China Edges Closer to FinTech Top Spot; UK’s Position Threatened
A new report suggests that China could push the U.K. off the FinTech top spot as Chinese companies overshadow U.K. firms. The report, from KPMG and H2 Ventures, found that compared to 2015 there were only 13 U.K. firms in the yearly FinTech 100 report. In 2015, that number is reported to have been 18. However, only one U.K. firm, Atom Bank, was reported to be in the top ten. Compared this to Chinese companies and while the report detailed that there were eight firms listed in the top 100, four of them made it to the top five. These are Ant Financial, Qudian, Lufax, and ZhongAn. Of course,....
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Leading Blockchain infrastructure provider and Bitcoin mining firm BitFury secured a $30 mln investment from a Hong Kong-based fintech company Credit China Fintech to launch a joint Bitcoin venture in China. The investment will be allocated in the expansion of BitFury’s operations and in the funding of the joint project revolving around the commercialization of Blockchain technology and sale of BitFury’s Bitcoin mining equipment to local miners and companies. Phang Yew Kiat, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Credit China Fintech stated: “Blockchain is a fast emerging technology allowing effectively....
A new two-part deal valued at $30m will see BitFury expand its footprint in China. The full-service blockchain technology company has announced a deal with Credit China Fintech, a firm that provides consumer-facing financial products, according to FT. The $30m deal has two components: an investment in BitFury directly and plans to establish a joint venture in China. In statements, Credit China Fintech said that it would seek to adopt the technology for its services, looking at applications of both the bitcoin blockchain and private ledgers. Phang Yew Kiat, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Credit....
Investment in Chinese FinTech continued at a pace in 2016 despite markets in other countries experiencing a slowdown in the sector. It’s reported that during the first nine months of 2016, FinTech investments doubled in China, which was partly due to funding rounds completed by Ant Financial, JD Finance and China’s Lufax, reports the China Money Network. The report states that in the first three-quarters of 2016, global financial technology investments accounted for US$18 billion, just down from the US$19 billion that was invested in the previous year. According to a report by City Asia....
Earlier this year, Prime Minister David Cameron expressed his desire to make UK the world leader in the fintech sector by 2020. Chancellor George Osborne has also said that he wishes to makeUK the global fintech capital. However, as the year comes to a close, their plans are being dented by the Bitcoin hotbed that is China, which has surprisingly bagged 7 spots in the top 50 fintech companies list published by Fintech Innovators. Two of these companies, ZhongAn (#1) and Qufenqi (#4), feature in the top 5. ZhongAn is an online insurance company which has the backing of Jack Ma, the founder....
This news comes at a time where the UK finds itself in an awkward position after the Brexit. Many experts assumed the region would lose its appeal in the financial sector, but that does not appear to be the case. Regulation plays an integral role in the world of finance. Now that Fintech and Bitcoin efforts are gaining more traction, a lot of these guidelines need to be revised and updated. Regulators in the UK and China will be working together to create a new framework for financial projects in the 21st century. In the world of regulation, collaboration is a must these days. When....