A sharp increase in Google search requests has been registered among the population of India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Cambodia. In May and June 2020 alone, following the peak of the COVID-19 crisis, demand was up 9%. Average monthly growth continues to rise by 7%, according to Robocash Group analysts.
Starting in May 2020, the demand for a definition and explanation of fintech terms has risen sharply, resulting in an increase in Google search requests. In 2019, the average rise in search requests was 12% for the whole year across all countries analyzed. While in May-June 2020 alone, the queries jumped by 9% to 53k versus 33k in April, and continued average monthly growth remains at 7%. The pandemic is driving increased knowledge in financial technology among the population.
The search query “QR code” is the most popular among the other queries analysed, the “e-commerce” is the second. Demand for “interest rates” has doubled since 2019, at 5.2 k per month. Requests for clarifications regarding online loans, digital funds and digital loans have increased 4-6 times since 2019. In all countries, requests were analysed in both English and national languages. The majority of inquiries have been trending upwards since May 2020. The average monthly growth per request has since increased by 7.5%. A positive trend throughout the year may indicate that the involvement in the fintech industry among the population will continue to grow.
The analysts noted that at the beginning of the pandemic, the Philippines demonstrated the highest increase in Google requests for fintech terms, with an average monthly growth rate of 18%. Unlike other countries, the queries in the Philippines increased on average for all the phrases analysed. The largest increase was in queries for “P2P lending” and “QR code”. Following the first wave of the pandemic, the largest monthly increase of queries was observed in Sri Lanka. By and large, all countries are showing positive trends. People in South and Southeast Asia are not only interested in identifying new trends, but also want to get more deeply involved in the FinTech industry.
