The global financial technology market appears to be booming, especially in China, which has seen a new surge in deals after falling into a slump earlier this year. 

But the market isn't so hot in the U.S., where fintech deals have fallen to an 11-quarter low, according to the latest global fintech report from New York-based data firm CB Insights. 

Fintech funding for the third quarter of this year reached nearly $9 billion globally, which is an all-time quarterly high when excluding Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. affiliate Ant Financial Services Group's $14 billion funding round during the second quarter of 2018. 

So far this year, fintech has raised $25.6 billion, which already eclipses 2017's total of $18.8 billion. 

Fintech deals in Asia climbed from 98 in the second quarter to 152 in the third quarter. Deals in China increased by more than 160% quarter over quarter, from 21 to 55. At the same time, the U.S. saw its deals drop from 166 to 156. 

"In Asia, the market demand continues, especially when it comes to addressing the unbanked and the respective governments' push in the region when it comes to financial inclusion," said Donna Parisi, global head of finance and fintech at Shearman & Sterling in New York.

"The region also has a bigger pool of capital available due to large investors such as Ant Financial and SoftBank," she added. 

The report notes a decrease in early-stage deals in the U.S., a trend that played out globally during the third quarter. The pullback on early investment in fintech is expected to cause the number of deals in 2019 to fall short of the record in 2018, which recorded 1,967 deals, compared with 1,387 so far this year. 

"In the U.S., many investors are taking a wait-and-see approach for market consolidation to take place before investing further into new fintechs," said Alan Bickerstaff, a partner in Shearman's emerging growth, capital markets and M&A practices.

"Corporate investors have also not been seeing solutions that are as applicable to their long-term strategies, which has led to an overall decline in corporate venture capital this quarter," added Bickerstaff, who is based in Austin, Texas.

Huhnsik Chung, a partner at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in New York who has clients in the fintech industry, linked the slowdown in early-stage investment to "maturity and discipline on the investor side" of the equation.

"If you look at the new ventures starting up in the U.S. and Asia, there are more companies that have appeared in the U.S. marketplace as opposed to a lot of the ongoing enterprises out in Asia. I think that's impacting where the money's going," he added. "I think investors are becoming much more savvy."

Latin America was the fintech star for the second quarter of this year, when fintech funding in the region hit a six-quarter high of $481 million across 23 deals, surpassing both China and India for the first time. Several LatAm fintech startups drove the growth.

For the third quarter, southeast Asia stepped up and set a new annual record with $701 million raised across 87 deals. Also noteworthy: India reclaimed its crown for the top country for fintech funding in Asia with $674 million. In China, which had more deals than India, funding totalled $661 million. 

Back in the U.S., fintech funding for the year reached $12.9 billion through the third quarter, surpassing the total of $12.5 billion in 2018, which saw 762 deals compared with 513 so far this year. 

In the fintech hubs of California and New York, mega-round funding, which has driven funding in earlier quarters, cooled during the third quarter, according to the report. In California, funding dropped from more than $2.9 million in the second quarter to $2.2 million in the third. The decline in New York was $1.5 million to $495,000.

"Many are fresh off of mega-rounds in 2019, which helps explain the pullback," the report states. "NY also saw deals drop to 38, while CA saw a boost to 67 deals from early-stage deals."

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Latin America Fintech Boom Continues While Asia Remains in Slump