There is no doubt that the unbanked population is top of mind for banks across APAC. In their latest article, Fintech News reached out toUOB’sArvid Swartsenburg, Head of Partnerships and Strategy, TMRW Digital Group, and Meniga’s Head of APAC Kanika Mittal for their thoughts regarding the unbanked, why there is so much potential with this group, and how banks can serve them best.
Southeast Asia is home to an unbanked population of around 290 million, according to Fitch Ratings. Only 18 percent of the population in the region has access to credit. This is lower than the proportion of the population that is digitally-ready, which is at 37 percent based on World Bank Global Findex data. This provides a supportive environment and impetus for digital financial services to grow.
Arvid Swartsenburg, Head of Partnerships & Strategy of TMRW, UOB’s stand-alone digital bank, states that the unique characteristics of the unbanked are what’s “pushing financial services companies to rethink banking from the ground up to continuously innovate”.
In order to build this unprecedented digital bank, UOB partnered with Meniga to support their data categorisation engine, thus providing TMRW with the ability to transform the data generated by customers into anticipatory insights.
To date, the system has processed and categorized 500 millions of transactions for TMRW and UOB’s Mighty mobile app, Swartsenburg said.
Meniga is proud to have been selected as one of the partners that enable TMRW to provide an innovative digital experience.
Thanks to its microservices architecture, TMRW is able to rapidly adapt and scale its platform rapidly by integrating with third-party providers using APIs, Swartsenburg said.
The importance of data-driven banking has been underscored bythe current pandemic that has swept the globe. “Online and mobile banking channels across countries increased by an estimated 20 to 50 percent, according to McKinsey”. TMRW is “digital from the start” and according to Swartsenburg, releases a new version of their app every month across Thailand and Indonesia in order to change and evolve with the needs of their customers.
UOB’s first-class digital banking solution is a testament to their customer-centric strategy and their ability to stay ahead in this increasingly competitive landscape,” Kanika Mittal
The global pandemic has accelerated the growth of digital banking and has forever changed the landscape of traditional banking. We are operating in the new normal — one where speed, agility and customer-centric innovation are the main elements to success. The success of the TMRW app is indicative of how banks and fintechs can work together to provide the best possible user experience.
Find the full article on Fintech News here.
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