The China century: Ant Financial tops global fintech innovation list

By Anisa Menur A. Maulani for e27

Alibaba Group’s fintech arm Ant Financial has been announced as the number one company in the Top 50 Established list of the Fintech100 2016, an annual list of the world’s “most successful, exciting and high impact” fintech companies published as a collaboration between H2 Ventures and KPMG Fintech.

Apart from Ant Financial, other Chinese fintech companies are also taking up the top 10 spots, such as Qudian (No. 2), Lufax (No. 4), ZhongAn (No.5), and JD Finance (No.10). In the top 10 spots, China becomes the sole representative of the Asia Pacific region, facing competition with fintech companies from the US, UK, and Germany.

“These disruptors will start small and then expand its product range or geographic reach. They will typically seek out similar markets with the same unmet needs to scale their business. In the near future, I anticipate a growing number of such companies entering markets such as Indonesia,” said Chia Tek Yew, Head of Financial Services Advisory, KPMG in Singapore.

The list also includes the 50 “Emerging Stars” list, which presents 50 new fintech companies with “bold, disruptive and potentially game-changing ideas.”

This year, the Philippines made its debut in the list with Lenddo.

There are a total of 24 companies from the Asia Pacific region in the Top 100 list.

The list was based on criteria such as:

1. Total capital raised
2. Rate of capital raising
3. Geographic and sector diversity
4. Consumer and marketplace traction
5. X-factor: degree of product, service and business model innovation (a subjective measure
that is applied only with respect to companies appearing on the 50 Emerging Stars list).

There are several notable global trends emerging from the list:

1. Global competition is expanding, with 17 countries represented in the top 50 Established companies (up from 13 last year) and 22 countries in the full Fintech 100.
2. New fintech subsectors have emerged, including regtech (regulatory technology), with nine companies on the list
3. Insurtech continues its ascent, with 12 companies (almost double last year’s total).

The Fintech100 also noted that the level of funding has continued to rise with the 50 Established companies
attracting an additional US$14.6 billion of capital since last year’s report (more than 40 per cent increase).

First appeared at e27