Consumers in Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia say they are among the most ready in the world to embrace a cash-free, fintech future, a new study by LINE Corporation reveals.

In comparison, consumers in Japan, Korea, U.K. and U.S. are taking more of a wait-and-see approach, despite recognising the appeal of various solutions, the study noted. 

The survey explored attitudes towards, and trust in fintech through a survey of 5,000 smartphone users in these seven key markets. Together, these markets revealed a major opportunity for the wider adoption of fintech if the challenges of consumers’ low awareness and access to products can be overcome, LINE said in a media statement.

«LINE is uniquely situated to take advantage of the amazing potential demand for financial technology (fintech), particularly in Asia, while also overcoming the various barriers that exist in different markets,» said Takeshi Idezawa, CEO of LINE Corporation.

Trust in Fintech Generally High

Across the seven markets, trust in financial technology was generally found to be high, with 63 percent of survey respondents saying they trust the products and services they are currently aware of, and a further 30 percent feeling ambivalent towards them. 

Trust also appears to increase with youth, with only 55 percent of those aged 55 and over trusting fintech, compared with 69 percent of those in the age between 18-34s.  

Amongst the key markets, Japan finished last by far among the surveyed markets in terms of trusting and understanding fintech. Just 38 percent of respondents saying they trusted fintech, versus a survey average of 63percent. Only 22 percent reported being knowledgeable of fintech, versus an average of 44 percent. 

Knowledge Still Relatively Low

However, in all markets surveyed, respondents’ knowledge of the financial technology related services and products currently available to them was relatively low, with less than half considering themselves knowledgeable in this area (44 percent), rising to 52 percent among younger audiences (those in the 18-34 age bracket).

Of those products and services that respondents would be most willing to access via mobile, savings accounts (65 percent), money/wire transfers (57 percent), current accounts (48 percent) and insurance (48 percent) were the most popular options given. 

Life insurance, travel insurance and home insurance were selected the top types of insurance respondents wanted to access in this way.