“We see the potential volume, but do we design profitable products for low-and moderate-income (LMI) people?” MSC faces this question repeatedly in discussions with our clients across Asia and Africa—including our partners in Bangladesh and Vietnam under the MetLife Foundation-funded i3 program. Through this two-blog series, we question key behavioral biases to consider while creating compelling, engaging, and profitable products for the low- and moderate-income segment. The first blog speaks of the macro-economy and demography of the Bangladesh and Vietnam markets. We also take you through the digital financial services progress in both countries and the steps governments take to expand digitally. The next blog in this series will look at the similarities and differences of the LMI segment in Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Vietnam remains a nascent FinTech market, where payment solutions account for 98% of the share of FinTech funding in 2019. This report assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the FinTech ecosystem of Vietnam. It also provides recommendations for relevant stakeholders to help affected FinTechs recover from the crisis.

How has the pandemic affected cash and digital payments in India? Which instruments have seen accelerated adoption and which FinTechs have emerged as victors? This report answers these questions through the experiences of three Indian women who navigated 2020 using a diverse range of payment instruments.

As part of the i3 Program in Vietnam, we met Nguyen Huong, a micro-entrepreneur in Vung Tau. Huong’s story is a perfect example of the journey of women-led MSMEs who utilized social media and digital payments to keep their businesses in operation during COVID-19.

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, digital pathways offer a hopeful sign in the country’s payments landscape. This second edition of MSC’s analysis covers select payments system indicators in India during Q3 2020—with some surprising results.

Various socio-economic dimensions drive the financial needs, aspirations, and behaviors of low- and moderate-income (LMI) customers. Customers from Bangladesh and Vietnam, through these snippets, describe their challenges and how the i3 Program helped them overcome these challenges.

During the pandemic, Duong Thi Thuy, a mobile money agent in the Quang Ninh province, improvised her business to help her community follow the guidelines on social distancing and government norms. This is her story about the adoption of DFS and how it changed her life.

How has the pandemic affected Indian FinTechs? What measures have the policymakers taken? Are these measures impactful for FinTechs? What are the investor sentiments for this sector? This report, the first in a series of ongoing Covid-19 research on Indian FinTechs and the Indian FinTech ecosystem by MSC, answers these questions in the current market’s context.