XTransfer, a Chinese B2B cross-border trade payment platform, has received in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license. This approval will enable XTransfer to offer services such as account issuance, domestic and cross-border money transfers, and e-money issuance. With the MPI license, XTransfer plans to launch e-business wallet services in Singapore, offering account opening, top-up options, currency exchange, and cross-border fund collection and payment solutions designed for SMEs engaged in global trade. XTransfer aims to facilitate trade between SMEs in China and Singapore and support smooth foreign trade transactions for Singaporean companies.…
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Natalia Goh has been appointed as the new CEO of MariBank, a digital bank licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sea Group. Goh succeeds Zheng Yu Dong, who announced last week that he will be stepping down after a five-year tenure but will continue to serve as an advisor to both MariBank and Sea Group. She shared in a LinkedIn post, “This team has recently been recognised with two awards at the Asian Banking & Finance Awards 2024 – New Virtual Bank of the Year and Ecosystem Initiative of the Year. These accolades not…
Global payments company Thunes has named Sigrid Hulsebosch as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Hulsebosch will be responsible for overseeing Thunes’ financial strategies and global finance functions, including planning, treasury, tax, reporting, and investor relations. She will be based in London and report directly to Thunes’ CEO, Floris de Kort. Hulsebosch brings over twenty years of financial leadership experience, having recently served as CFO at Malvern Panalytical, a company specialising in material and life sciences analytics. She has also held the CFO position at Worldpay, where she played a key role in the company’s growth and successful IPO. Additionally,…
Bitkub Exchange, Thailand’s largest digital asset exchange, has named Singapore-based Rakkar Digital as its official digital asset custodian. This partnership aims to improve security and operations, reinforcing Bitkub’s reliability for its users. Bitkub, which reportedly processes around US$41.5 million in daily trading volumes, aims to offer improved security and reliability while meeting compliance requirements set by Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with this partnership. Rakkar Digital offers 24/7 support and a cold wallet processing time of approximately two hours. This collaboration is expected to enhance Bitkub’s operational agility and security, benefiting its institutional clients and the broader digital asset…
Cloud-native banking technology firm Thought Machine and Quantifeed, a leading provider of digital wealth management solutions, have announce a new partnership to service the private banking sector worldwide. The partnership integrates Quantifeed’s QEngine platform with Thought Machine’s core banking platform, Vault Core, creating a comprehensive solution for private banks. Vault Core is already in use with major financial institutions including Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Chartered, and Intesa Sanpaolo. Quantifeed enables financial institutions to offer customer-centric and modular investment services. Combining software engineering and quantitative finance expertise, Quantifeed has implemented its digital wealth solutions for clients such as DBS, HSBC, MUFG…
Ant International and BNP Paribas have entered a strategic partnership to enhance cross-border payment solutions for European merchants and consumers. The partnership was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding signed in Zurich by Douglas Feagin, President of Ant International, and Pierre Fersztand, Global Head of Cash Management, Payments, Trade Solutions, and Factoring at BNP Paribas. Ant International will work with BNP Paribas to enable thousands of merchants using BNP Paribas’ acquiring services across Europe to accept payments from over 25 international mobile partners via Alipay+. This collaboration aims to streamline cross-border transactions, making them more efficient and accessible for businesses…
AIA Singapore announces the immediate appointment of Afees Ashroff as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He will report to Wong Sze Keed, AIA Singapore’s Chief Executive Officer. “I am delighted to welcome Afees to the leadership team as Chief Technology Officer. I am confident that Afees will be a strong addition to my management team and will continue to drive AIA Singapore’s digitalisation agenda across our organisation to deliver the best service experience for our customers. More importantly, with Afees’ appointment,” said Wong Sze Keed, Chief Executive Officer of AIA Singapore. Afees brings over 20 years of experience in…
Partior, a fintech known for its global unified ledger based interbank rails for real-time clearing and settlement, has announced the first close of an over US$60 million Series B funding round led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from Valor Capital Group and Jump Trading Group as new investors. Existing shareholders J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered, and Temasek continue to support the company, alongside founding shareholders DBS, J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered, and Temasek. In fact, Partior’s platform is utilised by DBS, J.P. Morgan, and Standard Chartered to facilitate payments for their customers. Companies such as Siemens and iFAST Financial have benefited…
With help from the Singapore Police Force, Maybank has intervened in 19 scam cases from March 2023 to June 2024, preventing the loss of S$1,215,600. One notable case occurred on 2 July at Maybank’s Choa Chu Kang branch, a 75-year-old retiree attempted to prematurely withdraw S$230,000 from his fixed deposit. Assistant Service Manager Lee Yong Jie noticed inconsistencies in the retiree’s reasons for the withdrawal and referred the case to Maybank’s digital banking fraud team. The customer claimed he needed the funds to help his son purchase an HDB flat but was unable to provide supporting documents. Despite repeated questioning,…
Sumsub, a global verification provider, has announced strategic partnerships with several resellers in Southeast Asia including Nexus Technologies in the Philippines, PT Secure Pasifik Teknologi in Indonesia, and Spectrum Edge in Malaysia. These partnerships aim to enhance fraud prevention efforts and strengthen the business environment in the region. As Southeast Asia’s digital economy continues to grow, so do opportunities for fraudsters. Sumsub reports significant increases in fraud, particularly in deepfakes, across the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Governments in these countries have responded by tightening regulations in the KYC (know-your-customer) and AML (anti-money laundering) sectors. By partnering with local resellers, Sumsub…
Asia Pacific’s regulators have been experimenting with digital banking licenses in the past decade, paving the way for a new breed of banks but has it panned out and what does the future hold for it? Special thanks to the following thought leaders for sharing their views: Jessica Lam, Group Chief Strategy Officer, WeLab Simon Beitz, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Alex Bank Nick Woodruff, Chief of Staff, Trust Bank Sheyantha Abeykoon, Group CEO, Boost Manu Panda, COO, Maya Bank
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has no immediate plans to allow cryptocurrency listings on its bourse, Chief Executive Loh Boon Chye told Reuters, citing the lack of a mature ecosystem to support such a move. In an interview at the Reuters NEXT conference, Loh stated, “Not at the moment,” when questioned about the possibility of SGX opening up to crypto listings. He emphasised the need for “sustainable ecosystem support” for any new product launches, highlighting the importance of demand, governance, and structure. Loh’s comments come despite the recent surge in interest in cryptocurrencies, fueled by approvals of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds…
Fave Singapore, operating under the registered entity Beeconomic Singapore Pte. Ltd. and part of the Pine Labs group, has received in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license. This approval allows Fave to offer account issuance, merchant acquisition, and domestic money transfer services. Since its inception in 2016, Fave has facilitated over US$1 billion in transactions across Southeast Asia and India, helping consumers save over US$500 million through its loyalty programs. Fave’s core offerings include Fave Pay, Fave Deals, and Fave eCards. The company plans to continue rolling out innovative commerce products…
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is set to launch Project Insight, an initiative aimed at enhancing the monitoring of global value chains (GVCs) through advanced data analysis. This project seeks to address existing data gaps and improve policymakers’ ability to track trends and shifts within GVCs. Global production and trade, segmented into GVCs, have become standard practice. However, there are notable deficiencies in data and analysis that impede effective monitoring of these chains. Recent disruptions, such as those caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, have highlighted the limited understanding of firm-level GVC relationships and their broader economic impacts. These disruptions…
DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx) has experienced significant growth in the first five months of 2024, with the trading volume of digital payment tokens nearly tripling compared to the same period in 2023. The number of active trading clients increased by 36%, and digital assets held by DBS surged by over 80%. This growth is attributed to a net inflow of deposits from clients seeking secure, bank-grade platforms for digital asset custody and trading. The surge in activity coincides with an approximate 50% increase in the overall market capitalisation of cryptocurrencies during the same period. DBS uses institutional-grade cold wallets for…
A new report by global payments firm Airwallex and Skift Research reveals that 66 percent of travel companies worldwide are experiencing reduced profit margins due to outdated payment systems. The study indicates that 90 percent of these companies plan to prioritise upgrades to payment and financial operations systems over the next year. The report, based on a survey conducted in April 2024 with 473 travel executives from seven global markets, highlights that 70 percent of travel companies find cross-border payments increasingly challenging due to the diversity of new payment methods. While revenue from cross-border payments is on the rise, the…
Major retail banks in Singapore will progressively phase out One-Time Passwords (OTPs) for digital token users over the next three months. Announced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), this move aims to better protect customers from phishing scams. Phishing scams were among the top five scam types last year, with at least S$14.2 million lost to these scams, according to the Singapore Police Force Annual Scams and Cybercrime Brief 2023. Customers with activated digital tokens on their mobile devices will need to use these tokens for logging into their bank accounts via…
South African digital bank TymeBank has appointed Karl Westvig as its new CEO, effective 1 October 2024. Coenraad Jonker, the current CEO, will focus on his role as Executive Chairman of Tyme Group, overseeing the growth of the multi-country digital banking group. Westvig, presently TymeBank’s Chief Executive for Retail and Business Banking, brings extensive leadership experience in lending and fintech. He has previously founded various finance companies, including RCS Group and Retail Capital, which is now part of TymeBank. Jonker, a co-founder of TymeBank, has been CEO for over two years, during which the bank reached profitability in December 2023.…
OCBC has unveiled OCBC PartnerCare, a new financial and personal wellness programme tailored for over 35,000 property agents in Singapore. This initiative aims to bolster OCBC’s network of property agents, who significantly contribute to its home loans business. Valued at up to S$5,000 annually per agent, the programme offers preferential home loan rates, discounts on Great Eastern insurance plans, bonus interest on referral fees credited to an OCBC 360 account, and access to wellness events. More than a third of property agents in Singapore, already registered with OCBC for home loan referrals, have been automatically enrolled and will be the…
Zheng Yu Dong announced that he will be stepping down as CEO of MariBank, a digital bank licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sea Group, after a five-year tenure. According to a LinkedIn post, Zheng will continue to serve as an advisor to both MariBank and Sea. Sea Group has secured two digital banking licenses: one in Singapore to establish MariBank and another in Malaysia for the yet-to-be-launched YTL-Sea Digital Bank Project. MariBank reported S$503.8 million in deposits and balances from customers in 2023, a massive increase from just S$2 million in the…