Decreased venture capital funding and fintech challenges in 2016 slowed the market for initial public offerings (IPOs); experts believe the IPO market could be revived in 2017 with four companies at the top of the list to watch for a potential public offering; companies include Transferwise, SoFi, Ant Financial and Credit Karma; all four companies have significant venture capital support and are likely leaders for the fintech IPO market in 2017. Source
As of September 2016, WeChat had 768 million active users; the service is owned by Tencent; social cash sent to users through customized red packets or red envelopes has been one factor driving increased usage; WeChat has also been helping fuel a cashless society with 300 million users using WeChat Pay; expanding features and red packet promotional efforts have helped the company report an estimated value of $80 billion which is approximately half of Tencent's market cap. Source
In the fintech industry there are many companies that have emerged with food-based company names; as the holiday season ends and the new year begins, LendIt has highlighted these companies in a blog post; the list of companies spans the full range of fintech industry categories. Source
Core Innovation Capital has raised approximately $71.5 million for a second venture capital fund; the fundraising round included 17 investors; the company invests in fintech companies focused on mobile and efficient financial products; it has invested in Mirador, Nova, Banking Up, Trim, NerdWallet, CoverWallet, Oportun and Ripple. Source
Shareholders and regulators have approved Sichuan XW Bank as the new name for one of China's newest online banks; Sichuan XW Bank is supported with capital by Xiaomi, an electronics and home appliances manufacturer; its leading competitors in the online banking market in China will be WeBank and MYBank. Source
Chinese consumers are increasingly using mobile payment technology; currently 57.7% of the country's internet users are using mobile payment services; the shift to mobile payments is being supported by the growth from fintech companies which has also helped to make China the world's leading fintech hub; four of the world's largest fintech unicorns, Ant Financial, Lufax, JD Finance and Qufenqi, all have their headquarters in China; Bitcoin is also popular in China, accounting for 42% of the digital currency's transactions; statistics also show mobile payment services advancing ahead of traditional bank offerings with Alipay reporting more than 50% market share in mobile payments; while the country has seen exponential growth from fintech services, Chinese regulators are evolving fintech regulations which could require greater compliance requirements from fintech companies. Source
PJSC Siberia Airlines has announced the first letter of credit service payment using blockchain; the opening and executing of the letter of credit issued from Alfa-Bank was recorded with smart contracts on a distributed ledger; the subsequent payment for services will also be transacted through blockchain technology; Alfa-Bank provided members of the deal with an electronic Alfa-business online system for deal processing. Source
Stratfor has released its predictions for the global economy in 2017 with some interesting forecasts; the global intelligence firm says a slowing economy in China will affect the world with demand down and more domestic manufacturing; the US will experience a global retrenchment as it focuses more on its domestic economy; in Europe, countries will become more divided and the European Union will move toward dissolving; oil prices will improve which will help producers globally; monetary policies will also be an important factor. Source
In 2016 government regulators became more involved in the fintech industry in a variety of ways; while new regulations were discussed across the globe, governments also got more involved in the industry through sandbox and innovation programs; China's fintech market continued to grow in 2016 with both private market funding and fintech company growth; in 2016 robo advisors and blockchain emerged with new services; the market now offers a broader range of robo advisor services and the leading asset managers have introduced their own platforms; blockchain also reported unprecedented growth with distributed ledger being used for a wider variety of solutions across all industries; all of these industry developments are expected to remain in focus for 2017. Source
Bloomberg Intelligence provides insight on Asia's fintech market in 2017; in internet finance Alibaba and Tencent have a strong market position with high barriers to entry set for the growing market; blockchain is expected to remain at the forefront of fintech development with use in online money transfers, electronic payments, banking and internet finance; insurtech will also be important with technology focused on sales distribution, product development and client engagement; data tracking, artificial intelligence and internet of things technology are also expected to be factors for insurtech. Source