Stone Co is a Brazilian company that is attempting to build a payment and financial services suite for merchants in +5,000 cities. And they are targeting the country’s +8M small merchants, many of whom still operate in cash and do not get great services from traditional banks. That is a big, interesting and difficult idea. […]
Stone Company in Brazil is a really interesting contrast to Ant Financial in China. And to Square in the USA. All three companies are somewhat trying to do the same thing: To build out an alternative payment platform for SMEs. And then to add additional platforms and services on top of that. It’s a big […]
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses what Ant Financial’s success can tell us about the future of Square. He argues that Square’s growth will be driven by its ability to use its payment platform to build a wider ecosystem of financial services. He also discusses why it is so difficult to predict the future of digital businesses.
The market capitalization Square has exceed $100B, which makes it about 1/3 of what Ant Financial / Group was expected to list at (prior to delay). Both companies are using platform business models to invade and expand the payment and financial services space. Fortunately, Ant is further along this trajectory and offers some interesting insights […]
Ant Financial is a Chinese financial technology company that provides a variety of financial services, including payments, lending, and insurance. Ant has revolutionized finance in China by providing convenient, affordable, and accessible financial services to millions of people. Ant is facing challenges from regulatory scrutiny and competition from other tech giants, but it is well-positioned to continue to grow and disrupt the financial services industry.
The IPO filing I have been waiting two years for finally arrived. Alipay / Ant Financial (now called Ant Group) has filed. And their +600 page prospectus is just a fantastic read. But it’s a lot. I have 40 pages of notes. So I thought I would begin with some of the key points. This […]
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses how big Ant Financial, the financial arm of Alibaba, could become. He considers factors such as its current size, its growth rate, and its plans for expansion. For example, Ant Financial is already the world’s largest mobile payments company, and it is growing at a rapid pace.
I consider digital platforms the super predators of the business world. They are like that Indominus Rex dinosaur in the movie Jurassic World that is part T-Rex and part velociraptor (photo here). And when it breaks free (which always happens in those movies), it runs around eating everything on the island. Because it is the […]
Jeffrey Towson visited the WeChat Open Class in Guangzhou and was impressed by the company’s platform business model, its focus on social and transactional features, and its ability to adapt to the needs of Chinese consumers. He believes that WeChat is smarter than Apple and Facebook because it has a better understanding of the Chinese market and is able to offer a more comprehensive suite of services.