"It always seems impossible until it's done." Fintech feature: Monexo

CEO of Monexo, previously worked for 20 years with Citibank, Mukesh has worked across geographies and lived in India, Singapore and Hong Kong. He has led diverse regional teams in his role as Regional Director for Product & Marketing of Citibank. Prior to that, Mukesh was CFO for Cards and Unsecured Lending for the Citibank APAC region. In his last role he was a Business Head for Western Union - Financial Inclusion Program for Asia.

"It always seems impossible until it's done." Nelson Mandela.

1. ​What excites you about fintech?

MB: Bringing financial services to the consumers in the way they experience other industries and making life simpler.

2. What is Monexo's fintech mission?​

MB: Our mission is to make credit more affordable and investing more rewarding.

3. What is your personal #StartUp Passion?

MB: Building a Hong Kong Company which serves customers across South East Asia.

4. Traditional banking institutions now have an eye on Fintech.  How can you see traditional banks disrupting the financial industry in a way startups cannot?  What gives startups the edge in the industry? 

MB: Traditional players have (A) Customer Trust, (B) Deep pockets ​and (C) Regulators with them. This is already a head start for traditional players. However, traditional players lack ability to (a) execute fast (b) innovate (c) Old Technology which will cost millions if not billions to upgrade and (d) appetite for failure risk like a start-up. This lack of ability of traditional players is the edge for start-ups.

5. What makes Hong Kong different for fintech startups in comparison to other South East Asian cities? 

​MB: Hong Kong is the known to among the top financial centre of the world. Hong Kong has great infrastructure in terms of mobile, internet, power, bandwidth and people which countries like Philippines, Indonesia lack in S. E Asia.

Singapore is the only close competitor in FinTech and is galloping ahead with appointment of single window clearance, Sandbox approach, Government funding, FinTech cell under Monetary Authority of Singapore with an ex-Banker heading the same and lots of investment available. In fact, they are ahead in creating the right environment for FinTech.

6. What is some advice you can share with startups or individuals looking to get into fintech? 

MB: Work with the regulators - they need to see the benefits of the work your organisation is doing in solving the current challenge. It will be hard but without clear regulatory policy you will not be able to scale.