©iStock/LDProd China has more than a billion people and is tapping into markets such as India and Africa -- capturing markets that account for more like three to four billion users, in places with fast emerging middle classes. "If you are banker and you are in transaction banking, you are foolish if you think in five years' time the majority of your customers' transactions will be conventional supply chain transactions, or conventional trade transactions. They and a growing host of new businesses, often global SMEs, will be trading through platforms like Alibaba. So the banking side of the business will gravitate towards Alibaba, and there may be one or two other platforms competing alongside them." For example, if we are leaning toward a platform-based global commerce economy, what about Google, Facebook, eBay and Amazon? Don't underestimate their capabilities. Read more: Alibaba advances: How China is using fin tech to take control of global trade