The last five years have seen a rapid increase in global fintech-targeted mergers and acquisition volume, leading to a record high of USD 116.6 billion in 2019, according to research firm Dealogic.
Business Insider quotes Dealogic associate Chisa Tanaka who says that 87 deals this year have resulted in a four-fold increase from the USD 31.8 billion from 89 deals at the same time in 2018:
“Clearly, technological innovation is causing intensifying consolidation in the electronic payment services market, while the acquisition of data on customer’s purchasing and behavior trends further drives fintech acquisitions.”
Three fintech acquisitions from the USA have been the driver of this year’s record-setting period: Fidelity National Information Services’ USD 43.3 billion March purchase of Worldpay, Fiserv’s January acquisition of First Data for USD 39.4 billion, and Global Payments’ USD 26.2 billion May buy of Total System Services.
All of these feature a cashless method with electronic payments at the heart of their solutions. But while they are growing in use and popularity, experts think we have a long way to go from cashless societies, especially in emerging economies.
The Bank of International Settlements (BIS), for example, published a report in March that shows flat growth for ATM withdrawals in advanced economies but rising trends in emerging markets. Overall, it said, global consumers were relying “more and more” on e-payments:
“The use of e-payments is booming and technology companies as well as financial institutions are investing heavily to be the payment providers of tomorrow… [but there is] scant evidence of a shift away from cash… As the appetite for cash remains unabated, few societies are close to ‘cashless’ or even ‘less-cash’.”
France and the UK are not far behing the US in terms of fintech deals. Tanaka did say that the latter half og 2019 will make clear the “financial ability of the different players”.
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