Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Turkey) region, has announced its association with ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN), as a member and as an industry partner to support its global fintech registry, ChekFIN.
Created in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group FinTech Control Tower (BCG FCT) and Temasek-founded Affinidi, ChekFIN was officially launched at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2021. Scheduled to go live on 01 December 2021, the registry will provide a decentralised, open standard, and trust-based solution enabling and empowering financial institutions to reduce the amount of time spent searching for and assessing a suitable partner firm. The platform includes unique features such as a comprehensive taxonomy and tagging system to facilitate easy search, easy access to aggregated and relevant information on firmsin a single place. A key feature of the platform is the use of VerifiableCredentials (VCs), cryptographically secure digital certificates, to assess the digital reputation and credibility of various FinTechs. Emirates NBD is one of the ten global pioneer industry partners working with APIX to issue the first set of VCs.
The presence of a global registry where consolidated information on vetted FinTechs is readily available, will benefit financial institutions by bringing greater connectivity in the Fintech ecosystem, thus enabling smoother and more reliable collaborations.
Commenting on the announcement, Miguel RioTinto, Group Chief Information Officer, Emirates NBD said, “As a leading banking group in the region, Emirates NBD is always looking for opportunities for innovative collaboration in and outside the region. Exploring partnerships with FinTechs can have a big impact on enhancing the financial services industry through their innovative capabilities, business models and cutting-edge solutions that can help enhance customer experience. However, onboarding FinTech partners comes with its set of complex challenges including a long lead time and regulatory and compliance hurdles. We are delighted to support AFIN, for its ground-breaking new platform, which acts as a credible registry of FinTech firms.”
He added, “As we continue to lead innovation in digital banking in the region, we see this as an important milestone in our long-term digital strategy. We will continue to contribute to the growth of the FinTech start-up ecosystem and pave the way for more collaborations between financial institutions and FinTechs across the globe.”
Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said, "Emirates NBD joining ChekFIN as a pioneer partner from the MENA region shows their transformational approach in engaging with FinTechs and innovation enablers. As a pioneer partner, it will contribute to the development of this new game-changing engagement mode, leading to accelerated and sustainable innovation."
