China is often seen as a benchmark on the rest of Asia. China has inspired many other Asian Nations to strive toward a similar cashless move. In 2018, China took the lead in global fintech investment. They retook the title they held in 2016. However, China is not only Asia’s role model, but China shapes Asia’s fintech.
China’s companies are the financiers of many fintechs across Asia. They provide cash to business support to grow the platforms. In other words, China shapes Asia’s Fintech. China’s influential companies include:
Alibaba
Alibaba’s investments are in the form of e-payment. For instance, Paytm, Mynt, TNG Wallet. Alibaba and Tencent have battled to dominate India and Southeast Asia. Thus, e-wallet spheres in India and the Philippines have become exciting. Most of the battle is via e-commerce. However, they start to extend it into fintech.
Consequently, Alibaba and Tencent’s entry in India is as e-commerce platforms, while also offer fintech. India’s Paytm established as a mobile wallet. However, it later transformed into an integrated e-commerce store. Meanwhile, the Philippines’ Mynt is more like a traditional fintech. It offers payments, remittances, and loans.
In Singapore, Alibaba’s acquisition of Lazada led them into a merger with Hellopay. It was later rebranded into Alipay. Besides, Alibaba also gave a bigger investment in Hong Kong. It invests in Qupital, a trading marketplace, and WeLab, a mobile lending organization.
Read more: Three Startups That Wowed Jack Ma and Won Alibaba Backing
Tencent
Tencent is Alibaba direct competitor. It is the owner of WeChat. While Alibaba invested in India’s Paytm in March 2017, Tencent invested in Flipkart a month later. In July, Flipkart established a pay later and cardless credit platform.
Besides, Tencent invested in Voyager only months after Alibaba invested in Mynt. Voyager offers a prepaid e-wallet. It enables enterprises to get digital payment, lending, and rewards.
JD.com
JD.com’s investment to GoJek shows its interest to Southeast Asia market. Its investment has supported GoJek to fight against Grab in Southeast Asia. The battle was started with an e-wallet platform. However, now, both of them have expanded into the inclusive app.
Not only that, JD.com has also launched Dolfin wallet in Thailand. JD.com collaborates with Bankok bank and Kasikorn Bank to develop the app.
Xiaomi
Xiaomi came to the battle with its CreditBee in India. It is a micro-lending platform similar to Mi Credit. At the same time, Xiaomi also invested in ZestMoney in India. It allows people to take loans without credit score consideration.
