FinTech Collaborations and Frameworks Gain Steam in Asia

In China, the central bank has said that it will offer up a three-year development plan for the domestic FinTech sector.

As reported by AltFi, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has said that the sector represents a “new” growth engine. The reports state that the FinTech firms in that country “should take the approach of [Chinese president] Xi Jinping’s socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era as the guide.” The statements were contained in the PBOC’s FinTech Development Plan 2019-2021.

As the site reported, the plan states that stronger FinTech risk controls should be in place, and adds that FinTech can help improve the quality of financial services through the country. That improvement can come as the gains may be seen across digitalization and networking efforts and China’s financial technology can be at the “international leading level.”

Elsewhere in Asia, Nikkei Asian Review reports that in Japan, Fujitsu is bringing a credit scoring product to financial institutions that leveraged artificial intelligence to screen borrowers. The product will be available starting in October and will focus on screening smaller businesses.

Fujitsu has noted that there has been a shortage of data specialists that can provide credit analysis in the country. In terms of mechanics, the credit scoring software will use data spanning bank and corporate transactions, and Nikkei said the lenders would need to secure borrowers’ consent before accessing and using that data.

In Europe

Beyond the confines of Europe, Cryptix, a blockchain service provider based in Zug, Switzerland, has said that it acquired Blocktrade, which operates as a digital asset exchange platform. Blocktrade, according to a release, has a European license in place to trade with tokens and digital coins. The deal will, in turn, allow Cryptix to apply for a license as an investment firm in the region, focusing on financing solutions for small- and medium-sized companies.

In Canada, and also in the online lending arena, news came this week that EnStream, the digital identity and device authentication joint venture of Canada’s national mobile network operators and thirdstream, focused on branch and online consumer onboarding solutions supporting banks, trusts and credit unions partnered to advance thirdstream’s digital platform capabilities. The collaboration seeks to promote a “friction-free” digital identity and authentication services tied to fraud prevention.

The companies said the platform uses web services and application programming interfaces (APIs) to integrate credit bureau and telecom provider data and meets the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) guidelines for customer-not-present ID verification. The platform also promotes real-time digital onboarding while, according to the release, removing the requirement for front line staff to collect other paper sources of identity. Enstream, the companies said, now serves more than 40 parties including some of the largest banks and credit unions in Canada.