Iranian Fintech Association, a non-governmental body formed by fintech applications, has strongly opposed newly announced regulations demanding payment facilitator applications to get the online trust logo ‘e-Namad’.
The Center for E-Commerce Development last week said it had reached agreement with the Central Bank of Iran and Shaparak Company that is in charge of supervising the domestic e-payment network, according to which payment facilitators are obliged to acquire the trust badge.
Fintechs, however, claim that the AML regulations, in which online services are obliged to have the e-Namad logo on their website, do not require payment facilitators to do likewise.
The logo apparently seeks to display that online services offered by such sites are safer than websites without the trust symbols and have been approved by government authorities.
However, applicants need to go through time-consuming and stringent processes to be able to obtain the badge.
The association says such haphazard and hasty decisions damage the fintech ecosystem. It has threatened to take its case to the Administrative Court of Justice.
The CBI had said earlier that fintechs can continue to operate as long as they are not involved in money creation, forex deals, offering payment tools (like cards) and attracting deposits.
Later it was reported that the CBI would establish a special regulatory body for the fintech sector. However, in October 2017 the regulator said it will neither establish the new institution for supervising fintechs nor issue license for financial services providers.
Instead, the CBI developed frameworks for the operation of payment aggregators, payment facilitators, personal finance management services and fintechs offering cryptocurrency services.
More than 250 fintech apps operate in Iran.
A recent survey by Way2Pay showed that about one-third of the applications are offering payment services. Personal finance management solutions and cryptocurrency exchanges rank next.
The report also said that 66% of fintech founders university grads and 25-35 years old. Given the high potential of the sector, it makes sense for the IFA to be concerned about any measures that could and would make their business harder.
Established in 2017, the association seeks to bring industry players under a single roof, mainly to find solutions to their problems and boost innovators’ relations with regulatory bodies.
It has managed to play an influential role in supporting the sector, mainly by voicing applications concerns and getting involved in the making and development of regulations.
Highlight: The association says such haphazard and hasty decisions damage the fintech ecosystem and has threatened to take the issue to the Administrative Court of Justice
