Chinese Internet giant TenCent has revealed that revenues from its fledgeling fintech and business services operations reached £2.5 billion in the first quarter, outstripping the firm's traditional stronghold in smartphone gaming.
This is the first time that TenCent has broken down revenues from its payments and cloud businesses, reflecting the size and scale of its operations in financial services.
All told, revenue from fintech and business services was up 44%, making up for a slippage in earning from the gaming sector, which is facing increasing scrutiny from Chinese regulatory agencies.
The firms says take-off of its payments business follows years of heavy investment in app development and risk management, underscored by the rapidly-emerging demand for such services as China’s economy develops, and the need for digital payments and financial services extends
"We provided point-of-sales solutions to tens of millions of merchants spanning from flagship partners to long-tail merchants," states the firm. "These initiatives demanded that we develop and upgrade solutions serving consumers and merchants, while fulfilling regulatory and security needs, at a massive scale. Executing these initiatives enables the payment-related revenue we generate today, and supports the efficient distribution of financial services, such as personal wealth management and micro-loan products. The FinTech business also provides us with enterprise relationships and experience that are complementary to our emerging business service offerings."