New players are changing the game.
Financial technology is among the fastest growing areas in technology innovation. According to Fintech Global, in 2018 the global Fintech sector raised an astonishing $41.7 billion dollars in investments. And according to PwC’s 2017 Global Fintech Report, “82% of incumbents expect to increase FinTech partnerships in the next 3-5 years.”
“You have to...re-imagine how money can be managed and moved because there’s going to be more change in the next five years in financial services than happened in the past 30.” -Dan Schulman, CEO, PayPal
A global, multinational phenomenon
Fintech hubs are emerging all around the world. While traditional finance centers including the US and the UK still dominate, there are additional countries whose presence is being felt in the market. Australia, China, and Israel, for example, are all likely to play a role in the growing global fintech ecosystem.
China
"If you want to see the future of fintech, just go to China." (Edith Yeung, managing partner of Proof of Capital).
Chinese consumers are digitally savvy and are not wary of sharing personal information. This makes China an excellent testing ground for Fintechs that are looking to test out products and drive adoption.
According to Mordor Intelligence, when it comes to worldwide digital payments in 2017, almost half were made in China through apps like Alipay andWeChat.
China has been at the forefront of fintech growth and is the largest fintech market in the world. According to an analysis conducted by Accenture, the value of fintech deals in China in 2018 was $25.5 billion. This sum is a nine-fold increase over the previous year and accounts for 46% of all fintech investments globally in 2018.
Israel
Start-up Nation is embracing fintech. According to data from the Bank of Israel, the 600 fintech companies currently operating in Israel are shaping the global finance industry.
Cross-border payment platform Payoneer and crowdfunding platform OurCrowd are just two of the country’s leading fintechs.
Additional promising startups include Datarails, which allows finance professionals to access and leverage financial and operational data regardless of technical competency, as well as Credorax, which provides a banking solution for eCommerce.
Australia
According to KPMG, there are currently 629 active fintechs in Australia, an 8% increase since September 2018. In 2018 alone, Australian Fintech resulted in $600M USD over 28 deals.
Judo capital, founded in 2016, provides an online lending platform for small and medium Enterprises (SMEs). Offering credit ranging from $250,000 to $5,000,000, the company enables them to enjoy financing solutions for their business needs.
Another up and coming Aussie fintech company is MoneyPlace. Founded in 2014, Moneyplace is an online marketplace that uses peer-to-peer lending to connect investors with creditworthy borrowers looking for personal loans.
Opportunities exist in new markets
While the US dominates Forbes’ most innovative fintech companies 2019 list, its worth keeping in mind that the country does not exist in a vacuum. Global players, that aren’t among the G6, are seeing their fintech industries mature and thrive. As such, investors and innovators alike should take this into account.