“The rise of fintech can, quite accurately, be traced back to the 2008 crisis. In fact, many do consider fintech a reaction to the crisis. As a result of the loss of trust in financial institutions, fintech came in to provide consumers with products and services that challenged the status quo in financial services”, Bonnie Buchanan, PhD, Howard J. Bosanko Professor in International Economics and Finance, at Seattle University.
The day two presentation “Quo Vadis? Fintech in China versus the West” saw Bonnie Buchanan explaining how China’s different legal and cultural framework reflects its rapid growth of fintech when compared to that in western countries.
The massively underserved market and a large growth of the middle class can be reflected in China’s investment, development and subsequent adoption of fintech. Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (the BAT) have found a place in the millennial middle class with the help of high smartphone and social media usage.
In this fintech battle between China and the West, the winner will be the one to profit from the middle-class market.
