BFC FinTech Monitor 27th August – 3rd September

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:

Visa has launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) system that will allow financial institutions to approve or reject transactions when their own networks fail.
PayPal has introduced its new Pay in 4 service, which provides users with an interest-free payment plan for paying for purchases.
Simon Ross, CEO of Symphony AyasdiAI, discussed with TechCrunch why traditional financial institutions are not as FinTech illiterate as many think.
Mastercard is working with Accel Robotics to develop a contactless shopping platform that will minimize interactions between consumers and retail staff. The system will also allow for past orders to be analyzed for the purpose of creating personalized offers.
Forbes columnist Cheryl Winokur Munk details how modern technologies are changing the insurance market, particularly how consumers are now demanding insurance products that are faster, easier and more transparent.
According to CB Insights, the volume of investments in FinTech in the second quarter of 2020 grew by 17% to USD 9.3 billion.
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated why its important for financial service providers to understand and implement cloud-based and other modern technologies or risk becoming obsolete in a post-pandemic world.

Russia:

Mobile operators are working with financial institutions to develop an anti-fraud system that will block calls from scammers. The new system will be tested within the framework of the country’s regulatory sandbox. At the same time, the Central Bank of Russia and Visa have warned about a data breach in the Joom marketplace, which could impact up to 55,000 cards.
According to Xangle Research analysts, Russia is a key player in the digital asset market, especially in mining digital assets and trading on exchanges.
Rusbase has published an article on the most promising FinTech projects in telecommunications, including mobile scoring, integrations with OTT providers and collaborations between telecom providers and financial institutions.
Artificial intelligence (AI) solutions at Sberbank have issued loans to business clients amounting to a total of RUB 274 billion.
Corporate clients of the Russian airline S7 will be able to pay for tickets using virtual tokens. These transactions will be recorded in smart contracts that are based on blockchain technology.

Ukraine:

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, Ukraine ranks first in the world in the use of cryptocurrencies.
Mastercard has launched the More for Business campaign in Ukraine to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The campaign aims to accomplish this by expanding the capabilities of the Mastercard Bilshe platform.
PaySpace has published a wealth of materials on how Ukrainian financial institutions use chatbots.

Kazakhstan:

The National Bank of Kazakhstan has introduced a new mechanism for cashless payments for real estate transactions. This includes automated informational exchanges between financial institutions, notaries and registering authorities.

Kyrgyzstan:

A government decree has been drafted that, if approved, will allow QR codes to be used for the payment of goods and services. The draft decree has been submitted for public discussion.

Uzbekistan:

Spot has published materials on the development of FinTech in Uzbekistan over the last few years, highlighting that FinTech prospects in the country are looking up after a period of doubt.
Anorbank has received a license from the Central Bank of Uzbekistan. The neobank’s services are expected to go online for consumers within the next couple of months.

Azerbaijan:

A project to introduce contactless payment for railway travel in Azerbaijan is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Armenia:

Armenian authorities continue to negotiate with representatives of large payment systems regarding launching services in the country. This is expected to result in the launch of TransferWise in Armenia in the near future.