BFC FinTech Monitor 18th – 25th August

Stay up-to-date on all the all the latest FinTech news and information from around the world in the BFC FinTech Monitor.

Around the World:

Analytical company Gartner has published a list of the main technologies expected to become trends over the next 5-10 years, including human digitalization, algorithmic trust and silicon-free technologies.
Samsung is launching a digital payment card that will allow debit and credit cards from different financial institutions to be combined on the same platform. The new payment card can be accessed using smartphones and Samsung watches.
According to a survey conducted by Digital Finance Forum, British FinTech startups are facing serious issues accessing capital due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sky News has reported that JPMorgan Chase is planning to launch a digital bank in the United Kingdom in early 2021.
A division of Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group is planning to start work on the creation of a new consumer lending platform.
Analysts from The Block have determined that the majority of countries worldwide will not have adequate time to launch national cryptocurrencies within the next 5 years.
Nonprofit organization Commonwealth is collaborating with JPMorgan Chase on a 2-year project studying the impact of emerging technologies, including Big Data and artificial intelligence, on low-income populations.

Russia:

Expobank has become the first in Russia to officially issue a loan secured by a cryptocurrency (Waves tokens).
Customers of Russian financial institutions will be able to use their smartphone as a payment terminal when paying through the Fast Payment System (FPS). The new technology turns a smartphone into a full-fledged payment terminal by accepting QR code-based payments and generating bank transfer receipts.
Users of Ak Bars Business Drive Internet Bank now have an online consultant and a digital signature on the Rutoken carrier.

Ukraine:

Beginning September 1, 2020, Monobank is reducing some of its tariffs. Specifically, interest accrued on the balance on cards will be decreased from 10% to 7% per annum, and the minimum obligatory payment on the credit limit will be reduced from 5% to 4%.
Kiev will host the Financial and Digital Ecosystems for SMEs: Update 2020 forum on September 4, 2020. The main topics of the forum include: the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for SMEs in Ukraine, ecosystems, financial institutions, FinTechs and financial marketplaces for SMEs.
LeoGaming Pay has launched the first cash desk in Ukraine for currency exchange operations using PPO software.

Kazakhstan:

Kapital.kz has published an article on how the COVID-19 quarantine has affected information security in Kazakh financial institutions. The article describes how financial institutions in the country are working to guard against information leaks, cyberattacks and phishing in the new remote working environment.

Kyrgyzstan:

Beginning on October 1, 2020, Kyrgyz financial institutions will be prohibited from serving holders of unidentified electronic wallets. This is expected to have a major impact on many as only 1 in 6 electronic wallets in the country have been identified. The total volume of transfers between electronic wallets in the 2^nd quarter of this year amounted to KGS 1 billion.
Payments for transport services can now be paid through the MegaPay mobile wallet.

Tajikistan:

Tajik citizens in Russia can now send money home using the Eskhata Online application if they have Russian-based Visa, Mastercard or MIR cards.

Uzbekistan:

The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has registered 2 more electronic money systems – E-Card (operated by Payme and issued by Universalbank) and CLICK (operated by CLICK and issued by Agrobank).

Azerbaijan:

Azerbaijan’s electronic credit platform has received thousands of applications since its launch.
84 specialists in mobile and backend development have graduated from the IBA Tech Academy of the International Bank of Azerbaijan.

Armenia:

VTB Bank will now serve clients using the Dynamics 365 CRM system. The system allows clients to be identified before connecting with a contact center operator and also provides them with the ability to instantly execute a number of simple operations such as accessing account information.