in scores of US financial technology firms, up nearly a third since 2008, according to CB Insights, a New York information services firm. So far this year, venture capitalists are on pace to pour more than $1.4 billion into this industry, up 75 percent from last year.

In Massachusetts, financial start-ups have collected more than $78 million in 16 deals since 2008. “Financial technology is exploding with 2011 already poised to be a breakout year,’’ said CB Insights chief executive Anand Sanwal.

For consumer, it could mean more options than ever for banking and investments. Some companies are marketing products directly to consumers; others are developing technologies to allow financial institutions to offer new services, such as mobile payments.

Industry executives say a number of factors are driving this growth. First, consumers are increasingly comfortable with online financial transactions. The spread of smartphones and other mobile devices has created new ways to conduct business. And many customers are dissatisfied with traditional financial institutions.

“It looks like an area that can be disrupted,’’ said Eric Mattson, chief executive of the Finovate Group, which runs a conference dedicated to financial technology start-ups.

Financial tech firms are focused on everything from banking to investing to digital payments. For instance, Square Inc., launched by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey, is offering a free app and thumb-size credit card scanner that plugs into a smartphone or iPad, allowing almost anyone to accept credit card payments.

The San Francisco company pockets 2.75 percent of every transaction.