Fintech outlays booming
Fintech startups in Thailand have been growing at a fast pace, from fewer than 10 to more than 100 over the past three years, thanks to funding support from financial institutions, says the Thai Fintech Association.
President Jessada Sookdhis said local banks have channelled investment to fintech startups worth hundreds of millions of baht.
Most Thai financial institutions support fintech startups through business partnerships.
This differs from some foreign countries, where fintech startups disrupt or compete with existing financial institutions for market share.
“In Thailand, fintech startups should not create financial disruption as in many foreign countries because local financial institutions are eager to engage in partnerships,” Mr Jessada said.
He gave the example of Ant Financial, a fintech company offering inclusive global financial services. The company was founded in October 2014, originating from Alipay, which was founded in 2004.
Mr Jessada said Thai financial institutions’ investment in fintech would number billions of baht if capital injection in foreign fintech startups is included.
There are five fintech trends he expects to become more popular next year.
The first trend is banking through social media platforms such as Facebook, Line and WeChat, which already provide financial services.
The second, “easy banking”, lets users conduct financial transactions anytime, anywhere, such as with a Rabbit card.
Cryptocurrency, also known as digital currency, is another trend, offering a new funding method called an initial coin offering (ICO).
“ICOs are expected to be popular in the near future as shareholders’ stocks will not be diluted, unlike raising funds from an initial public offering or secondary offering,” Mr Jessada said. “However, this instrument has the highest risk and needs to regulated.”
The fourth trend is using artificial intelligence to make decisions instead of human staff on questions such as credit analysis.
Robo-advisers and algorithmic trading are the fifth trend. Both have been widely used, Mr Jessada said.