TOKYO: Global investment in financial technology venture firms grew 10% last year to $23.2 billion, consultancy firm Accenture said on Tuesday, fuelled by huge investor appetite in China and Japan. Fintech investment in China more than tripled to $10 billion from 55 deals last year, representing 90 percent of fintech ventures in the Asia-Pacific region. Investment in Chinese fintech ventures was buoyed by blockbuster deals such as a $4.5 billion fundraising round at Ant Financial Services Group , an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd China's second-largest e-commerce company JD.com Inc also raised $1 billion for a consumer finance subsidiary, Accenture said. Strict regulation, scant access to funding and weak demand for innovative financial services from a risk-averse population had previously made Japan barren ground for fintech ventures.Japan made legal changes last year to attract more fintech ventures, including easing curbs on bank investment in non-financial firms. Gox bitcoin exchange in 2014.Bitcoin exchanges bitFlyer and Quoine ranked second and third respectively by size of investment in Japanese fintech ventures last year, the data showed.

Source: Economic Times February 28, 2017 09:33 UTC