[August 24, 2016] |
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China Leads Global Fintech Investments, Accenture Finds
Investments in Asia-Pacific financial technology (fintech) 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, according to
Accenture (News - Alert) (NYSE:ACN) analysis of CB Insights data.
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(Graphic: Business Wire)
Investments in Asia-Pacific have eclipsed North America, which as of
July 31 garnered $4.58 billion in fintech investments; and also tops
Europe, which attracted $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.
In fact, 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.
"China's established companies, rather than nascent startups, are at the
forefront of the fintech trend in the region," said Beat Monnerat,
Accenture senior managing director, Financial Services Asia-Pacific.
"Fintech companies with major backers such as Alibaba and JD.com
are focussed 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' (News - Alert), which is bringing innovation from
non-traditional competitors to the financial services industry."
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. Ping An-backed Lufax, which has started using the name Lu.com,
completed a $1.2 billion round of fundraising in January. In that same
month, China's second largest e-commerce company, JD.com,
raised $1 billion in new funding for its consumer finance subsidiary, JD
Finance.
In recent years, major Alibaba affiliates and China's biggest social
network company, Tencent, have also invested in other smaller startups,
such as Fenqile, a micro-loan site which literally means "happy
instalments," Qufenqi, an electronics retailer that lets buyers pay in
monthly instalments, and India's One97 Communications, a mobile internet
company whose Paytm is its flagship brand.
"The fintech trend in China continues to skew toward online payments and
lending, including peer-to-peer (P2P), which is creating market-share
dilution for banks," said Albert Chan, managing director financial
services China, Accenture. "China's banks, whether building their own
competitive platforms or not, should consider investing in collaborative
fintech ventures in order to remain competitive."
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a
broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital,
technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and
specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business
functions - underpinned by the world's largest delivery network -
Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help
clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their
stakeholders. With more than 375,000 people serving clients in more than
120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world
works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160824005978/en/
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