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Coins, Tagcash Racing to Launch ‘First’ Crypto Order-Book Exchange in PH
Money transfer platform Coins.ph, and digital wallet company Tagcash are racing to launch a live “first Philippine-based” order-book exchange for cryptocurrency.
The goal is to allow people to directly place orders to buy and sell digital currency at real-time market prices, just like investing in the traditional stock exchange.
“There are no order book exchanges based in the Philippines,” said Tagcash Ltd founder Mark Vernon, during an interaction with Fintechnews.sg, noting there are 15 applications waiting, which will probably go through the Philippine Association for Digital Commerce and Decentralised Industries (PADCDI) led by Mary Rose Magsaysay. It is a recently created body for self regulation with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Coins.ph disclosed a few weeks ago of its plan to launch an order-book exchange called CX (Coins Exchange), and is currently in private beta for a small group of Coins.ph customers. The move is a response to requests for lower bitcoin conversion fees, higher limits, and the ability to trade other digital currencies.
Four years ago, fintech group Coinage.ph announced of launching the Philippines’ first bitcoin order book exchange platform, a real-time market for bitcoin (BTC) and Philippine Peso (PHP) exchange. However, Vernon noted Coinage.ph is not PH-based since its contact address is in California.
Visa, SM tie up for contactless transactions
Global payments technology company Visa has partnered with The SM Group to enable contactless payments in its SM mall chain, a report said. Starting this April, customers of the Sy-led mall business will be able to transact via their Visa accounts.
SM Supermalls is the largest shopping center operator in the Philippines with over 50 local malls and six in China. Aside from Visa, other companies such as PLDT also allow customers cashless transactions through Paymaya Philippines Inc. Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt) has its GCash for cashless payments.
Other contactless cards such as Beep and Mastercard also allow motorists to pay for toll fees on the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), and Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex). The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas earlier said it wants to digitize 20 percent of all Philippine transactions by 2020.
PH ranks 2nd in SEA for average spending per-online order
Three Philippines scored the second highest average spending per-online order in 2017 in Southeast Asia, albeit Filipino consumers had the lowest conversion rate across the region, according to e27.
In the SEA State of eCommerce 2017 report by iPrice, the country’s eCommerce amassed 34 million users and garnered a total revenue of $1.491 billion by 2018 which is projected to experience an annual growth rate of 15.1 per cent.
Google and Temasek predicted, by 2025 the Philippine eCommerce is poised to be worth $19 billion, outsizing Malaysia and Singapore. As e27 opined, that while 82 per cent of the top 50 e-commerce are local players; international players dominate as Lazada and Shopee increases in its market reach.
Three new ride-hailing startups to launch in PH
Ride-hailing platform Grab’s imminent monopoly of the transport network vehicle service (TNVS) sector may be short-lived, according to the Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), citing three local ride-sharing companies Go Lag, Owto, and Hype were in the process of completing their accreditation before the agency.
LTFRB Board Member Atty. Aileen Lizada said “any competition is good for any industry because it benefits the riding public.” She also allayed concerns that the merger would result in higher fares as public utility vehicle operators have to first secure the LTFRB’s approval before increasing their fares.
The announcement came days after Grab’s acquisition ofircee-based company’s dominance in the region’s TNVS industry.
First Circle co-founder lands on Forbes ’30 Under 30 Asia’ list
Patrick Lynch, an Irish man and co-founder of Philippine-based online lending company First Circle, made it to this year’s “Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia” list of young entrepreneurs, innovators and people who are disrupting industries.
Four Filipino professionals and businessmen also landed on the Forbes list this year with the theme: “Disruption and Innovation”, the ABS-CBN reported.
First Circle uses available information such as social media, credit, network and cell-phone data to create credit scores to determine the feasibility of a loan. The company aims to make it easier for many small and medium enterprises to secure capital.
The four Filipinos on the list are: Stephanie Sy, founder ofdata science startup Thinking Machines; Miko Aspiras, a chef who has worked in a number of top hotels and co-owns seven concept restaurants; 19-year-old vlogger or video blogger Bretman Sacayanan: Carlo Delantar, the country director of non-profit group Waves for Water, and Archie Oclos, an artist who aims to inspire social change.
Three hundred young men and women who are seen as visionaries and disruptors in 10 categories were named in this year’s list after being vetted by a panel of judges in each category.
Forbes said the criteria for making the list included leadership and disruption in their field, entrepreneurial mind-set and results, and the likelihood of changing their field over the next half-century.
