Fintech companies claim US$23bn in investment capital

Nearly US$23bn of global venture capital has been invested in financial technology (fintech) companies over the last five years and that figure is set to continue rising, according to Mexican peer-to-peer (P2P) loan platform operator Prestadero.

"Fintech companies are expected to see exponential growth in Mexico because they can potentially revolutionize the credit industry," the company's director general Gerardo Obregon explained during a press conference in Mexico City.

In 2016, Prestadero itself plans to invest more than US$50mn and provide more than 100mn pesos (US$5.31mn) in P2P loans.

Prestadero is a disruptive platform that removes financial intermediaries from the equation and places the risk in the hands of its 83,940 users, resulting in annual interest rates of between 8.9% and 28.9% on loans of 10,000-250,000 pesos.

When questioned about the potential backlash from banks and credit agencies, Obregon said that "if traditional financial institutions don't embrace these changes and fintech companies continue to grow at this rate, I definitely expect some backlash. However, by that time there should be regulations in place that protect both the users and the crowdfunding platforms."

According to a report from CB Insights in 2015, Google Ventures and Intel Capital, the investment arms of the two tech giants, were ranked first and second, respectively, in a list of the most active corporate investors in fintech firms between 2010 and 1Q15.

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