This case won the Knowledge, Information and Communication Systems Management category at The Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2022. #CaseAwards2022
Who – the protagonists
Eric Jing, Chairman and CEO of fintech giant Ant Financial, and Chen Long, Chief Strategy Officer.
What?
Ant Financial, formerly known as Alipay, was one of the most highly valued private companies in the world. Based in China, it was the world’s largest fintech company offering a full spectrum of financial products from payments to loans, wealth management, credit scoring and insurance services to over 520 million active customers.
Why?
Ant Financial had grown relentlessly since its incorporation in 2014 but, with such spectacular growth, it had to cope with an increasing number of challenges. Restrictions on China’s regulatory market and intense competition both from existing banks and new entrants into the fintech sector were the cause of uncertainties but CEO Eric Jing was determined to continue to grow the company. He had set an ambitious target of two billion customers globally by 2025 and asked, would current strategies be sufficient to deliver the growth? What more needed to be done to push the company forward?
When?
Ant Financial was founded in 2004 as Alipay, the financial affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. It was incorporated in 2014 and the case examines the company three years later.
Where?
Ant Financial is based in China where over 54% of online payments are made using the platform. It has also ventured into India and Thailand, most notably in purchasing a large number of shares in Paytm, India’s largest e-commerce platform.
Key quote
What next?
With the company’s determination to grow, Ant Financial needed to both sustain its rapid domestic growth and pursue international expansion opportunities. It was already differentiating itself as a Techfin company (as opposed to a fintech one) where its unique and innovative technology could reimagine the traditional financial landscape. The question remained, what were the next steps for Ant Financial?
This is the second award for Sia Siew Kien and Nanyang Business School in the Knowledge, Information and Communication Systems Management category following their previous win in 2017. It is the first award for co-authors Rainny Shuyan Xie and Boon-Siong Neo.
Winning the award
The authors said: “This award means a lot to us. We have a strong sense of pride and satisfaction in knowing our case has been useful in stirring discussion and developing insights in the wider global community.”
Case popularity
Sia Siew comments: “I think the Ant Financial case is popular because it illustrates the continuous business innovation needed to compete in the digital era, and it digs deep into the refined differentiation between a fintech company and a techfin company to sustainably deliver new value propositions.”
Writing the case
He continues: “The key challenge in writing the Ant Financial case was the dynamic development in the fintech space. There is a continuous need to update the teaching note to tease out more interesting insights.”
Case writing advice
The authors’ top tip: “Choosing a good case to write is important. The case should be interesting, innovative, and to some extent, controversial in its development.”
Teaching the case
Sia Siew explains: “I teach this case by contrasting it with an incumbent transformation case (i.e. DBS: From the ‘World’s Best Bank’ to Building the Future-ready Enterprise) and asking if incumbents have done enough to counter such threats. The wide variety of responses is usually a good starting point to debate and argue the strategic position an incumbent should take. I would say it is a good case to trigger discussion.”
Discover how this case works in the classroom.
"I use this case in my MBA FinTech lectures at Henley and I have found it to be invaluable in introducing financial technologies and contextualising them for our graduate learners. I find the evolution of Ant Financials fascinating, and the authors’ coverage in depth and breadth of the case details, stimulating. Our learners appreciate the impact of financial technologies on the transformation of financial services, and find the case context a fascinating learning experience."
The case
Who – the protagonists
Eric Jing, Chairman and CEO of fintech giant Ant Financial, and Chen Long, Chief Strategy Officer.
What?
Ant Financial, formerly known as Alipay, was one of the most highly valued private companies in the world. Based in China, it was the world’s largest fintech company offering a full spectrum of financial products from payments to loans, wealth management, credit scoring and insurance services to over 520 million active customers.
Why?
Ant Financial had grown relentlessly since its incorporation in 2014 but, with such spectacular growth, it had to cope with an increasing number of challenges. Restrictions on China’s regulatory market and intense competition both from existing banks and new entrants into the fintech sector were the cause of uncertainties but CEO Eric Jing was determined to continue to grow the company. He had set an ambitious target of two billion customers globally by 2025 and asked, would current strategies be sufficient to deliver the growth? What more needed to be done to push the company forward?
When?
Ant Financial was founded in 2004 as Alipay, the financial affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. It was incorporated in 2014 and the case examines the company three years later.
Where?
Ant Financial is based in China where over 54% of online payments are made using the platform. It has also ventured into India and Thailand, most notably in purchasing a large number of shares in Paytm, India’s largest e-commerce platform.
Key quote
What next?
With the company’s determination to grow, Ant Financial needed to both sustain its rapid domestic growth and pursue international expansion opportunities. It was already differentiating itself as a Techfin company (as opposed to a fintech one) where its unique and innovative technology could reimagine the traditional financial landscape. The question remained, what were the next steps for Ant Financial?
Author perspective
This is the second award for Sia Siew Kien and Nanyang Business School in the Knowledge, Information and Communication Systems Management category following their previous win in 2017. It is the first award for co-authors Rainny Shuyan Xie and Boon-Siong Neo.
Winning the award
The authors said: “This award means a lot to us. We have a strong sense of pride and satisfaction in knowing our case has been useful in stirring discussion and developing insights in the wider global community.”
Case popularity
Sia Siew comments: “I think the Ant Financial case is popular because it illustrates the continuous business innovation needed to compete in the digital era, and it digs deep into the refined differentiation between a fintech company and a techfin company to sustainably deliver new value propositions.”
Writing the case
He continues: “The key challenge in writing the Ant Financial case was the dynamic development in the fintech space. There is a continuous need to update the teaching note to tease out more interesting insights.”
Case writing advice
The authors’ top tip: “Choosing a good case to write is important. The case should be interesting, innovative, and to some extent, controversial in its development.”
Teaching the case
Sia Siew explains: “I teach this case by contrasting it with an incumbent transformation case (i.e. DBS: From the ‘World’s Best Bank’ to Building the Future-ready Enterprise) and asking if incumbents have done enough to counter such threats. The wide variety of responses is usually a good starting point to debate and argue the strategic position an incumbent should take. I would say it is a good case to trigger discussion.”
Instructor viewpoint
Discover how this case works in the classroom.
"I use this case in my MBA FinTech lectures at Henley and I have found it to be invaluable in introducing financial technologies and contextualising them for our graduate learners. I find the evolution of Ant Financials fascinating, and the authors’ coverage in depth and breadth of the case details, stimulating. Our learners appreciate the impact of financial technologies on the transformation of financial services, and find the case context a fascinating learning experience."
