Southeast Asia’s mobile money and agent banking scene continues to race forward as regional authorities, international experts and industry stakeholders gather once again for the 9th Mobile Money & Agent Banking Summit 2018 to be held on February 7-8 at the ParkRoyal Hotel in Yangon, Myanmar.
This ninth edition of the strategic regional assembly will focus on the most pressing issues and concerns of these rapidly developing markets such as: the future of digital payments; financial inclusion challenges; e-money functionality; cross-border transactions; social media payments; the digitizing of cash; and more.
The Summit’s regional focus will also cover major developments in neighbouring countries including India’s payment ecosystem; Cambodia’s first remittance service, as well as a primer on Lao’s mobile money landscape. The 2018 Summit’s host of industry experts presenting and sharing their insights and forecasts include: Stephen Swan, Head of Product & Digital at Wave Money; Mark Flaming, Chief Digital Officer of Yoma Bank; Jacques Voogt, Chief M-Commerce Officer at Ooredoo Myanmar; Tim Scheffmann, CEO of Scheffmann Ltd; Justin Ho, Vice President of Amdocs Mobile Financial Services; Paul Luchtenburg, Country Coordinator (Myanmar) for UNCDF; Pramod Saxena, Founder & Chairman of Oxigen Services India; Anthony Perkins, Chief Digital Services Officer, Smart Axiata Cambodia and more.
“In Southeast Asia, mobile money is moving at an amazing pace with fintech companies WeChat and AliPay in China leading the way. It’s no longer just about Mobile Money and more about the genetic companies in the region, creating better value propositions and relevant services around messaging tools and social engagement,” said Stephen Swan, Head of Product & Digital for Myanmar-based Wave Money. “Grab is another example, whereas it first started out as a cab hailing service to now providing a digital wallet in some countries that allows users to make instant purchases with their Grab credits while earning reward points for every transaction. The launch of the developer portal from Wave Money is in recognition of the fast-growing e-commerce sector in Myanmar and the company’s commitment to provide fast, easy and safe financial services to a diverse range of customers including businesses in Myanmar.”
Key event partners that will be exhibiting at the event include leading communications and media software and services provider Amdocs,and the blockchain-based microfinance and payments platform Everex. Justin Ho, Vice President of Amdocs Mobile Financial Services, said: “The 9th Mobile Money & Agent Banking Summit 2018 presents a wonderful opportunity for us to meet with some of the most prominent players in the Emerging Markets financial and telecommunications and technology ecosystem, especially in the burgeoning Myanmar market.
We look forward to brainstorming and sharing our insights and discussing how critical agent banking and open banking initiatives will play an important role in the coming years for financial and greater economic inclusion.” Conference organizer Magenta Global (Singapore)’s CEO, Maggie Tan, added: “The 2017 World Payments Report found that global digital transaction volumes grew 11.2% in the last year, reaching more than 433 billion, the highest growth of the past decade. Emerging economies such as Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, India, Bangladesh are implementing digital payment innovations. We invite you to join this Summit and hear how these countries and their stakeholders are navigating the digital disruption.”