Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand are the most favourable markets for fintech lending in SEA

Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand provide the most favourable conditions for the development of fintech lending in Southeast Asia. They got 147.5, 64.9, 52.1 points respectively in the Index of short-term prospects of fintech lending conducted by Robocash Group. In a short term perspective, it promises to result in the inflow of investments in the local projects.

Indonesia provides the most fertile environment for the development of alternative lending in Southeast Asia. The country got 147.5 points in the index of the financial holding Robocash Group. To distinguish the prospects for fintech lending in the eleven SEA countries at a numerical scale, the company studied sixteen different aspects associated with social and economic development, financial inclusion, digital adoption etc.

The most significant factors placing Indonesia to the top are the population size, widespread use of mobile phones, growing need for finance with remaining low access to financial services. Thus, in 2017, only 48.9% of the Indonesian had a bank account, but 54.8% borrowed money. According to Financial Services Authority (OJK), as of December 2018, the volume of P2P loans issued in the country amounted to over US$1.15 bln.

Taking second place in the index (64.9), the Philippines has several strong points too. Compared to Indonesia, there are more young people, who will be active consumers soon. Also, Filipinos are the first in the world by the time spent online and on social media. However, the territorial fragmentation still leaves people underserved by banks: only 34.5% had a bank account in 2017. The fact of borrowing among 58.6% of people in 2017 confirmed the gap between the real demand for finance and financial inclusion.

Thailand (52.1) also demonstrates readiness to embrace fintech solutions. The country has higher GDP (US$17,872 in 2017) than Indonesia (US$12,284) and the Philippines (US$8,343). The population feels at ease with the Internet (82% of Internet users in 2018) and digital services (62.3% made or received digital payments in 2017).

Two more countries in the TOP 5 are Singapore (50.1) and Vietnam (49.4). The long-standing reputation of Singapore speaks for itself. The main hindering factor is the limit of the market volume. Therefore, local fintechs expand to neighbouring countries with lower competition and higher customer potential. The third largest population size in SEA makes Vietnam a good example. Low financial inclusion (30.8% of people had an account in 2017), high demand for finance (49.0% borrowed money in 2017) and Internet penetration (66% in 2018) and mobile connectivity altogether raise the attractiveness of the local alternative lending market for foreign investments.

In the background of the apparent leaders, the rest of the SEA region may seem less attractive for fintech lending. Nevertheless, there are Myanmar (22.4), Laos (15.2) and Cambodia (14.6) that look promising in a longer-term perspective.

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ABOUT
Robocash Group is an international financial group operating in the segments of consumer alternative lending and marketplace funding in Europe and Asia. The company develops robotic financial services providing lending to customers in Russia, Kazakhstan, Spain, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and India and operates its own EU-based investment platform. The group develops products completely in-house using artificial intelligence, machine learning and data-driven technologies to provide precise and comprehensive risk management, comfort and speed for customers and efficiency for business.
https://robocash.group/

ROBOCASH GROUP
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Presscontact
Olga Davydova
Head of Media Relations
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This release was published on openPR.