Author: Johanan Devanesan

Heading into 2023, it is a time of uncertainty for financial institutions offering payments. There is strong economic pressure on companies dealing in finance and technology globally, including in the ASEAN region due to a variety of macroeconomic factors. It’s worth noting that traditional finance business models, including banking with its monolithic legacy infrastructure, are not equipped for the highly digital economies and consumer behaviour they face in 2023. Technology will be key in shaping the evolution of payments in ASEAN and elsewhere, heading deeper into the 21st century. That is the opinion of industry leaders across fintech and financial…

As the spectre of recession looms large over the region, tech startups have been cutting back on costs and resorting to mass layoffs. Fintech companies in Singapore have been likewise affected, and the prospect of promising jobs in the bustling local fintech scene might be under threat in 2023. Nevertheless, Singapore continues to be a beacon for the fintech industry, with talent the world over coming to seek jobs and a career track in an innovation-spurred sector that is revolutionising financial services.  Despite its status as a global fintech hub, various economic tailwinds including the pandemic have put the Singapore…

Until fairly recently, fintech startups from India that showed promise had to move their base to more favourable climates to get the sort of valuations, better fundraising opportunities, and better taxation structures.  Singapore, Dubai, and the US were all more promising locations to set up shop for industrious fintech startups from a country like India. This has been the norm for as long as people in the industry care to remember, yet slowly but surely, the status quo is changing for fintech startups in India. As regulatory mandates and better business expectations present themselves back in the motherland, even the…

The World Bank Group is issuing US$250 million to Indonesia as part of a wide-ranging move to strengthen the country’s digital identity, or ID, systems in what could see sweeping changes to how people can access (and make payments, among other things) services across both the public and private sectors. Despite its sprawling geography with islands of various sizes and population densities, Indonesia sports a comprehensive 97% adoption rate for its national ID numbers, NIK, and electronic ID cards, e-KTP. There is a lively digital economy in Indonesia, but it is mostly centred around urban hubs while much of the…

Even as India is going about the implementation of 75 fully digital banking branches throughout the country, including making allocations for rural areas in the 2022-2023 budget, Kerala claims it has emerged as the first state in India to go fully digital in its banking services. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Viyajan made the announcement on January 7 at an event in Thiruvananthapuram, and emphasised how this development would spur the economy at the state level, although how exactly Kerala is “the first fully digital banking state in the country” was not immediately made clear. Would it be a a similar…

The way we pay for goods and services is constantly evolving, and the payment trends in Asia are only accelerating in 2023 as digital innovations are increasingly harnessed to offer ease and convenience to consumers in a competitive retail environment.  In 2023, we can expect to see even more changes in trends in the payments landscape across Asia as new technologies and consumer preferences come into play. Here are some of the top payment trends to watch out for in Asia in 2023 and beyond. Buy now, pay later (BNPL) will gain more popularity in Asia For a while there,…

Bitcoin, the world’s first and most widely-recognized cryptocurrency, has gained a reputation for being a volatile and risky investment. However, in certain economies around the world, Bitcoin is being embraced as a useful tool that is allowing for financial stability and economic growth to continue despite unpredictable financial uncertainty. The recent collapse of exchange platform FTX and the 200 percent decline in the global cryptocurrency market has significantly dented confidence in Bitcoin again among speculative investors.  But in many parts of the developing world, where volatile local economies have been upended by political or social instability, inflationary tactics and unreliable…

In Asia and elsewhere, financial super apps (also known as fintech super apps) are mobile applications that offer a wide range of financial services, including banking, investment, and insurance. These apps have gained popularity in recent years due to their convenience and user-friendly design. Financial super apps have quickly become an integral part of the daily lives of millions not just in Asia, but around the world. These all-in-one financial services platforms allow users to easily manage their money, make payments, and access a wide range of other financial services, all from one convenient app. In recent years, a number…

Unlike a lot of the next-generational technology that have thus far failed to live up to their full purported transformational abilities, the disruptive potential of financial technology (fintech) has been more evident in numerous practical use cases. And in 2023, the positive impact of fintech is only set to be felt further. Unlike some early applications of artificial intelligence and the metaverse, for example, fintech use cases have transformed businesses and economies, have engendered financial inclusion for marginalised communities, and its practical impacts are improving society in the present day, instead of in some idealised future. But the outlook for…