The Insider’s View To Payments And Fintech in Asia and Africa

THE COINTELEGRAPH: Analysis of the biennial Payment Innovations Report 2015 from June 17 has described an increasingly successful FinTech sector in Asian and African countries that they say is likely to take the lead in digital payment startups and new businesses, while they criticize NFC payments as a “solution still looking for a problem.”

Looking at the future of payment innovation, the report seeks to identify the greatest opportunities in the sector, as well as dispel “overhyped” concepts. The strongest theme underlying the report is of the shift in FinTech innovations from the West to Asia and Africa.  Read the full article 

Forbes: Fast growth in Asia and strong market performance drove much of the wealth growth in 2014, when worldwide assets reached a record-high $164.3 trillion, according to the 2015 Global Wealth Report by the Boston Consulting Group , Winning the Growth Game. Wealth managers and advisory firms are also anticipating the coming digital revolution in financial services, though a tangible impact has yet to be felt. Read the full article

Stanford SOCIAL INNOVATION Review: Microcredit is the newest silver bullet for alleviating poverty. Wealthy philanthropists such as financier George Soros and eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar are pledging hundreds of millions of dollars to the microcredit movement. Global commercial banks, such as Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, are establishing microfinance funds. Even people with just a few dollars to spare are going to microcredit Web sites and, with a click of the mouse, lending money to rice farmers in Ecuador and auto mechanics in Togo. Read the full article

TECHCRUNCH: How Fintech Can Disrupt Africa’s Cash-Based Economy? Paying at a local coffee shop or superstore with your smartphone instead of your bank card is convenient, but not much more convenient than using a credit card. While there is significant disruption in some fintech areas, such as international money transfer by companies like TransferWise and Azimo, other innovations can seem a bit cosmetic to Western users. Read the full article