ISSUE 23 – Article 4

April 17, 2020

Financial Markets Development

FINTECH ASSOCIATION OF TRINIDAD & TOBAGO – DEVELOPING FINTECH SOLUTIONS

On Monday December 9,2019 the T&T IFC hosted an ideation workshop for the FinTech Association of Trinidad & Tobago (FinTech T&T) with support by EY.  The workshop attracted a range of stakeholders from regulators and Government, business chambers, the banking sector, insurance, telecom and technology sectors and local FinTech start-ups.  

Through the formation of FinTech T&T we hope to bring industry leaders together to collaborate and develop our FinTech ecosystem.To maintain our continued strength, in the Financial Services sector, Trinidad and Tobago needs to become a FinTech enabled international financial centre

A 2019 survey of more than five hundred (500) financial services, technology, media and telecommunications companies across 14 different countries confirmed they were all adopting a FinTech centered strategy. EY’s 2019 FinTech global adoption survey shows a 64% global consumer adoption rate. It is clear that FinTech is already a part of our present way of life and will be an even bigger part of our future. 

It is envisaged that FinTech T&T will bring together stakeholders and create a collective voice for the industry. This will facilitate collaboration between market participants and stakeholders while providing a platform for members to engage Government ministries, departments, agencies and other key stakeholders.  The collaborative platform which FinTech T&T provides will allow stakeholders to share ideas, solve problems, promote best practices, network and shape the future of the industry.

In addition to acting as an agent of change through the facilitative process for stakeholders, another objective of FinTech T&T will be to promote initiatives that will transform Trinidad and Tobago into a “cashless society”. Supporting this, is the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago’s emoney policy which is set to be implemented in early 2020. This is the first of many initiatives that will see the economy and indeed society transformed by reducing crime and corruption through increased transparency.  Businesses will also benefit by not having to incur the costs associated with managing cash and visiting banks to make deposits.

 

Second from right Yvonne Neemacharan, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Richard P. Young, Chairman, T&T IFC participate in the FinTech Ideation Workshop along with   (l-r) Melissa Libert-Mckell, RBC; Gianpiero Leoncini, CAF; Georgina Terry, BPD Associates and Gerard Thomas, Launch RockIt