16:26 - 9.10.2025

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October 9, Fineko/abc.az. Fintech in Azerbaijan suffers from strict regulation.

ABC.AZ reports, quoting the main partner of Caucasus Ventures, Mammad Kerim, as saying this at the fintech forum in Baku.

"Our first investment was in a fintech company. It was a company that carried out money transfers between Turkic-speaking countries. At first, we liked her work, but later we saw that she couldn't develop that fast. Regulation has slowed down this process to a certain extent. I agree, it is necessary. However, there should be a little more flexibility in the approach of regulators, otherwise fintech companies face difficulties. In Azerbaijan, especially over the past three years, the fintech sector has demonstrated a noticeable pace of development," he said.

Kerim added that licensing eliminates uncertainty, but there is uncertainty related to development: "This area should be regulated. However, as investors, we are concerned about an overly regulated market. There are questions about further growth. In addition, we have seen cases where, after the expansion, any innovation could reduce the number of users from a million to ten thousand in one day. For these reasons, our interest in fintech has decreased in this region. Sometimes startups approached us as fintech investors, but we advised them to try themselves in other fields, because the fintech market now seems too risky to us. The approach to this sector is too harsh."