| Danial Norjidi |
THE topic of ‘FinTech and Blockchain: Issues, Opportunities and Challenges’ was in the spotlight during a panel discussion at the 13th Annual Brunei Darussalam Roundtable yesterday.
The discussion featured a panel comprising Head of Absolute Return and Commodities at Brunei Investment Agency Noorsurainah binti Tengah, Manager of group Electronic Banking and Trade Services at Baiduri Bank Berhad Andy Lai, Co-founder of CoinPip Alexander Angerer, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of FinFabrik Alex Medana and Chairman of Singapore Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Industry Association (ACCESS) Anson Zeall.
Speaking on FinTech, Noorsurainah said, “We are very fortunate to be living in this period where change is happening at a very rapid pace. So whether it’s artificial intelligence, robotics, big data analytics or blockchain, at the heart of it, it is about computers and also automation coming together in a truly new way that it is revolutionising the way we interact with, work and play.
“If you’ve ever checked your banking statement online, paid for a transaction or transferred money with an app, then you are already part of this multi-billion dollar industry called FinTech.”
She said that how technology is enabling the financial sector sounds like a very simple concept, but added that its effects touch many products, technologies, business models. She highlighted that it is changing the entire shape of the financial services industries.
“It refers to everything from cashless payments, crowdfunding platforms, Robo-advisors and virtual currencies. Just like the Internet 20 years ago, today we are just at the very beginning.
“Today, hundreds of start-ups are trying to disrupt banking and finance by changing the way we pay and borrow money. Investors are buying into this idea. Since 2010, almost 100 billion dollars have been invested into this space, with 2017 being a record year, where investments surged 18 per cent, with a value of almost 30 billion dollars in transactions. Start-ups focussing on lending and payments have been receiving the majority of these investments. And we know for a fact that it’s not just start-ups. It’s the big guys like Alibaba and Apple who are also trying to be early adopters, trying to define and shape this space.”
On the other side of the equation, consumers are adopting FinTech fast, she said, noting that one out of three people across 20 major economies have used at least two FinTech services in the last six months. She added that China and India, especially, are taking a lead on this, where half of their consumers are using FinTech to buy insurance, to borrow money, to transact and even do financial planning.
She highlighted that innovative finance lowers the barriers to financial inclusion. “FinTech has been able to fill the void for people who traditionally don’t have access to traditional banking services, and today that figure is estimated at two billion people. With FinTech all you need is your phone to take out either a loan or insurance.
“Like any other growing industry, this is not without risk. But like so many other risks, we can quantify it, we can list it out, and we can manage it, and hopefully someone on the panel today can pick up on the topic of risk management,” she affirmed. “But it is only going to get bigger as the industry grows, and for consumers and those in business, this is more than a buzzword. It is a business opportunity to the tune of billions of dollars. It will change the way society lives and it is here to stay.”
Andy Lai then spoke on why FinTech firms are leading the way in many areas, and noting that many FinTech firms are start-ups. “Start-ups actually create their own systems from scratch. That is the very good thing about start-ups.”
He also shared his thoughts on the benefits FinTech brings to the end consumer, saying that these include customer experience, being cheaper and efficiency.
The next speaker was Alexander Angerer who said, “I think one way that we can think of as FinTech really benefitting consumers is that it’s really about knowing the cost provision of financial services and providing it at a scalable level.”
He noted Noorsurainah’s point about financial inclusion, saying, “Frankly I think that is really integral to the idea of what FinTech is. It is about the democratisation of finance.”
He also highlighted that the key idea behind FinTech is that “by being a part of the end-to-end transaction, the consumer ultimately benefits”.
Meanwhile, Alex Medana said that FinTech can deliver change. “Why FinTech? We can deliver change. It’s very, very simple, because we talk to the end user. We’re not afraid to go out and say, ‘tell me about how you would use this?’”
The panel discussion was moderated by Head of FinTech Unit at Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) Haji Md Khairul Zaki bin Haji Mohidin.