Amid the overall digitization and growing penetration of online services in Asia, the daily use of financial technologies by older generations is growing too. Studying the demand for online financing services in Asia in 2019, analysts of Robocash Group revealed a steady increase in the number of customers aged 41-50 and 51-60 years. The Philippines have the most active Gen X and Baby Boomers.
Against the background of similar trends identified in Southeast and South Asia, the Philippines took first place by the share of 41-60-year-old users of online lending services. If the part of online borrowers aged 41-50 in May 2018 was 14.67%, then by December 2019, it amounted to 15.86%. The average monthly increase was 1.2%. At the same time, the number of 51-60-year-olds grew even faster by 5.6% per month and hit 4% by December 2019 (1.15% in May 2018). According to the company analysts, territorial fragmentation is the main driver. At the same time, the example of youth that prevails in the Philippines encourages older customers to try alternative opportunities, including fintech.
Vietnam and India demonstrated similar trends but had higher dynamics. Thus, the share of older Indians taking online lending services grew on average by 8.3% per month. At the same time, Vietnam even outpaced it with a monthly rate of 26%. Analysts explain that the reason is the maturity of the population in Vietnam (30.9 years) and the insufficient penetration of banking services (30.8%), which is the lowest among the mentioned countries. Following the growing digitization, the popularity of fintech services will only keep increasing. However, older generations are still rare users. The number of 41-50-year-old clients in Vietnam by December 2019 reached 4.63% (2.71% in January 2019), and 9.33% in India (4.44% in January 2019). Moreover, the share of customers aged 51-60 years in Vietnam in January 2019 was only 0.08%, in India – 0.44%. Over the year, countries grew to 0.82% and 0.99%, respectively.
Commenting on the results, the company analysts noted that despite the steadily growing use of fintech tools by Gen X and Baby Boomers in the Asian countries, the gap remains uncovered. For example, in Spain in Europe, the share of 41-50-year-olds is about 25%, and 51-60 – 12%. It means that the development of financial technologies in Asian countries can significantly enhance the economic activity of not only young but also older people too, driving inclusive growth across the region.
ABOUT:
Robocash Group is an international financial group operating in the segments of consumer alternative lending and marketplace funding in Europe and Asia. The company develops robotic financial services providing micro consumer lending to customers in Russia, Kazakhstan, Spain, Indonesia, Vietnam and India and operates the own EU-based p2p investment platform. The group develops products completely in-house using artificial intelligence, machine learning and data-driven technologies to provide precise and comprehensive risk management, comfort and speed for customers and efficiency for business.
