“The Fintech Challenge Viet Nam has been useful input into developing an enabling legal framework for the fintech ecosystem development in Viet Nam,” said Mr. Nguyen Kim Anh, SBV’s Deputy Governor cum Chairman of SBV’s Fintech Steering Committee. “We will continue to gather lessons learned as the winning fintech startups develop and prepare to deploy their solutions.”
Source: vtc.vn
Aiming to accelerate financial technology and industry collaboration for financial inclusion and digital banking transformation in Viet Nam, the FCV this year attracted 208 applications by early-and growth-stage fintech companies from 28 countries around the world.
“New technologies have exciting potential to expand access to finance for unbanked and underbanked groups, while enhancing the efficiency and financial security in Viet Nam’s fast-growing market,” said Mr. Eric Sidgwick, ADB Country Director for Viet Nam. “The Fintech Challenge Vietnam bodes well for financial inclusion and digital finance in Viet Nam.”
The applications focused on big data and artificial intelligence, financial service outreach, and cybersecurity technology, which are the priorities identified by the State Bank of Viet Nam. The finalists presented their pitches before a panel of independent judges at the Demo Day on 7 November 2019. Three early-stage and three growth-stage fintech companies have won cash prizes totaling $55,000, as below.
Mature Startup Track
1st Prize – Trusting Social – Viet Nam – Trusting Social uses data science and AI to provide financial services for everyone, including the underbanked. Trusting Social has Asia’s largest credit scored pool.
2nd Prize – Tookitaki – Singapore – Tookitaki is a cyber security company providing transaction monitoring and machine learning-powered regulatory compliance management for clients in financial services industry.
3rd Prize – Interloan – Viet Nam – Interloan‘s P2P (Peer to Peer) lending platform provides users with solutions for salary advances and micro-investment opportunities.
Early-Stage Startup Track
1st Prize – Kilimo – Viet Nam – Kilimo Finance allows banks to finance the agricultural sector by transforming agri-finance knowledge into attractive loan products.
2nd Prize – Staple – Singapore – Staple's cognitive technology reads, interprets, and extracts structured data from business documents.
3rd Prize – Touchless ID – India –Touchless ID uses touchless biometrics to verify users' identities through fingerprints or photos.
The FCV 2019 was additionally sponsored by Mastercard and VISA and received technical support from EY and Padang & Co.
Corporate partners include TPBank, UOB, Vietcombank, VietCredit, VietinBank, and Viettel Digital Services Corporation, who are seeking technology approaches with efficient business models for joint pilot projects and commercial partnerships. Investment partners Phoenix Holdings and VinaCapital Ventures are evaluating ventures with high potential for investments. Ecosystem partners Thinkzone, VNPay, VIISA, VSV, VietFintech may provide additional support and acceleration to the startups./.