BigTechs march to battle in the financial sector

Over the past few years, there has been much made of the FinTech boom and how tech- and financially-focused companies were invading the financial sector from seemingly every corner. A new player, however, is entering the sphere and making even bigger waves. BigTechs (also known as TechFins) have swooped into the sector, taking many financial institutions off-guard. Perhaps nowhere else is this more evident than in China, where Alipay and WeChat are providing innovative financial services that are dominating. With IBM entering the remittance market through World Wire, Facebook testing out WhatsApp payments, Alipay entering the UK market in a big way and Apple announcing its Apple card, it is clear that struggles with FinTechs were a mere distraction in comparison to what will likely be a major battle with BigTechs in the years to come.