BANKING really quickly , smartly , very digitised , they don ' t need bricks and mortar , they don ' t need branches . So we ' ve seen a real acceleration of a lot of organisations coming into that space .”
Regional APAC developments through digital banking The rise of digital banks globally has had incumbents troubled for some time . After all , if customers can manage all their transactions , savings and bill paying through a user-friendly app , the benefits are obvious . Furthermore , many digital banks charge lower fees and offer significantly better deals when it comes to lines of credit . In areas where traditional banks are failing to serve large swathes of the population , digital solutions have swept in .
“ What we ' ve seen in particular is a number of new entrants offering financial service solutions to their existing customer bases ,” Bertand explains . In short , telcos , conglomerates and big retailers that already have big customer bases , are now looking to expand and offer financial services , which has boosted the marketplace activity .
“ Because they don ' t have some of the technology debts that the banks have , they ' re able to actually get things into market very quickly , they ' re allowed to provide services
Incumbents under fire The activity has been a wakeup call for traditional banks because of the increased competition , and this in turn , has mobilised digital transformation in the banking sector . A third factor , points out Bertrand , is the regulatory bodies in the banking sector . “ Obviously the pandemic has hit everyone very hard ,” he says .
“ Some organisations have been able to respond . Others haven ' t been able to respond in a timely manner to offer COVID loans and payment holidays and a variety of things like that ,”
Crypto and digital currencies in APAC Cryptocurrency has been adopted with enthusiasm , with countries like the Philippines leading the way in terms of digital transactions using DeFi . Bertrand believes that more regulations to protect users would almost certainly be helpful in stabilizing the marketplace .
“ You ' re starting to see regulation really come into the fore and regulators are paying attention . I think you ' ll start to see a lot more management - not just in crypto , but in Buy Now Pay Later , because it ' s also an unregulated product type .”
Better regulation will , he believes , allow the cryptocurrency to develop into a mature product . The banks will also play a leading role in supporting cryptocurrency as a standardised product for themselves .
Mambu , for example , has taken a dynamic lead by introducing the first cryptocurrency bank - Kraken - to the US , which runs off its own digital platform .
80 January 2022