Azerbaijani banks may have serious competitor
A new platform without financial intermediaries is being developed in Azerbaijan, which will allow its users to lend and borrow without intermediaries, Jafar Babayev, co-founder of the platform - the "Finance" start-up, said at the 5th Investors’ Fair in Baku.
"We want to maximally automate lending, because we think that it is in line with the developing trends in the world," he said. “Our platform allows users to carry out peer-to-peer financing and it will be possible for them to take and give loans as quickly as possible.”
Babayev added that the "Finance" company will not have a head office and branches.
"It will be a website and an application,” he said. “Anyone will be able to register and afterwards, receive a rating. Thanks to this rating it will be possible to determine the amount of loan which a user can expect to get. Anyone will be able to give loans."
Babayev added that the software of Creditinfo company (technical partner of the country's first private credit bureau), the data of the Centralized Credit Registry and Asan Imza system (e-signature) will be used to develop the new platform.
Despite the development of the platform has been already launched in Azerbaijan, Babayev stressed that currently the work is underway in the United Arab Emirates.
"We have received a special license for FinTech-companies - ITL (Innovative Technology License) in Dubai,” he said. “We will launch a beta version in a month and will work in Dubai for about a year. Our license imposes certain restrictions on the company's turnover and customer base."
The 5th Investors’ Fair entitled "The Future of Micro-finance in Azerbaijan: Challenges and Potential" was held in Baku Oct. 6. More than 100 representatives of the financial sectors of Azerbaijan and other countries took part in the event.
Tobacco Producers, Exporters’ Association created in Azerbaijan
Tobacco Producers and Exporters’ Association has been created in Azerbaijan, a source in the country’s economy ministry said.
Telman Hasratov has been elected chairman of the board of the association.
“The establishment of the association will help coordinate activities of producers and exporters of tobacco products, foster expansion of cooperation among them, accelerate development of the sphere and allow increasing production and export of tobacco and tobacco products,” Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister of Economy Sahib Mammadov said Oct. 6, according to the source.
Mammadov made the remarks at a meeting with entrepreneurs who deal with production and export of tobacco in Azerbaijan’s Zagatala district.
“Azerbaijani microfinance organizations should introduce microinsurance”
Azerbaijan’s microfinance organizations should expand their list of services with microinsurance, collections and transfers, according to Vusal Gasimli, head of the country’s Center for Economic Reforms Analysis and Communication.
"When speaking about microfinance in Azerbaijan, for some reason people think only about microloans. However, it also includes microinsurance, collections and transfers,” he said at the 5th Investors’ Fair, titled “Future of Micro-finance in Azerbaijan: Difficulties and Opportunities” in Baku.
Microfinance organizations also need to actively use financial technology in their activities, he noted.
“If microfinance organizations do not start using financial technology and will not use other instruments [microinsurance and others], we will not be able to reduce the expenses of microfinance organizations. In this case, their loans will not be attractive for businesses and households. The era of expensive loans is behind us and we have to offer such loans, which will be attractive to customers,” Gasimli added.
Baku hosts the 5th Investors’ Fair, titled “Future of Micro-finance in Azerbaijan: Difficulties and Opportunities”. More than 100 representatives of the financial sector of Azerbaijan and other countries are taking part in the event.