The Philippines is all set to cement its role as the next hotbed for fintech and tech innovation with all the necessary ingredients to tech up already present in the Southeast Asian country. A solid financial and business ecosystem with projected 6.2% GDP growth in 2020; an innovation-ready regulatory environment; a large, young, and increasing population with an internet penetration rate of 63% — most of them through mobile devices — the Philippines is certainly ripe for fintech growth. “We strongly believe that this is a pivotal moment for us to become more relevant and competitive in the global marketplace.…
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Bruc Bond, (formerly Moneta International), a specialist in business banking and international payments from Lithuania, has announced the opening of its Singapore office in the heart of the thriving financial district. Bruc Bond shared that it is working with a range of clients in the region, including local SMEs looking for flexible business banking solutions, as well as several global multinational businesses with bases in Singapore wanting a banking partner that understands the cultural sensitivities of doing business in Asia. Krishna Subramanyan Chief Executive Officer of Bruc Bond Pte. Ltd, “We are at an exciting time in Asia-Pacific, offering a…
Standard Chartered announced Tuesday its investment into Contour (formerly known as Voltron), a blockchain-based open industry platform that will initially focus on digitally creating, exchanging, approving and issuing Letters of Credit (LCs), following the full commercialisation of its offering and appointment of CEO Carl Wegner. As one of the founding members, the Bank will continue to collaborate with Contour, bringing its expertise and digital capabilities to deliver a faster and frictionless experience for clients accessing trade finance. According to their media statement the platform has “revolutionised documentary trade by transforming the previously paper-intensive ways of working” since its inception. Contour…
Singapore-based AI start-up Pand.ai has secured an undisclosed amount in Pre-Series A funding from Bualuang Ventures, the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of Bangkok Bank. This new funding round comes less than 3 months after the company announced its first round of USD 1M from a HK-based angel investor. Founded in 2016, Pand.ai serves financial institutions around South East Asia with its proprietary AI-powered chatbots. They claim to be able to help clients improve marketing efficiency between 5 to 10 times and they count Allianz, Great Eastern, Schroders and Tokio Marine. With this funding, Pand.ai plans to expand the resources…
Lightnet, the Bangkok-based fintech company has received A round funding of US$31.2 million in fresh capital. With this round completed, Lightnet is Asia’s first blockchain company to receive financial backing from six large conglomerates, providing access to millions of Asian users searching for improved financial mobility. Lightnet was co-founded by Chatchaval Jiaravanon – a family member of the Charoen Pokphand Group in Thailand – and serial tech entrepreneur and former investment banker Tridbodi Arunanondchai. The financing round was led by UOB Venture Management, Seven Bank, Uni-President Asset Holdings, HashKey Capital, Hopeshine Ventures, Signum Capital, Du Capital and Hanwha Investment and…
A financially-backed property fintech firm on Wednesday launched the first-ever online mortgage broker platform in the Philippines that makes the property loan application process easier and more efficient. The platform, Nook, will enable Filipinos to conduct entire property search, do loan comparisons, and experience a seamless loan application process online. In a press briefing Wednesday, Nook’s chief executive officer Chris Elder said finding out online if one is qualified for a home loan from partner banks takes only three minutes. Elder said the platform will then provide information and bank requirements. “We will work with the bank to get your…
Next-generation capital markets platform iSTOX has secured a USD 5 million investment from Hanwha Asset Management, South Korea’s leading comprehensive asset management company. The Korean financial leader’s investment in iSTOX follows similar partnerships with Thailand’s Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group and Japan’s Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings. Other key shareholders of iSTOX include Singapore Exchange (SGX), Asia’s leading international multi-asset exchange and Heliconia, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings focused on investing in fast-growing companies. “As iSTOX continues to grow, our relationships with partners like Hanwha are allowing us to build a powerful foundation to develop iSTOX into a pioneering service that addresses the evolving needs of 21st century investors,” said Danny Toe, Founder and CEO…
Signet Properties officially launches Flint, the first, tech-enabled real estate crowdfunding platform in the Philippines. Co-presented by SeedIn Technology and RE/MAX Premier Manila, it is touted as the next best thing not just for Filipinos, but also foreigners who wish to invest in real estate properties in the Philippines, any time. Andre Mercado, Signet Properties CEO said, “We are most excited about this latest innovation because it will finally provide opportunities for anyone who is hesitant or is overwhelmed with the process of investing in Philippine properties.” In the Philippines, the traditional real estate process follows a certain way: buyer…
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that it has received 21 applications for digital bank licences as at the close of application on 31 December 2019. This comprises 7 applications for the digital full bank (DFB) licences, and 14 applications for the digital wholesale bank (DWB) licences. The new digital bank licences have attracted strong interest from a diverse group of applicants. These include e-commerce firms, technology and telecommunications companies, FinTechs (such as crowd-funding platforms and payment services providers) and financial institutions. The majority of applicants are consortiums, with entities seeking to combine their individual strengths to enhance the…
Grab announced today the launch of their GrabPay Card which is available in Singapore starting today. The physical card is completely numberless front and back, the thinking behind this design according to Grab is to avert the prospect of theft and personal financial information. It also comes with the feature of in-app lock card function that is PIN-protected, allowing users to instantly suspend payments for lost cards, which is relatively common these days mobile payment apps. Users can apply for the physical numberless card after receiving their digital card. The physical card will be rolled out in batches. The digital…
Razer Fintech, the fintech arm of Razer Inc., has appointed Neal Cross as an Advisory Board member, joining other members of the advisory board,ex-GIC Chairman Lim Siong Guan and ex-DBS Chairman Koh Boon Hwee. With Neal’s addition, Razer Fintech is now primed to be able to accelerate its strategy of building towards a global fintech platform including extending its offerings into the financial and digital banking services space. Neal Cross is widely acclaimed as a key figure in driving the digital transformation of Singapore’s DBS Bank into a global innovation powerhouse. During his tenure as Chief Innovation Officer between 2014…
TMRW by UOB, a mobile-only bank in Thailand, today announced that it has enabled fingerprint and facial biometrics to make it speedier and safer for customers to open their TMRW accounts. In doing so, TMRW claims that it is the first bank in Thailand to offer both forms of biometrics to enhance the account opening experience. TMRW customers are able to use the enhanced biometric capability at all 350 TMRW authentication kiosks, located in high foot-traffic areas across Greater Bangkok. Mr Natee Srirussamee, Head of Retail Digital, UOB (Thai) said that “At TMRW, we are committed to making banking simpler,…
Today the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines, UnionBank of the Philippines, and TX, announced the launch Tracey, an app for fisherfolk that will use blockchain technology for documenting and verifying catch and traceability data. The provided data can then be used by financial institutions, such as UnionBank, to conduct credit assessments, enabling them to provide microloans to fisherfolk. Susan Roxas, Fisheries and Finance Lead for WWF’s Coral Triangle Program, explains: Small fishers in many coastal countries remain poor, despite the high-value fish they catch, like yellowfin tuna. The innovative and disruptive collaboration between WWF, TX and UnionBank will mean fisherfolk will get…
The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced today the three winners of the Global FinTech Hackcelerator. MAS and The Association of Banks in Singapore also announced the 12 winners of the FinTech Awards. Both awards were handed out today at the Singapore FinTech Festival. The winners of the Global FinTech Hackcelerator, supported by KPMG Digital Village, were selected through the Global FinTech Hackcelerator Demo Day, where they had pitched their innovations to an industry panel of judges. The top three teams are (in no order of merit): The winners of the FinTech Awards supported by PwC Singapore, were selected from a…
To leverage Singapore’s global trade connectivity, DBS Bank and Trafigura, in collaboration with Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Enterprise Singapore and tradetech Perlin, have come together to develop an open-sourced blockchain trade platform to connect trade partners across borders and streamline manual paper-based trade processes to improve trade flows. The platform’s pilot trade of USD20 million worth of iron ore will be shipped from Africa to China this month. Built on IMDA’s TradeTrust network infrastructure and powered by Perlin’s blockchain technology, the platform is designed to be interoperable with existing and future digital trade…
On the 27th September 2019 SmartPay is officially qualified for Level 2 of PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) by Crossbow Labs. Since its launch, SmartPay has committed to maintaining rigorous data security standards to ensure that their customers’ card information remains safe and secure. After a careful process of inspection and evaluation, Crossbow Labs, the internationally qualified security assessor, issued an official certificate of Level 2 PCI DSS for SmartPay wallet. Administered by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (originally formed by American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard and Visa), PCI DSS is a…
Singapore-based Wowoo Exchange today announced the official launch of its digital assets trading platform. With an initial focus on the local market, Wowoo Exchange allows users to deposit and withdraw in Singapore dollars to trade cryptocurrency. At the start, three currency pairs will be available: SGD-Bitcoin, SGD-Ethereum, and Bitcoin-Ethereum. Additional pairings will be added in the future. New users who register on the platform will also be eligible for sign-up bonuses. The Exchange, which opened its doors to the public in early September, announced the launch following news of several partnerships with leading fintech solution providers, including Cynopsis Solutions and…
Blueshare, the world’s first traditional equity shares on the Ethereum blockchain, held its Singapore private launch dinner on June 24, 2019 at Mitzo restaurant of Grand Park Orchard Hotel. Dr. Zlatin Sarastov, Chief Financial Officer, and Mario Dimitroff, Head of Project of Blueshare, hosted the event which had close to 20 investors’ attendance. Blueshares represent the tokenized traditional equity participation shares of Interprom Mining AG. The latter, incorporated in Switzerland, is the majority owner of Interprom OOD, a leading construction and mining company with 23 years of experience, holding 90% stake. Both companies are consolidated into a Group controlled by…
Aviva Singapore has become the first insurer to partner with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to offer a Cloud Computing training programme to upskill new and existing employees, enhancing the company’s digital capabilities to meet insurance customers’ evolving needs. This is part of IMDA’s Company Led Training (CLT) programme under the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) initiative, a structured on-the-job training programme aimed at enabling fresh and mid-level Infocomm Technology (ICT) professionals to acquire practical technical skills and specialist competencies for jobs that are in demand by the industry to drive Singapore’s digital economy. The CLT also aims to address the…
Robo advisory has become a household word in financial circles and is becoming commoditised in the marketplace. While a positive trend for the development of the industry, it does raise important questions, especially for those who are thinking about adopting such technology: If I wanted to build one, how might I do it? What differentiates one robo-advisor from another? What sets apart one fintech company from another? Is there anything I should be looking for in a solutions provider? The purpose of this blog post is to answer these questions from our perspective here at Bambu. Step 1 – Collect…