Fintechs central to widespread adoption of digital money

A study by Imperial College London and Citibank released early this year brackets Singapore with a group of countries which are the most ready for the widespread adoption of digital money as the primary means of financial transactions.

Digital money refers to online financial transactions that replace the use of physical notes and coins. While Singapore has made huge advances towards becoming a cashless society - with services such as the NETS payment system, instantaneous online money transfer and various tap-to-pay services - more remains to be done. There is still a significant section of the economy that relies on physical currency for financial transactions.

Online financial services are made possible by technological advances that have happened over the past few years. Many experts feel that the process of digital money becoming the cornerstone of the fiscal economy has only just started. There will be a paradigm shift in how financial institutions do business and the kind of services their customers can expect from them. Banks are aware of this and this could partly explain the kind of prominence that fintechs got at the Sibos 2015 financial services event that was held earlier this week in Singapore. Fintechs are a group of companies that are using technology to offer innovative financial services, especially to customers who at times do not have the wherewithal to opt for regular banking services.