LONDON—European fintech investment grew to a new high of $58.1 billion in 2019, the majority of which was secured in the U.K. Separately, the majority of Chinese banks report they have integrated fintech into their offerings.
U.K. fintech investment grew to $48.5 billion last year, or 83% of the total sum, according to figures from a new KPMG report.
The boost to both U.K. and European figures was largely due to a single deal in March 2019, which saw U.S.-based FIS invest $43.6 billion in cash and stock to acquire London-headquartered Worldpay. That deal almost doubled the U.K.’s total 2018 investment of $25.4 billion, Business Cloud said.
KPMG’s bi-annual report on global and regional fintech investment trends reports that elsewhere in Europe, France saw a “banner year” with $1.8 billion of total investment. Germany saw $1.6 billion of investment led by the $470-million raise by mobile bank N26 in third quarter of 2019.
Globally, the report shows a total of $135.7 billion in fintech funding in 2019 across 2,693 deals. This was less than was invested in 2018, but set a record of $77.1 billion in the third quarter, Business Cloud said.
Chinese Banks Integrate Fintech
Separately, Approximately 80% of all Chinese banks will acquire and integrate fintech solutions from the cloud market this year, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).
China’s Fintech sector is known for quickly adopting a broad range of information technologies including cloud computing, Big Data, artificial intelligence, mobile-based Internet solutions, and Internet of Things-based applications, the IDC noted in its recent report on ongoing digital transformation efforts in China, Crowdfund Insider said.
The Chinese sector’s overall IT spending is projected to increase and hit 220.8 billion yuan ($31.6 billion) by this year, the report confirmed.
IDC’s report noted that around 20% of bank transactions will be pre-settled through online platforms by the end of this year. The physical banking experience will be seamlessly integrated with digital experience, the report said.