Author: Company Announcement

CopyCash, a blockchain-based social travesting platform that disrupts and changes the way traders trade in the forex and cryptocurrency markets, announced the appointment of Amir Eslampanah as its Chief Technology Officer. Amir is also on the Board of Advisor for CopyCash. The appointment comes as the company continues to invest and strengthen its social travesting and blockchain infrastructure. Currently regarded as one of the world’s top experts in Blockchain and cryptography, Amir graduated with Honours from the Sir Robert Borden High School and he was a candidate in the University of Waterloo’s Honours Software Engineering COOP program for 2 years,…

Active support and initiatives by financial regulators such as the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Bank Negara Malaysia and Bank Indonesia has enabled the Asia-Pacific Fintech ecosystem to grow significantly in 2017. New innovations are expected to radically transform the way consumers shop, pay perform banking transactions and purchase insurance. The wave of new Fintech technologies is also changing customer behaviour and interactions today. Frost & Sullivan presented its annual Fintech Outlook at The Swissôtel The Stamford in Singapore on 8 February. The event was attended by over 70 senior management and C-suite executives, marking the start of an exciting year ahead for the…

BigPay recently soft-launched its new app in Malaysia with a mission to provide low-cost, fair and transparent financial services for everyone. The BigPay app is an everyday digital alternative to bank accounts with an accompanying card that gives users the flexibility to spend anywhere in the world. Opening an account is quick, paperless and a painless experience, all done on your smartphone – no more queuing up at your local branch or waiting for an appointment to see a bank manager. After downloading the app and signing up, each BigPay customer is issued with a unique Mastercard that enables users…

EZ-Link Singapore, the largest issuer of CEPAS-compliant cards, has expanded the acceptance of EZ-Pay to car parks. Making it the first completely free post-paid card-less payment service for Electronic Parking System (EPS), in addition to Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), in Singapore. Jurong Point Shopping Centre, Great World City and Tanglin Mall are the first three malls to accept EZ-Pay at their car parks. Since 1st February 2018, motorists can enjoy a seamless experience of driving to and parking at these malls, without the need to top up or insert a stored value card into their In-vehicle Unit (IU). Launched in August…

Tata Communications, a provider of network, cloud and security services, announces that it has collaborated with Oracle to offer enterprises from more than 150 countries dedicated and private access to Oracle Cloud, helping them innovate through new services and business models and drive their digital transformation on a global scale. Through this collaboration, enterprises worldwide will be able to access the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure via the FastConnect service using Tata Communications’ IZO™ Private Connect. The combination of IZO™ Private Connect and FastConnect allows enterprises to bypass the public Internet altogether and provide employees with more reliable, seamless access to data and applications using their WAN. With…

New Era Energy (NewEra)1, the Singapore startup focusing on accelerating renewable energy adoption in Southeast Asia, entered into a partnership with Bamboo Capital Group (BCG) to pilot the world’s first blockchain-enabled Carbon Credits Certification Protocol. NewEra is building a blockchain enabled platform to tokenize carbon credits. This MOU is the first activity lined up in NewEra’s pledge to invest up to US$50 million into renewable energy projects. “Our goal is to raise awareness of climate change and accelerate the adoption of clean energy in Southeast Asia, and we believe with proper verification and certification of clean energy footprint, we can…

Mastercard recently announced an initiative to create greater payment consistency by making “tap and go” standard in the next five years. The changes underway ensure that consumers, merchants, and governments around the world will be able to take advantage of next-generation digital technology which delivers greater security and convenience. Beginning later this year, Mastercard will require a series of card and terminal upgrades across Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East to bring secure and convenient contactless card payment technology to more people in more locations around the world. This move means that every cardholder will be able…

Moneythor, the technology company providing financial institutions with a digital banking toolkit powered by artificial intelligence (AI), has been selected by Standard Chartered to further advance personalization and engagement in its digital services. The initial deployment will add advanced client-facing transaction insights to the roll-out of its chatbot service for the Hong Kong market. In line with its objective to be the digital bank with a human touch, Standard Chartered will use the Moneythor technology to continue addressing its clients ever increasing digital expectations for personalized services, which improve their finances. The Moneythor solution will be used for transaction data classification and…

Swiss Fintech company NetGuardians is inaugurating a new Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore to boost its capacity to bring innovative solutions to more financial institutions in the region. NetGuardians is recognized globally as a leader in the fight against cyber fraud and financial crime. Their unique technology leverages machine learning and user behavior analytics to detect fraud before it happens. This patented, Big Data model is used across financial services to address challenges such as eBanking fraud, payment fraud, mBanking fraud, internal fraud and fraud detection for SWIFT Hacking. The official inauguration of the NetGuardians Asia Pacific offices wasmarked by…

Grab, the on-demand transportation and mobile payments platform in Southeast Asia, and Samsung Electronics, one of the world’s largest electronics companies, announced that they have signed a multi-year MOU to drive digital inclusion in Southeast Asia. Grab and Samsung will work together on a wide range of initiatives to bring the benefits of technology, such as enhanced customer experiences and improved income opportunities, to millions of consumers and Grab driver-partners across Southeast Asia. Grab is a leader in ride-hailing in Southeast Asia, an industry that is one of the fastest growing Internet services sectors and expected to be a $25…

Powervision Launches The World’s First Consumer Underwater Drone, Powerray In Singapore PowerVision, a world leader in AI robotics and technology unveils the PowerRay, an innovative underwater robot with groundbreaking features to revolutionize recreational fishing enthusiasts and marine photography. Going beyond the catch for fishermen and the casual hobbyist, the consumer underwater drone redefines the underwater and diving experience in enabling premium photography and videography with innovative functionalities. As a financial hub and trusted gateway to the emerging Asian markets, PowerVision has strategically selected Singapore to lead the Southeast Asian release following the global launch of PowerRay in San Francisco (USA),…

Alipay, the world’s largest mobile and online payment platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group, along with Global Tax-Free today announced that Chinese travelers visiting Singapore can now have tax refunds deposited directly into their Alipay accounts after completing all procedures at the airport. Singapore is the first country in Southeast Asia to offer this service to Chinese tourists. The move follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Alipay and Global Tax-Free (GTF) last September. Through Alipay, Chinese visitors to Singapore can now receive their refunds in Chinese Yuan with shorter waiting time over credit card refund. This service…

7 mobile wallets, acquirers and payment networks, including Diners Club, EZi Wallet, EZ-Link, Liquid Pay, Mastercard, UnionPay International and Wirecard, have formed a consortium to enable interoperable QR payments in Singapore for consumers and merchants. In line with SG QR, the consortium will jointly support an interoperable QR framework that allows customers the ease and convenience of paying with their mobile wallets and cards at consortium merchants. Apart from bilateral arrangements, mobile wallets and acquirers can choose to be supplemented by LiquidNet, an interoperable API platform developed by Liquid Group that is open to debit and credit cards, wallets, telecom…

Capital Match, a Singapore based regional fintech company which operates a platform for invoice financing and secured lending, announced that its Series-B funding round was oversubscribed. The capital raised will support its latest expansion to Hong Kong, technology development, and growth of its financing products portfolio. The funding round was led by B Capital Group, a global venture capital firm that invests in pioneering fintech, healthcare, industrial logistics, and consumer enablement companies. Dymon Asia Venture Capital Fund (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. , an existing investor in Capital Match, also participated in this funding round. Kabir Narang, Partner at B Capital, as well as…

tryb Group, a financial technology platform, announced a US$30 million investment by Makara Innovation Fund  a US$717 million private equity fund that invests in IP driven small- to mid- companies with the aim of scaling, internationalizing and creating enterprise value. The firm intends to utilize the investment capital to accelerate its acquisition plans of growth stage financial technology companies, particularly prioritizing in key segments as related to SME lending, trade finance, and micro-credit. These acquisition targets are selected based on their enhanced capacity as data have driven technologies, which ultimately serve to enable the origination, syndication, and distribution of credit…

At Stripe, we’ve long been excited about the possibilities of cryptocurrencies and the experimentation and innovation that’s come with them. In 2014, we became the first major payments company to support Bitcoin payments. Our hope was that Bitcoin could become a universal, decentralized substrate for online transactions and help our customers enable buyers in places that had less credit card penetration or use cases where credit card fees were prohibitive. Over the past year or two, as block size limits have been reached, Bitcoin has evolved to become better-suited to being an asset than being a means of exchange. Given the overall…

Temasek, a Singapore headquartered investment company, and Kuehne + Nagel, a leading global logistics group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a joint venture to invest globally in early-stage companies developing cutting-edge technology for logistics and supply chains. Dr. Joerg Wolle, Chairman Kuehne + Nagel International AG: “This joint venture will be able to accelerate the transformation of the logistics industry. The cooperation combines Temasek’s focused and long-term oriented investment strategy and expertise, with Kuehne + Nagel’s global logistics network and know-how, creating a win-win situation for all parties. For Kuehne + Nagel it is both another important step…

Local start-up, FundTier, has launched its crowdfunding platform officially after obtaining the Capital Market Services license last December. Founded by five former bankers, FundTier aims to connect local SMEs seeking alternative funding with investors who have an interest in funding SMEs. “We wish to create a win-win situation for both parties whose needs have been largely underserved,” explained Mr Shaun Lee, Co-founder. To protect the interests of its investors, FundTier will curate every funding request by assessing the requesting company’s financial position and its growth potential. All funding requests to FundTier will be listed only upon passing the assessment by…

Funding Societies, a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform in Southeast Asia, welcomed the start of the year by crossing the SGD 100 million mark in total crowdfunded SME loans across Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. In line with the platform’s goal of responsible growth, Funding Societies expanded its crowdfunding book by 400% in 2017 while maintaining a default rate of 1.5%. Founded in 2015, Funding Societies provides business financing to underserved SMEs for their working capital and expansion needs. This is done through its digital marketplace platform where retail and institutional investors come together to lend to the SMEs. Businesses can avail…

DBS Bank and Xero announced a service which allows small businesses, including start-ups and SMEs, to send payment instructions directly from Xero to their DBS IDEAL internet banking account, instead of entering them manually into their internet banking. This new service marks the next step in the regional strategic partnership between DBS and Xero to enable small businesses to transform their financial processes using technology. By connecting the two platforms through a secure and real-time integration, small businesses can now both receive automatically imported bank transactions for easy bank reconciliation as well as streamline bill and supplier payments. This connection between Xero and…