TT IFC hosts FinTech session

The Trinidad and Tobago International Financial Centre (TT IFC) hosted a FinTech Stakeholder Engagement Session on September 10 at the Hyatt Regency, Trinidad.

The session, entitled Enabling a FinTech Ecosystem in Trinidad and Tobago is part of a pioneering feasibility study conducted by Ernst & Young for the TT IFC. The aim is to provide insights into global trends and identify niche spheres within the financial sector, which can be targeted for growth in Trinidad and Tobago through the adoption of FinTech. As EY continues this study, the TT IFC is asking for the cooperation of the business community in participating in the FinTech study.

The goal is to use FinTech as a means of diversifying the economy and ensuring future economic prosperity.

Regional counterparts such as the Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman and Jamaica are also on the road to user-driven digital singularity and its many benefits which include sustainable employment, foreign direct investment, earning of foreign exchange and ease of doing business.

Minister in the Ministry of Finance Allyson West delivered the feature address and commended the efforts of the T&T IFC in seeking to position Trinidad and Tobago as a financial leader in the region and for advancing ways to integrate FinTech. “This is one area where innovation, and not size, will determine success,” she said.

The minister acknowledged FinTech increases access to financial services while reducing the backend costs and enhancing the overall customer experience. The stakeholder engagement session also included presentations from TT IFC chairman Richard Young, TT IFC CEO Omar Sultan-Khan, associate director EY, Singapore Varun Parmar and Maria Daniel, EY partner, Trinidad.

The session allowed for open dialogue and cross-sector commitment to developing the enabling ecosystem for the deliberate development of FinTech in Trinidad and Tobago. There were representatives from banking, insurance, regulators, auditors.