There is a huge untapped market out there that Fintech has yet to try and penetrate: the unbanked. The consumers that do not have bank accounts and whose financials are basically off the grid. However, with the vastly developing technological age that we live in, the unbanked have adopted the use of the smart phone.
In “Uber-Competitor Grab Plans $700 Million Fintech Investment in Indonesia”, Das stated, “Of Indonesia’s near 250 million people, only 75 million have bank accounts”. And with this huge untapped market, there is a huge potential for fintech.
“We see this huge, unbanked population becoming bankable. If we can…give access to those won don’t have access to credit, it’s a massive opportunity.”
– Anthony Tan, CEO & Founder
Grab, Uber’s number one foreign competitor, saw this opportunity and has invested $700 million dollars in Indonesia. They are planning on also investing in smart phone distribution to get more access to the working class people with emphasis on “mobile payment and financial services” (Das). To spread the work load of exposing an entire community to these relatively new ideas, they are also investing $100 million in start-ups in Indonesia. Indonesia is a perfect starting point for this new market penetration because it coincides with the government’s plan on becoming the largest digital economy in the area by 2020. With the support of the local and federal government, Fintech could explode in the region. However, if other countries want to follow this model, I don’t believe it would be viable because of the different political and economic levels of the different countries around the area.
Source: https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/uber-competitor-grab-700-million-fintech-indonesia/