• Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • About LendIt Fintech News
  • Home
  • Menu Item
  • Menu Item
  • Menu Item
  • Menu Item

Lend Academy

LendIt Fintech News: Daily Coverage of Fintech & Online Lending


  • Editorial
  • Daily News
  • Podcast
  • Investor Forum
  • Events

Ant Financial is Now a Top 10 “Bank” Globally

Based on market capitalization Ant Financial is the 10th largest banking group in the world

May 29, 2018 By Peter Renton Leave a Comment

Views: 952

It had been rumored for some time now. Ant Financial, the Chinese financial behemoth, was raising a very large funding round that would value the company at $150 billion. It has been reported extensively today that this funding round has in fact closed. Ant Financial has raised $10 billion at a $150 billion valuation.

For a brief primer on Ant Financial there is a decent summary on their English language website but for a deeper understanding I recommend you read Chris Skinner’s new book, Digital Human (the Kindle version is available now). This has a 30,000 word case study that not only shares the history of Ant Financial but also why they are one of the world’s most forward thinking companies. And if you think they are just a Chinese story, think again. Ant Financial embodies the future of financial services and they will, in my opinion, shape the future of financial services more than any other fintech company on the planet.

Having said that, calling Ant Financial a fintech company is a bit like calling Amazon an e-commerce company. Ant Financial is a fully diversified financial services firm with payments (AliPay), wealth management (Yu’e bao is the largest money market fund in the world), lending, insurance and even a credit bureau. They look more like a banking conglomerate than a fintech company.

It is actually very interesting to compare Ant Financial to the leading global banks. Over the weekend I read this piece in Disruptive Finance (written before the news broke this morning) that compared the market capitalization of the largest banking groups in the world. The author, Huy Nguyen Trieu, pulled together market cap numbers that I shared in the graphic above. Every other organization on that list has roots going back decades, some even centuries. Ant Financial is the only company that was started in the 21st century.

Ant Financial is planning what may well become the largest IPO in history, eclipsing that of its former parent company, Alibaba. That company raised $21.77 billion back in 2014 debuting with a market value of $168 billion. It is quite possible that Ant Financial could eclipse that valuation and we will find it moving up the top 10 list above.

Who would have thought ten years ago that in 2018 the largest companies in the world by market cap would be Apple, Google and Amazon. I expect in ten years time we will see a very different list of the ten most valuable banking groups in the world.

Filed Under: Peer to Peer Lending Tagged With: Ant Financial, Banks, market cap

Views: 952

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Investor Intelligence

Peter Renton's Returns

Investor Forum

Lending Club Review

Prosper Review

Investor Resources

Most Popular Editorials

The Pure Marketplace Lending Model is Dead, the Hybrid Takes its Place

The 2018 Lending Club and Prosper Tax Guide

My Returns at Lending Club and Prosper

Map of Available States for Lending Club and Prosper Investors

Banks and Marketplace Lending Platforms: Ideal Partners?

Subscribe to the Podcast

Subscribe to the Lend Academy Podcast on iTunes
Subscribe to the Lend Academy Podcast
List of Podcast Episodes

Archives

Follow @LendAcademy Follow @LendIt

ABOUT LENDIT FINTECH NEWS

LendIt Fintech News, Powered by Lend Academy, has been bringing you all the news and information about fintech and online lending since 2010 when it was founded by Peter Renton. We not only have the industry’s most active news site, but also the largest investor forum and the first and most popular podcast.

We are a team of fintech enthusiasts who have been covering the industry for many years. With a deep knowledge of online lending, digital banking, blockchain, artificial intelligence and more our team covers the daily news and writes in-depth editorials.

Recent Editorials

  • Top 10 Fintech News Stories for the Week Ending January 16, 2021
  • Podcast 281: Sean De Clercq of Kickfurther
  • Upgrade Launches a Rewards Checking Account
  • Affirm’s IPO Takes Off Like a Rocket Ship
  • Fintech Lenders and Banks Are Ready for PPP Round Two

Copyright © 2021 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in