Amid the overall digitization and growing penetration of online services in Asia, the daily use of financial technologies by older generations is growing too.
Studying the demand for online financing services in Asia in 2019, analysts of Robocash Group revealed a steady increase in the number of customers aged 41-50 and 51-60 years. In particular, Vietnam had the highest monthly increase of such clients – 26%.
Against the background of similar trends identified in Southeast and South Asia, the Philippines took first place by the share of 41-60-year-old users of online lending services. If the part of online borrowers aged 41-50 in May 2018 was 14.67%, then by December 2019, it amounted to 15.86%. The average monthly increase was 1.2%. At the same time, the number of 51-60-year-olds grew even faster by 5.6% per month and hit 4% by December 2019 (1.15% in May 2018). According to the company analysts, territorial fragmentation is the main driver. At the same time, the example of youth that prevails in the Philippines encourages older customers to try alternative opportunities, including fintech.
Indonesia took second place by the share of Gen X and Baby Boomers among users of online financing services. By December 2019, the part of 41-50-year-old customers in Indonesia reached 15.39%. Considering 9.84% as of May 2018, Indonesia outpaced the Philippines in terms of average growth in this group (1.8%). At the same time, the share of 51-60-year-olds still lags significantly – 2.27% (0.45% as of May 2018) even despite a monthly increase of 5%.
Vietnam and India demonstrated similar trends but had higher dynamics. Thus, the share of older Indians taking online lending services grew on average by 8.3% per month. At the same time, Vietnam even outpaced it with a monthly rate of 26%. Analysts explain that the reason is the maturity of the population in Vietnam (30.9 years) and the insufficient penetration of banking services (30.8%), which is the lowest among the mentioned countries. Following the growing digitization, the popularity of fintech services will only keep increasing. However, older generations are still rare users. The number of 41-50-year-old clients in Vietnam by December 2019 reached 4.63% (2.71% in January 2019), and 9.33% in India (4.44% in January 2019). Moreover, the share of customers aged 51-60 years in Vietnam in January 2019 was only 0.08%, in India – 0.44%. In a year, countries grew to 0.82% and 0.99%, respectively.
Commenting on the results, the company analysts noted that despite the steadily growing use of fintech tools by Gen X and Baby Boomers in the Asian countries, the gap remains uncovered. For example, in Spain in Europe, the share of 41-50-year-olds is about 25%, and 51-60 – 12%. It means that the development of financial technologies in Asian countries can significantly enhance the economic activity of not only young but also older people too, driving inclusive growth across the region.
Featured image: Nguyen Anh Tu, a Young Vietnamese KOL using HLB Connect App by Hong Leong Bank Vietnam on his smartphone