Egypt’s promise as a fintech hub in the MENA region

Egypt’s promise as a fintech hub in the MENA region

With an increasing local prominence, Egypt’s fintech services market is making its presence felt in the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions.  This is underpinned by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) which is set to launch a USD 100 million fintech fund early in 2020.  Currently, the CBE is facilitating the creation…

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Indonesia emerges as a worthwhile investment contender in Southeast Asia

Indonesia emerges as a worthwhile investment contender in Southeast Asia

Indonesia’s population of 265.4 million people, makes it the 4th most populous country in the world.  Despite its lower internet penetration rates when compared to other Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines – Indonesia’s sheer size combined with an emerging middle class and digitally savvy population,  puts this country of…

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Mexico: the second largest fintech ecosystem in Latin America

Mexico - the second largest fintech ecosystem in Latin America

According to the last Fintech Radar Brazil, Mexican fintech startups number 334, coming second to the largest fintech ecosystem in the region – Brazil which numbers 377 startups.  Mexico’s fintechs are driven mainly by the growth in the following segments: Enterprise Technologies for Financial Institutions, Trading, Capital Markets, Wealth Management and Alternative Scoring, Identity and Fraud.…

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Trends in Indian Fintech and Digital Ecosystem

Trends in Indian Fintech and Digital Ecosystem

According to the KPMG/NASSCOM report on Fintech in India – powering a digital economy, the Asian fintech market is currently dominated by two growing economies:  China and India. Fintech investments strengthened in H1 of 2018 in China compared to the end of 2017, while the Indian market experienced large investments in fintech with 31 deals…

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Opportunities in Vietnam Fintech Arena

Opportunities in Vietnam Fintech Arena

Fintech is disrupting Vietnam’s financial services ecosystem.  In a country which, according to EY Vietnam,(2) 41% of the population are unbanked, there are numerous challenges and opportunities for the fintech sector, with the government aiming to reduce cash transactions to 10 per cent and increase bank accounts in the population by 70 per cent by…

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Investment potential of Vietnam’s Fintech Industry

Investment potential of Vietnam’s Fintech Industry

The ASEAN Fintech Census(3) reports that the financial sector landscape in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with its underserved SMEs and consumer markets, complimented by increased mobile and internet penetration has paved the way for the disruption of traditional financial institutions. On the back of strong fundamentals and with FinTech adoption on the…

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Vietnam fintech space: an opportunity for investors

Vietnam fintech space: an opportunity for investors

According to Solidiance, although fintech has garnered considerable market attraction, barriers persist. Challenges including lack of regulatory clarity, capital limitation, management knowledge constraints, and trust issues which must be observed in Vietnam’s financial services industry. At present, the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) is the sole payment service provider for fintech and e-commerce innovation…

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Smartphone penetration increases market share for Vietnam Fintech

Smartphone penetration increases market share for Vietnam Fintech

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers the World Bank Group (WBG), estimates that 2 billion or 42% of the global adult population does not have access to basic financial services. [They] believe that addressing the un(der)banked community, which is largely located in Asia Pacific, presents sizeable opportunities for both startups and corporates.  This is especially valid as cell…

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Impact of Mexico’s new Fintech Law on the finance sector

Impact of Mexico’s new Fintech Law on the finance sector

March 10 this year saw Mexico’s lower house of Congress passing a groundbreaking Fintech law, with the purpose of regulating the country’s rapidly expanding financial technology sector.  According to Reuters, the approved bill includes fintech aspects such as crowdfunding and cryptocurrency firms – placing Mexico amongst a small group of countries to establish regulations for…

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