Global risk mitigation platform, spocto, sets up in MENA to springboard global expansion
spocto, a Yubi company, has begun operations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with regional headquarters located in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). As a leading risk mitigation platform, spocto is establishing a foothold in the region with springboard partnerships with Emirates NBD, Mashreq and CBD in the UAE.
A risk mitigation platform for lenders, spocto leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to provide lenders with an enhanced customer experience and improved collection efficiencies while maintaining high compliance standards. Helping more than 30 institutions improve risk mitigation and digital collections, spocto has processed $95 billion volume processed to date, with 52 million customers and a 57 percent reduction in cost of collections and 18 percent improvement in efficiency for its partners.
Sumeet Srivastava, Founder & CEO of spocto, said: “We are excited to embark on our journey from Dubai, one of the top 20 financial centres in the world. Our presence here will enable us to build and scale our business across the region as we innovate with our partners and clients at the intersection of data, technology, and financial services. Launching in the UAE will further power our mission to provide AI and ML-powered risk mitigation, which will ensure a sustainable relationship between lenders and borrowers for years to come."
To lead spocto's business in the MENA region, Vikas Thapar has been appointed as Chief Business Officer. Thapar brings more than two decades of experience in consumer finance, retail banking, and business banking with leading financial institutions in the UAE and region including Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Mashreq.
According to Thapar, spocto's foray into the MENA market will be a collaborative, digital-first approach to risk mitigation to the financial landscape here. The impact of spocto's first international office will be twofold: first for lenders and then for individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) here in the region. The platform will enable lenders and financial institutions to improve their credit decisions and collection processes - expanding their business scope and opening up new opportunities with a wider set of customers.
He added, “Ultimately, this will help enhance the integrity of the lending ecosystem and also promote financial inclusion by paving the way for lenders to offer individuals and SMEs with more opportunities to access credit.”
The fintech market in the UAE is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12 percent through 2027, with Covid-19 amplifying the uptake of e-payments and the growth of local fintech solutions. According to a recent report by Refinitiv, the pandemic has also had a substantial impact on risk and compliance functions in the MENA region, indicating the growing need for innovative technologies to protect the integrity of financial systems.
