KPMG Releases China Top 100 Fintech Companies List of 2021

KPMG China has released its annual selection of the country’s top 100 fintech enterprises and emerging leaders.

Like previous years, the 100 companies comprising the 2021 China Leading Fintech 50 and Future 50 selection were chosen by a committee of dozens of KPMG partners and directors based on criteria such as innovation and transformation, popularization of financial services and industry development prospects.

Areas of expertise and technologies applied

In terms of the areas of expertise of the 100 selected companies, platform technology empowerment is the most represented segment (31% share), followed by wealthtech (17%), and inclusive technology and insurtech (both at 13%). The predominance of platform technology empowerment companies showcases China’s highly developed business-to-business (B2B) fintech  sector.

Looking at the technologies that these companies use, the report notes that similarly to 2020, ABCD technologies, namely artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud computing and big data, are the most important core technologies.

Compared to 2020, the proportion of companies that use blockchain as a core technology rose by 7 percentage points from 34% to 49%. The increase could be explained by the new applications of blockchain that have emerged over the past year in the finance sector, which have led to rising interest in the technology.

After big data (80%), AI (72%), cloud computing (57%) and blockchain, over 30% of the 100 companies utilize either knowledge graphing (44%), deep learning (36%) or natural language processing (NLP) (33%), indicating that the Chinese fintech industry is becoming more technology-intensive.

2021 China Leading Fintech 50 and Future 50 — Leading Enterprises

The Leading Enterprises category comprises 50 established fintech firms that are leaders in their respective fields. Several of them are returning from previous rankings. In fact, nine have been cited from the very first report back in 2016. These are:

• Lufax, a personal financial services platform;
• MSXF, a mobile-based lending platform;
• WeBank, China’s first digital-only bank;
• Bairong, a financial big data analytics solutions provider;
• IceKredit, a provider of risk mitigation solutions;
• Du Xiaoman, a Baidu spinoff providing short-term loans and investment services;
• Futu Securities, a digital brokerage and wealth management platform;
• WeLab, a Hong Kong-based virtual bank; and
• ZhongAn Insurance, an online-only insurance company.

Other returning fintech enterprises include:

• Airwallex, a Hong Kong-based business accounts and multi-currency payments services provider;
• AiBank, an independent bank established by CITIC Bank and Baidu that provides consumer and business financial services;
• DataGrand, an AI startup that offers NLP and robotic process automation (RPA) services to major enterprises in China;
• Hundsun, a supplier of financial software and network services focused on wealth and asset management;
• Tigerobo, the developer of a smart financial search engine designed to provide comprehensive, accurate and real-time financial data and information;
• OneConnect, a leading technology-as-a-service platform for financial institutions in China that covers multiple verticals including banking, insurance and asset management;
• Kingsoft Cloud, a unit of Kingsoft Group and one of the world’s leading cloud computing service providers; and
• Kingsware, a subsidiary of Shenzhen Kingdom Sci-Tech Co, which develops RPA robotics software and provides enterprise-grade security robotic management platform for financial businesses.

The selection also counts eight newcomers, namely:

• iYunBao; an insurtech service platform;
• HSBC Technology China, the bank’s technology arm;
• Shenzhen Kingdom, a developer of software and system integration products in financial and securities markets;
• Lexin, an online consumption and finance platform;
• SenseTime, an AI specialist;
• Chinavbao, a cloud-based platform providing payment and settlement service tools to insurance companies;
• CloudWalk, an AI specialist; and
• Zhongqiyunlian, an Internet financial information service company.

2021 China Leading Fintech 50 and Future 50 — Emerging Enterprises

The Emerging Enterprises category comprises 50 Chinese fintech rising stars that were established more recently.

Jinfuzi, an online investment platform, is the only fintech company of the list to have been named as a top Emerging Enterprise since the inaugural list in 2016.

The other 19 returning companies are:

• TerraQuanta, a data analytics company;
• Dashu Financial, an online small and micro loan startup;
• DaoKou Fintech, the developer of financial risk management and enterprise mapping software;
• ArchForce, which specializes in advanced distributed financial management systems;
• ValueOnline, a provider of data processing, information integration, information technology consulting, and other services;
• Kaixin Technology, a supply chain fintech services company;
• KTM Tech (Kaitaiming Technology), an insurtech companies specializing in using AI to provide risk controls;
• Licaimofang, an online financial investment advisory platform;
• Ideacome, an online insurance products and services provider;
• MioTech, an AI platform specialized in environmental, social, governance (ESG) data and technology;
• NewBanker, a wealth management technology services provider;
• GLP, an investment manager and business builder in logistics, data infrastructure, renewable energy and related technologies;
• ChinaScope, a financial data platform offering big data quantitative analysis and business intelligence;
• Tiandao Fintech;
• Weiyan Tech, a provider of AI industrialization solutions designed for financial risk control and industrial upgrading;
• WeShare, an Internet finance company that leverages data-driven analytics for providing risk management solutions;
• Clustar, a provider of federated learning solutions and high-performance AI computing;
• Sunrate, a provider of global payment and treasury solutions for businesses; and
• Xuncetech, a specialist in asset data management and risk control systems.

The other 30 companies are newcomers to the list. These include:

• CloudWalk, an AI platform that provides facial recognition services for the financial, public security, and aviation sectors;
• Atom 8, a provider of tech solutions for the digital asset ecosystem;
• Bicai Group, a mobile application that provides information and price comparisons for various financial products;
• Insightone, a data intelligence technology company;
• Geex Finance, the provider of an online platform designed to focus on consumer finance services;
• SequoiaDB, an enterprise-class distributed database management platform;
• CraiditX, an AI company that applies machine learning (ML) technology of search engines to the financial industry;
• Value Simplex, a provider of big data, machine learning, and management services for the financial industry; and
• Yuan Bao Insurance, an online insurance brokerage company.

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