Key FinTech Influencers in Asia for 2021

Following up on the previous release of the key crypto influencers list in Asia, the FinTech industry was among the few bright spots in Asia. Turbocharged by the pandemic, numerous individuals, SMEs and companies turned digital, in turn driving surge demand for financial services. The development of this regional ecosystem can be observed in waves – firstly from a rise of virtual banking, digital currencies, payment services, to e-wallets, followed by lending, RegTech, and InsurTech.

While China and India continue to be the largest FinTech ecosystems based on investments and number of start-ups, Singapore leads the way as a FinTech hub in the Southeast Asian region, other countries are also making much progress through regional collaborations. Observing the booming FinTech start-ups, innovation corporate partnerships and transformations, national FinTech associations, or accelerator programs,  we have shortlisted a list of quality FinTech Influencers from key regions in Asia who are actively involved in growing and developing the ecosystem here.

This list of  FinTech influencers was picked from in-house research and include startup founders, government and regulatory leaders, members of financial institutions and advocacy group.

• #1-5 covers Twitter profiles with additional insights about the influencers’ influence score and demographic of followers on their main channels, via media and intelligence tools powered by Meltwater.
• #6-10 covers Linkedln profiles from key regions in Asia based on their audience size and content engagement.

#1 India – Vijay Shekhar Sharma – @vijayshekhar

Founder – One97 & Paytm

Do you know , you can scan absolutely any QR using Paytm’s QR feature?
Absolutely any QR, meant for anything! https://t.co/JIZ1QAZmHF

— Vijay Shekhar Sharma (@vijayshekhar) February 28, 2021

• Influence: 93/100
• Followers: Twitter – 419.8K  | Linkedln – 55.3K
• Location: India
• True Reach: 86.9K
• Top locations of Audience: India | Singapore | US | UK
• Average audience age: 27
• Audience average income: $12,092
• Content focus: Fintech, digital payment, and digital sovereignty

#2 Hong Kong – Trinh Nguyen – @trinhnomics

Senior Economist, Emerging Asia at Natixis

China just rolled out its largest pilot project for the digital currency. The key diff b/n this & digital $ is that this is directly done by the central bank (PBOC) & so it can track how you spend money in real time b/n users.

So another form of control.https://t.co/wra00FxNUB

— Trinh (@Trinhnomics) October 21, 2020

• Influence: 80/100
• Followers: Twitter – 57K | Linkedln – 3.7K
• Location: Hong Kong
• True Reach: 5K
• Top locations of Audience: Asia | US
• Average audience age: 25
• Audience average income: $29,455
• Content focus: Global economical trends and digital economy