REPORT: Ant Financial and Tencent are rapidly growing their financial services ecosystems - here's exactly what they offer and where we think they'll go next
- This is a preview of the Fintech Disruptors from the East research report from Business Insider Intelligence.
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Over the past 15 years, spending in China has become increasingly powered by mobile payments. In Q4 2018, China's third-party mobile payments industry was estimated to be worth 47.2 trillion yuan ($6.8 trillion) per Analysys, as cited by TechNode. This eclipsed the country's total retail sales for all of 2018, which came in at 38.1 trillion yuan ($5.5 trillion).
The mobile payments market is controlled by Ant Financial's Alipay, which held a leading 53.8% market share in Q4 2018, and Tencent's WeChat Pay, which, along with fellow Tencent-owned payment service QQ Wallet, commanded a 38.9% share.
Ant and Tencent's combined mobile payments dominance means that other companies need to actively work with or against the powerhouses, especially as they've also stretched into other financial services, including peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, cross-border capabilities, wealth management features, consumer lending, and insurance.
Payments companies worldwide must take notice of Ant Financial and Tencent's success, strategies, and potential expansion, as they won't succeed in the extremely valuable Chinese market without understanding how the two companies are expanding their reach. And those payments companies settled in other countries should also familiarize themselves with the two companies and their successes, as both have been expanding internationally.
In Fintech Disruptors From The East, Business Insider Intelligence looks at a variety of financial services offered by Ant Financial and Tencent, the different categories they fall under, and the benefits each one offers the firms. We also examine their current strategies for expansion and consider the steps they may take in the future to grow their businesses, both in China and abroad.
The companies mentioned in this report are: Alibaba, Alipay, Ant Financial, Chase, Citcon, First Data, GCash, Go-Jek, Grab, JD.com, Line, Moneygram International, Paytm, QQ, Telenor Microfinance Bank, Tencent, Uber, WeBank, WeChat, WeChat Pay, WeChat Payments Score, Weixin, WeSure, and Wirecard.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:
- Ant Financial and Tencent dominate China's huge mobile payments industry through Alipay and WeChat Pay, and both firms have built cohesive financial ecosystems to further attract consumers and their funds.
- Generally, Ant Financial's payments and financial services are further developed, but Tencent's huge user base thanks to WeChat has helped it gain ground.
- Ant and Tencent have expanded their services in Southeast Asia, but Ant appears more interested in further growing its reach.
In full, the report:
- Examines the financial ecosystems of Ant Financial and Tencent.
- Analyzes the offerings of Alipay and WeChat Pay as well as how they grew to their current positions atop the Chinese mobile payment market.
- Details Ant Financial and Tencent's financial features beyond Alipay and WeChat Pay and how they create a more comprehensive slate of offerings.
- Looks at the expansion of both companies and considers what each may do next, both in China and abroad.
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