Fintech financing in first half of 2016 has reached almost $10 billion in the APAC region. This is almost double the amount for Asia-Pacific for the whole of 2015.
Investments in Asia-Pacific financial technology ventures, primarily in China, reached $9.62 billion as of July 31, more than twice the $4.26 billion invested in the region in all of 2015. This according to a report from global professional services company Accenture.
U.S. and European Deal Volume is Higher
Investments in Asia-Pacific have overtaken North America, which as of July 31 accumulated $4.58 billion in fintech investments, and also tops Europe, which attracted a meagre $1.85 billion in the same period.
However, deal volume remains higher in North America and Europe, as the Asia-Pacific increase is due to big investments in a few select fintech companies in China. There have been 192 deals in Asia-Pacific so far this year, as compared with 509 in North America and 230 in Europe.
China Dominates
The top 10 investments in Asia-Pacific fintech ventures occurred in China and Hong Kong, accounting for 90 percent of overall Asia-Pacific investments and valued at $8.75 billion. In total, China and Hong Kong fintech ventures have attracted $9 billion in investments so far in 2016.
Ant Financial Services Group, the financial-services affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding that operates China’s online-payments platform Alipay, closed a $4.5 billion fundraising round in April. Ant is rumoured to be planning an initial public offering in Hong Kong which could see further large fintech commitments.
«China’s established companies, rather than nascent startups, are at the forefront of the fintech trend in the region. Fintech companies with major backers such as Alibaba and JD.com are focused on providing positive end-to-end customer experiences, which includes payments and lending.
This is transforming China’s financial services industry and is consistent with the global ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, which is bringing innovation from non-traditional competitors to the financial services industry,» said Beat Monnerat, (pictured) Accenture Senior Managing Director, Financial Services Asia-Pacific.
