In a bid to promote increased integration between fintech hubs in MENA and in Asia, the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN) has signed a partnership agreement with Fintech Galaxy, the MENA region’s open innovation platform and marketplace for collaboration between FinTechs and financial institutions.
Under the agreement, the parties will also promote AFIN’s API Exchange (APIX) platform to the FinTech community, further contributing to the development of the industry, AFIN and Fintech Galaxy said in a joint statement on 22 April.
AFIN was set up as a non-profit organization in 2018 by the ASEAN Bankers Association (ABA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). AFIN’s mission is to enhance and promote innovation and cooperation between financial institutions and FinTechs, in effort to digitally transform the banking and financial sectors across the ASEAN region and beyond to ultimately drive financial inclusion.
AFIN’s APIX platform is a global cloud-based platform that enables financial institutions and FinTech firms to discover one another on a curated global marketplace, design experiments collaboratively, and deploy innovative solutions rapidly at a lower cost.
“With the global economy nearing a standstill, we hope to play our part by continuing to help fintech startups find the capital and support they need to create timely solutions through innovative measures, as FinTechs are increasingly seen as the obvious choice at this time,” Mirna Sleiman, Founder & CEO, Fintech Galaxy, said in the statement.
According to Manish Diwaan, Managing Director, AFIN:
“We at AFIN aim to connect financial institutions that need digital transformation with FinTechs that have built innovative solutions through the APIX platform. And so, the synergies between us and Fintech Galaxy are strong and the network created and knowledge shared through our partnership will cement both, MENA’s and Asia’s reputation as world leaders in fintech.”