logo
Asia to lead in financial accessibility by 2030, surpassing global average

Asia to lead in financial accessibility by 2030, surpassing global average

Photo: Freepik/pressfoto(for illustration purposes only)
ASIA: Asia is set to be a global leader in financial accessibility by 2030, according to analysts at fintech group UnaFinancial. Analysts from the fintech group expect financial inclusion to improve from 2025 to 2030 in the region, estimating financial accessibility to reach 80.2%, surpassing the global average of 76.8%.
The figures are based on the group's financial accessibility index, which uses available historical data from the Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) Database. The index looks at how many people own accounts at financial institutions, use digital payments, have debit or credit cards, and borrow or save money. Each of these was given a weight, depending on how much it affects access to finance.
In 2023, financial inclusion in Asia was 67.2%. It was expected to go up to 69.5% in 2024. Over the last 15 years, the number has grown by 82%, surpassing the global average of 67.4%.
Analysts said that while Asia lagged behind other regions between 2010 and 2015 and matched global levels from 2016 to 2022, it has since taken the lead.
'This trend is driven by active digital transformation and improvements in the regulatory environment, which have allowed for the expansion of financial services even in remote areas,' analysts noted.
'The combination of technological innovation, educational initiatives, the expansion of digital infrastructure and the development of alternative lending creates a solid foundation for further improvement of financial inclusion in Asia,' they added. /TISG
Read also: 5 Things to expect in Singapore's banking and financial services in 2025
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Databricks to buy Neon for $1 billion to boost AI-agent development
Databricks to buy Neon for $1 billion to boost AI-agent development

CNA

time14-05-2025

  • CNA

Databricks to buy Neon for $1 billion to boost AI-agent development

Databricks said on Wednesday it would buy database startup Neon in a deal valued at about $1 billion, aiming to strengthen its analytics platform with technology that can help businesses develop and use artificial intelligence agents more easily. Demand for AI agents, programs that need little human intervention in executing routine tasks such as writing code or sending emails, has been growing as companies embrace the new technology to automate workflows and improve efficiency. Neon's cloud-based platform, based on the PostgreSQL open-source database - a system for organizing and managing information online - helps developers and AI agents store, access and manage data in real-time, making it easier to build and deploy AI-powered applications. "By bringing Neon into Databricks, we're giving developers a serverless Postgres that can keep up with agentic speed, pay-as-you-go economics, and the openness of the Postgres community," Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi said in a statement. Founded in 2021, Neon has partnered with platforms such as Vercel, Replit, Cloudflare, GitHub and Microsoft to integrate its serverless PostgreSQL offering into widely used developer tools and platforms. Databricks said Neon's team is expected to join the data analytics company after the transaction closes, without providing a timeline for the deal closure. "This acquisition will give us the scale and backing to accelerate our mission," Neon executives said in a blog post. San Francisco, California-based Databricks, which secured a $62 billion valuation after raising a whopping $10 billion last year, offers a platform designed to help users ingest, analyze and build AI applications using complex data from various sources. Databricks acquired generative AI startup MosaicML in a mostly stock deal valued at $1.3 billion in 2023 and last year said it would buy data-management startup Tabular for more than $1 billion. More than 10,000 organizations, including Comcast, Block, Rivian and Shell, rely on the company's Databricks Data Intelligence Platform to manage and analyze data for AI applications, according to the company's website.

Asia to lead in financial accessibility by 2030, surpassing global average
Asia to lead in financial accessibility by 2030, surpassing global average

Independent Singapore

time01-05-2025

  • Independent Singapore

Asia to lead in financial accessibility by 2030, surpassing global average

Photo: Freepik/pressfoto(for illustration purposes only) ASIA: Asia is set to be a global leader in financial accessibility by 2030, according to analysts at fintech group UnaFinancial. Analysts from the fintech group expect financial inclusion to improve from 2025 to 2030 in the region, estimating financial accessibility to reach 80.2%, surpassing the global average of 76.8%. The figures are based on the group's financial accessibility index, which uses available historical data from the Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) Database. The index looks at how many people own accounts at financial institutions, use digital payments, have debit or credit cards, and borrow or save money. Each of these was given a weight, depending on how much it affects access to finance. In 2023, financial inclusion in Asia was 67.2%. It was expected to go up to 69.5% in 2024. Over the last 15 years, the number has grown by 82%, surpassing the global average of 67.4%. Analysts said that while Asia lagged behind other regions between 2010 and 2015 and matched global levels from 2016 to 2022, it has since taken the lead. 'This trend is driven by active digital transformation and improvements in the regulatory environment, which have allowed for the expansion of financial services even in remote areas,' analysts noted. 'The combination of technological innovation, educational initiatives, the expansion of digital infrastructure and the development of alternative lending creates a solid foundation for further improvement of financial inclusion in Asia,' they added. /TISG Read also: 5 Things to expect in Singapore's banking and financial services in 2025 Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)

Hiring slows in Singapore, with fewer jobs and rising unemployment in Q1
Hiring slows in Singapore, with fewer jobs and rising unemployment in Q1

Independent Singapore

time29-04-2025

  • Independent Singapore

Hiring slows in Singapore, with fewer jobs and rising unemployment in Q1

Photo from: Freepik SINGAPORE: According to Ministry of Manpower (MOM) data featured in a Singapore Business Review report, the city-state's employment growth slipped in the first quarter of 2025, with only 2,300 more people hired. This marks a substantial decrease from the 7,700 new jobs added in the final quarter of 2024 and the 3,200 created in the first quarter of 2024. There is sluggish growth in both resident and non-resident employment. While the rise in resident employment is sustained in vital areas like social and financial services and healthcare, there was a decline in manufacturing, professional services, and information and communications. Concurrently, the resident unemployment percentage ticked up to 2.9%, whereas the citizen unemployment rate persisted at 3.1%. However, there is nothing to be worried about as MOM assured that these statistics are still within non-recessionary levels. Retrenchments decline, but hiring optimism fades In a more encouraging sign, retrenchments fell to 3,300 in Q1 2025, down from 3,680 in the preceding quarter. The rate of cutbacks persisted at 1.3 per 1,000 employees. Most dismissals and downsizings resulted from business restructuring or reshuffling, with only an insignificant number attributed to industry slumps. So far, employer confidence has diminished. While many businesses in December 2024 were planning to hire and engage people and increase their wages compared to the preceding months, by March 2025, only a few companies were expected to do so in the following quarter. And even though the labour market is still on an upward trend, MOM cautioned that the growing uncertainty in economies worldwide may place additional strain on the Lion City's job market in the coming months. In a recent Reddit post, a netizen noted that one reason for problems in Singapore's job market is that Singaporeans are more status-conscious — they believe that having a degree should lead to an office job — compared to Americans and Europeans, who are more open to full-time iretail work even if they have a college degree. Another commenter agreed, saying that nobody with a university degree would want to work in a factory or a restaurant. Adapting to change and being flexible While Singapore's job market remained firm, there were signs of caution, with sluggish hiring, growing uncertainty, and diminishing employer confidence. A robust recovery will depend on employers' adjusting to change and job seekers remaining flexible in their career prospects.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store