INTERVIEW
French fintechs tap into Asia’s booming market
Compared to Europe, fintechs in Asia have struck a balance with banks, says Bpifrance.
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ASIA PACIFIC
PIFrance deputy CEO Arnaud Caudoux believes that there are boundless space in the Asia Pacific region for France’s financial technology (fintech) companies to make a splash. During the recently concluded Singapore Fintech Festival 2022, the bank teamed up with Aurexia to bring a delegation of nine French fintechs to Singapore and give them a taste of the market. “A lot of these companies may want to expand in the APAC region, and we want them to get a taste and a feeling of what the market is like,” Caudoux told Asian Banking & Finance. “This market is very different from the European markets. The companies can get inspired by what they see happen faster, and they may see a lot of opportunities at present based on what has been shown here. It’s a mix of opportunities, and learning.” Asian Banking & Finance spoke with Caudoux to learn more about the delegation, the difference between the APAC and European fintech markets, and what opportunities they see in the APAC region. How did Bpifrance vet the 9 fintechs? Why did you choose to present these fintechs specifically? We have a network of branches across France—around 50 branches—which deal with French startups and companies on a daily basis. We have one thousand people in these branches, so we know all these companies very well. When we organise this kind of expedition, first we ask our branches for a specific region: in this segment of business, who would you send? They come up with let’s say 50 names. And so we have 50 names of fintechs that would be fit for Asia and Singapore. Then we make a second selection from these 50 companies: which one do we know best, which are the best ones, who do you really want to take with you for one week in Asia, and we just select out of the 50. The most important part is we have the ability to identify companies across France, and then we make the selection from a shortlist. What pain points are these fintechs looking to fill in APAC? Can you give us three to five reasons why you chose to enter APAC’s fintech space? I would not pretend I see pain points in APAC. I don’t see them. I’m here also to learn. I don’t know APAC too well, but what I can see is what has gone fast, and what has gone slow. In Europe, what has gone fast, for instance, is regulation. We’re very good at regulation. If you look at ESG issues, ESG for financial data, I think it has gotten faster in Europe, because of regulations in Europe. For instance, some of these fintech companies can really be helpful here in the crypto area. I think it’s still very open [and] we have some very good companies in Europe, we have very
22 ASIAN BANKING & FINANCE | Q1 2023
Asia is a very interesting mix between very mature industries and very open markets (Photo: Arnaud Caudoux, Deputy CEO, Bpifrance)
good tech in the blockchain area. It’s not about pain points. It’s just a land of opportunity. I think the regulation is softer here. So it’s good for these companies to develop in both Europe and in Asia, or Europe and the US, because you have different regulatory playgrounds and you don’t know what will be the end game, so you need to try different things. So it’s not really about pain points. I think the big difference between Asia and Europe is the place of the incumbent banking industry. In Europe, you have a very strong incumbent banking industry, [and] everyone is banked. In Asia, you still have a lot of unbanked people. And at the same time, you have very good financial hubs like Singapore. So it’s a very interesting mix between very mature industries and very open markets. Whereas in Europe, it’s tougher to address.
It’s not about pain points; it’s just a land of opportunity
Why do you think APAC is a market suited for the French fintechs to conquer? No, I think it’s suited for some companies. Not for all. But I think it’s super easy, if you’re a data analytics provider, if you’re in the regulatory area, you’re a fit. And definitely, if you’re in the environmental transition industry, the ESG part of the business, it is very suited too because we have a lot of constraints already in the EU, to which people have had to adapt.
