More Singapore firms set to adopt fintech to boost efficiency: CPA poll

Surveys conducted have shown about 73 per cent of Singapore businesses expect to use at least one fintech product or service in the next 12 months, compared with 67 per cent in the past 12 months.

This comes as businesses are looking to improve their operational efficiencies, according to findings from a new regional survey by global professional accounting body CPA Australia.

Conducted from June 23 to July 14 this year, the survey received 110 responses from CPA Australia members in Singapore. The Singapore respondents were from a variety of industries, with the largest representation coming from consulting (13.6 per cent), financial services (12.7 per cent), and public practice/CPA firm (12.7 per cent).

Mobile payments and digital wallets were said to be likely to drive fintech adoption, with 42.7 percent of businesses surveyed saying they believe that these will be used the most in the next 12 months.

This was followed by robo-advisory or chat bots (23.6 per cent) and open banking APIs (application programming interfaces) (19.1 per cent).

The need to increase efficiency in doing business was cited as an important factor for adopting fintech, by nearly six in 10 respondents.

Meanwhile, about four in 10 businesses said that using fintech would help them better understand and improve the customer experience.

Over a third of respondents believe that incorporating fintech is necessary as a new way of operating, given the disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In terms of the barriers to adoption, the top two factors identified were cybersecurity (33.6 per cent) and a lack of fintech understanding within senior management (30 percent).

Chng Lay Chew, Singapore divisional president of CPA Australia, noted that it is important for senior management and the boards of directors to have the relevant expertise to drive companies’ cybersecurity strategies as well as invest in systems and people to build up cyber defences.

He added that more widespread adoption of fintech products and services will help with enhancing the customer experience and improving efficiency, as consumers become increasingly comfortable with digital financial transactions.

“Government support of technology adoption and a friendly regulatory environment to position Singapore as a top fintech hub will also be key influences in growing fintech usage,” Mr Chng said.

Besides Singapore, CPA Australia’s survey also covered three other markets – Malaysia, mainland China, and Hong Kong. It garnered a total of 573 responses from CPA Australia members in the four markets.