More than 220 CEOs, heads of government and regulators gathered at the Paris Fintech Forum last week to share practices and views on the actual state and the future of digital finance and financial technologies. Robocash Group was among speakers invited to give insights on the use of the robotic technologies that have allowed the company to become an established fintech player and grow rapidly in Europe and Asia.

This year, the fourth edition of the Paris Fintech Forum held on January 29-30 gathered more than 2,500 representatives of the digital finance and fintech industry from over 60 countries. More than 220 CEOs, heads of government and regulators were on stage sharing their insights on the actual state of the market worldwide and the future challenges and opportunities. All the key thought leaders have shared the opinion that financial technologies and digital finance play a significant role for the better financial inclusion globally.

Closing the panel about the future of finance at fintech time at the Forum in Paris, Ms Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, said, “I believe that fintechs can actually do unbelievable good and maybe money in the process but I'm not focusing on that. I’m thinking about the two billion people who are unbanked or totally underbanked, and they can actually have access to transactions platforms and money in a relatively safe way thanks to fintech”.

As an active player in the field of alternative lending and marketplace funding in Europe and Asia, Robocash Group was one of 62 companies invited to showcase its expertise and business model during the Fintech Selection session. In his pitch, Sergey Sedov, Chief Executive Officer of Robocash Group, spoke about the benefits and outcomes of the robotic approach, which the company has already applied in eight markets in Europe and Asia since the origination in Russia in 2013.

According to the study of Google & Temasek in 2017, SEA was the fastest growing internet region in the world, but the potential is untapped. The Global Findex also stated that 70.5% of adults with no bank account had a mobile phone in SEA in 2017, which means that the territorial fragmentation and the widespread informal employment still leave people underserved by traditional banks.

“I saw myself how people are struggling to get access to credit in the emerging markets in Asia. In total, it might take up to four weeks to have a loan from banks. At the same time, when entering SEA in 2017 as a fintech, we faced many challenges driven by the lack of data too. However, thanks to the AI, the sort of robotic technologies, we can assess the creditworthiness of borrowers efficiently in a few minutes and be profitable”, mentioned Sergey Sedov when speaking about the benefit of the automation for customers and business.

As for the actual results, Robocash Group has originated more than 4.3 million private loans in 7 markets altogether since the origination. More than 5 million people have used the services of the group. At the same time, the issue in 2018 increased by 124% compared to the previous year.

Considering the opportunities for the further growth, Chief Executive Officer of Robocash Group mentioned that the company is aiming to disburse $1 billion in 2020 and become the No.1 alternative lender in Asia by the size of active customer base thus facilitating better access to finance for the population in the market.