22% of banks’ total investments were in payment providers between 2019 and 2024

• Today, FXC Intelligence published an in-depth analysis of leading banks’ investments into payment providers from the start of 2019 up to the end of September 2024, revealing how banks are thinking about the future of the payments industry.
• In total, 3,620 investments were made across 19 banks during this period, of which 784 (22%) were made in payment providers, while 212 (6%) were made in cross-border payments providers.
• B2B and consumer financial services accounted for the highest share of payment provider investments during the assessed period.

Today, FXC Intelligence, the leading provider of cross-border payments data and intelligence, published its analysis on how the world’s biggest banks are investing in payments and cross-border payments. Assessing 3,620 investments across 19 of the world’s biggest banks between the start of 2019 and the end of September 2024, the report reveals how banks are approaching this vital sector.

In total, 784 (22%) investments were made in payment providers, with 212 (6%) made specifically to cross-border payments providers. Citi made the highest number of cross border payments investments overall at 45, followed by Goldman Sachs (38), JPMorgan Chase (31), HSBC (15) and Barclays (12).

Looking at how investments have changed over time shows a significant shift in the number of investments made during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, payment provider investments rose 72% YoY, while in 2022 cross-border payment provider investments were up 43%.

However, payments providers overall saw the number of investments decline by 20% in 2023, against the grain of a 14% rise in total investments across all categories in 2023. This implies that while the number of investments for payments providers has risen compared to a few years ago, this may have been due to an overall increase in investment instead of a drive to invest in more payment companies specifically.

B2B and consumer financial services accounted for the highest share of payment provider investments during the overall period between 2019 and 2023, at 39% and 28% respectively, indicating this is the sector of the payments industry of most interest to banks.

Assessing shifts in other categories shows how banks have been thinking about the industry over time. B2B payments & payroll investments accounted for 9% of investments overall and grew by 75% YoY in 2022 to 21 investments, though have seen less interest in the following years. Meanwhile, blockchain & crypto-focused investments dipped in 2020 to a single investment (having seen 11 in 2019), but grew the following year to five and then again to 10 in 2022, staying at 10 in 2023.

Investments in artificial intelligence companies were a notable trend in 2021, rising by 205%. Whilst this number has been trending down in the following years, there has been a renewed interest in AI investments from banks in Q1-Q3 2024, with investments in AI companies during this period already seeing 34% growth over the entirety of 2023.

Lucy Ingham, Editor-in-Chief and Head of Content at FXC Intelligence, said:

“By tracking how banks are investing in payments and the cross-border payments industry, we can assess how banks are thinking about the sector. Each investment is a vote of confidence in the payments industry and the players in the space, and it's clear that a fair chunk of banks’ financial power is sitting firmly behind payment companies year-on-year, indicating the strength of the sector.”

Read more about this in the report: ‘How are banks investing in cross-border payments?’.

Further information

●        FXC Intelligence used Crunchbase to identify all the investments made by 19 banks featured on FXC’s Cross-Border Payments 100 for 2024, from the start of 2019 until the end of September 2024.

●        FXC Intelligence is the industry leader in cross-border payments data and intelligence. Our data is used by a number of international bodies, including the World Bank and the Financial Stability Board.

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Kezia Johnson
External Communications and Branding Manager
kjohnson@fxcintel.com