FinTech LIVE Singapore: Digital Payments Forum

In today’s hyper-connected world, the rise of digital payments has revolutionised how businesses and consumers interact. 

Speaking at FinTech LIVE Singapore, Kashif Khan, Vice President of Transaction Banking, Payments, Channels & Global Banking Technology Service Management at Standard Chartered; Khang Ngoc Pham, Chief Financial Officer at Home Credit Vietnam; and Kannan Rajaratnam, Regional Director of Payments & Customer Operations at ZALORA Group, shed light on the impact of digital payments across multiple sectors and markets. 

Digital transformation: The era of mobile payments 

As Standard Chartered’s Kashif puts it, “smartphones are not merely devices, it’s a gateway to a customer’s digital universe”, and payments form a significant part of that. 

Today, digital mobile payments have introduced an unmatched level of convenience, speech security and ease of completing business. 

The shift towards digital transactions has far-reaching implications beyond just payment processing. Kashif notes that “the surrounding ecosystem is also getting heavily digital paperless in terms of all the moving parts which support processing of a transaction or a payment”. This transition is driving organisations towards comprehensive digital transformation.

As smartphones have proliferated, becoming more affordable and easily accessible, so too have financial services been able to extend their reach to typically underserved, underbanked areas of society. Digital payments have been at the heart of the drive towards a financially inclusive environment. 

“The unbanked and underbanked population in many regions who did not have access to the basic financial services can now become an inclusive part of the banked population and can now have access to the basic banking services,” Kashif continues. 

Home Credit Vietnam’s Khang Ngoc Pham emphasises the extent to which digital financial services have expanded the reach of equitable financial inclusion efforts. 

He says: “It’s taking what we do offline to the next level online with digital payments being the key way to connect with customers more seamlessly. He stressed the importance of education and responsible implementation, especially in emerging markets like Vietnam.

“These digital payments services are faster, cheaper, safer and more transparent, but they also put different financial products in users’ hands, thus providing greater education.”

For Pham, implementing digital payments technology must be done responsibly today – to best meet the needs of consumers, particularly in emerging markets where educating the underserved is of increased importance.