Conference hears how AI can boost fintech

China’s fintech industry financing has dropped sharply since 2018 because of strict regulation, according to officials, but data analysis and blockchain still have great potential in sectors such as risk control, transaction efficiency and supply chain databases.

Between 2013 and 2019, investment in China’s fintech industry investment and financing grew rapidly. In 2018, the figure was 41.9 billion yuan (US$5.98 billion) while that dropped to 6.4 billion last year, according to a report from 01Caijing and IntSig Information Co.

The report was released during a future finance forum at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai. 

Artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies can be used in digital currency and new methods of payment and transactions, Thomas Sargent, a professor at Peking University and a Nobel laureate in economics in 2011, told the forum. They can reshape modern transactions by lowering barriers and costs, he said.

AI is a tool to transfer data into “information, intelligence and insights” in the digital world, said Samuel Chen, cofounder of IntSig Information.

As a Shanghai-based startup, IntSig Information has more than 700 million users globally and has established a database with 230 million enterprises. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, IntSig has helped governments and organizations find suppliers of masks and other medical devices rapidly using the database and AI technologies. The company has established supply chain databases covering over 1 million enterprises in sectors such as 5G, the cloud and AI, Chen said.