APAC fintech investment falls to $4.6b in H1 2026

Q1 deal value was $1.2b before rebounding to $3.4b in Q2.

Financial technology (fintech) investment across Asia-Pacific (APAC) fell to $4.6b across 350 deals in the first half of 2026, from $7.1b across 426 deals in the second half of 2025.

Investment was particularly weak in the first quarter, when deal value totalled $1.2 b, before rising to $3.4b in the second quarter, according to KPMG’s regional analysis in the Pulse of Fintech H1'26 report.

KPMG said investors continued to reassess late-stage valuations whilst also dealing with regulatory changes and geopolitical risks.

Venture capital accounted for several of the region’s largest transactions. India-based credit management platform CRED raised $900m, whilst Singapore-based payments company Airwallex raised $320m. 

Indian lending platform KreditBee secured $280m and Australian crypto exchange Synthetix raised $150m.

India attracted the largest share of fintech investment in the region and was one of the few markets to record an increase. 

Investment reached $2.0b across 101 deals in the first half of 2026, up from $1.8b across 102 deals in the previous six months.

South Korea ranked second with $899m invested across 31 deals, followed by Singapore with $499m across 53 deals. 

Australia recorded $456m across 28 deals, whilst Japan attracted $204.5m across 37 deals.

China recorded $149m in fintech investment across 33 deals. KPMG said the relatively low level of conventional investment partly reflected the maturity of China’s payments, consumer finance and digital lending sectors. 

Banks, insurers and large technology platforms have also brought more fintech capabilities in-house, whilst some activity is taking place through partnerships, joint research and development and other arrangements that do not fall under traditional venture capital, private equity or mergers and acquisitions.

In Australia, investors became more cautious as interest rates rose and businesses faced higher costs. 

The Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates three times during the period, whilst the federal government announced changes to capital gains tax as part of its 2026 Budget.

KPMG said economic uncertainty and costs linked to the conflict in the Middle East and the extended closure of the Strait of Hormuz also contributed to a greater focus on cost control.

Hong Kong continued to expand its policies for financial technology and digital assets. 

In February, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority released its Fintech Promotion Blueprint, covering areas including AI, distributed ledger technology, high-performance computing, data and cyber resilience. In April, the authority issued its first two stablecoin issuer licences.

For the second half of 2026, KPMG expects India to continue attracting fintech investment, whilst demand for AI-related regulatory and workflow tools is expected to increase in Australia and other slower-growing markets. 

China could see further consolidation in payments, credit and wealth management, with larger fintech companies increasingly acting as buyers. 

Hong Kong is also expected to continue developing policies around AI, stablecoins and tokenisation as it seeks to expand institutional use of digital assets.