Fintech payment services appealing to Asian corporates
Competition is heating up between fintech and traditional bank payments, with record investment growth in global fintechs, while Asian corporates are increasingly attracted towards payment services from non-bank fintech providers. Firstly, a report from KPMG found that global fintech investment grew at a record pace in the first half of 2018, with US$57.9 billion invested across 875 deals. This is a significant increase on the US$38.1 billion invested in all of 2017, according to the KPMG Pulse of Fintech report.
And research by East & Partners suggests that innovative digital payments and settlements provided by non-bank fintech companies are increasingly appealing to corporate customers in Asia. The research found that a significant portion of corporates in Asia are attracted to non-bank payment service providers and many are considering switching at least some of their payment needs away from the banking sector. The study was announced at a briefing in Hong Kong this week, as reported by Global Trade Review. GTR reported:
more than 50 per cent of Asian corporates are considering switching to non-bank providers for part of their payments services; and
19 per cent are considering shifting their payment services to the non-bank sector.
The research from East & Partners also found that corporates in Asia are struggling with some areas of cybersecurity and technology, for example:
more than 20 per cent experienced a cybersecurity breach in the past year;
40 per cent did not know whether or not they had been breached;
roughly 33 per cent expect to start using biometrics in the near future as part of secure payments authentication;
nearly all large corporates still use cheques;
fewer than 20 per cent use mobile payments.