Brings together the ASEAN Fintech community for collaboration and growth
The ASEAN Fintech Network (AFN), a collaboration among 6 fintech non-profit industry organisations from across the region, celebrated their launch today at the Singapore Fintech Festival. Current membership includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Representatives from each body gathered in Singapore to announce their collaboration and a commitment to build engagement and cooperation across the ASEAN community. Representatives from over 10 additional global fintech hubs will join the inauguration with AFN.
The AFN centres success around four pillars;
- training of potential fintech workforce,
- improved accessibility of investment capital,
- global market access,
- deepening availablity of cutting edge technology.
As a grassroots movement, AFN will assist fintech startups in ASEAN to expand their operations into fresh markets, both in ASEAN and globally. The regional body will work with stakeholders to support the growth of ASEAN Fintech ecosystem, along with a spirit of collaboration among startups and fintech bubs.
Founding Member, Varun Mittal commented that “
The AFN will enable fintech startups and communities to share best practices, come with actionable items to support each other and make ASEAN a vibrant fintech hub.”
Host of the launch and incubator of the AFN, Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) President, Chia Hock Lai believes that “
the AFN is a strong platform to promote cross-boarder collaboration among members and help promote fintech in the region.“
The opportunity for fintech companies in ASEAN is far-reaching. The region itself boasts over 620 million people across 10 countries, with a shared GDP of $2.5 trillion. It has a rapidly growing online population of 225 million coupled with low banking penetration – more than 300 million citizens do not have bank accounts.
FT Confidential Research published survey findings across AFN member states, ex-Singapore. It found at least 70% of urban adults had access to cashless payment systems. Both Thailand and Singapore have local banks experimenting with QR codes for payments with Indonesia expected to follow shortly.
