Standard Bank supports the creation of the Mozambican Association of Fintechs

The creation of Fintech.MZ, which has the support of Banco de Moçambique, FSD Moçambique and Standard Bank, aims to bring together in a single movement all companies and startups dedicated to technological innovation and creating payment solutions for banking and insurance companies.

As the president, João Gaspar, explained that, the association arises to fill a void because there was no association in the market that was specifically focused on the financial services technological innovation sector. It is in this context that Fintech.MZ was created, which is, in fact, an organization that stands to defend its members and represent them in the market (banks, mobile operators and insurance companies) and before the regulator (Banco de Moçambique).

The president of Fintech.MZ took the opportunity to talk about the current challenges in the sector, which are linked to the lack of financial sustainability, transport and telecommunications infrastructure, as well as the bureaucracy that occurs in the creation of fintechs. “The lack of this infrastructure, for example, means that many companies are focused on urban areas”.

For Standard Bank, an institution that has made an enormous contribution to the promotion of this type of companies, through its Business Incubator, launched in August 2017, fintechs play an extremely important role in the financial inclusion of communities, especially in the most remote parts of the country, hence the need to deserve greater attention on the part of all stakeholders in society.

In fact, Standard Bank has positioned itself in the market as the bank that most invests on the digitalization of its services, having recently launched an instant credit service, QuiQMola.

“Standard Bank supports all initiatives that are contributing to the growth and transformation of the financial market, which result in the creation of innovative products and services. We are beneficiaries of the innovations that this sector is experiencing”, underlined Cláudio Banze.

In turn, Esselina Macome, executive director of FSD Mozambique, one of the organizations that have used fintechs to promote the financial inclusion of the communities, looks at the creation of this association as a major milestone that will contribute to the creation of an ecosystem favourable to technological innovation in the country, particularly in the banking and insurance sectors.

“Fintechs are part of the financial inclusion process, which is why FSD Moçambique has been promoting exhibitions and training in digital services. We also took our fintechs to events outside the country. Proudly they won prizes in international communications congresses in the last two events attended”, said Esselina Macome.