The earliest version of the internet was born in the late 1960s but wouldn’t take off for many years – then it exploded.

It may have just been a curiosity at first, but nothing has arguably been more disruptive and life-changing in the course of the past twenty years. Naturally, it rode a wave of other rapidly developing technologies, such as the mobile phone, then the smartphone, personal computers and tablets.

The word fintech emerged ten years ago as part of this wave. Defined as technology used to enable banking services, it is one of the fastest growing areas for venture capitalists today.

Like the rest of technology today, fintech has made leaps of progress in a very short span of time, and has become a tool of democratising financial services by making them available to more people by lowering costs and barriers to access. The potential is especially great in many developing countries.

“Unlike what most believe, fintech is an enabler [and] not a disruptor for financial institutions. It will provide the gap for institutions to become competitive,” FIN:TQ president and CEO Lito Villanueva said in a talk in May.

Technology such as mobile payments and online banking systems allow small businesses to get a foothold and flourish if traditional banking services are unavailable to them. It democratises business by providing a service to entrepreneurs and giving them leverage to get started on their business ventures.

One company that is offering mobile banking and payments platform is Peppermint Innovation Limited (ASX:PIL). They offer mobile remittance, bills payments and e-load platform and is focused on the commercialisation of this technology.

Peppermint’s head office is based in the Perth suburb of Peppermint Grove and the Philippines is their test market.

The Philippines has a population of 100 million people, and there is an estimated number of 105 million mobile phones in use. 70% of the population in the Philippines is unbanked, which is why Peppermint has designed a suite of mobile solutions being marketed under the ‘Bizmoto’ app that supports unbanked citizens for money transfer and remittance payments.

Interestingly, the former Chairman of Bangkok Bank and Chairman of 5G has just joined the board. Their technology is used by three of the nation’s commercial banks.

Peppermint is riding the wave of growing demand and expectations of consumer convenience as more and more people turn to mobile and online banking.

We currently have a small allocation for convertible notes for Peppermint. Click here to request the term sheet.

*Reach Markets are the advisors assisting with the management of this offer and may receive fees depending on whether an offer is taken up by investors.