The Climate Impact X (CIX), a global marketplace and exchange for quality carbon credits, has secured an additional S$30 million (US$22.3 million) in funding, as revealed by regulatory filings accessed by DealStreetAsia. This recent investment round was led by Mizuho with S$20 million and joined by its existing investors Standard Chartered Bank, DBS Bank, and the Singapore Exchange (SGX). In November 2023, CIX had announced that Mizuho would be coming onboard as an investor but did not disclose the investment sum at that time. The collaboration between CIX and Mizuho is set to enhance cross-border trading and connectivity within Japan’s…
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Who are the top funded fintech startups in Indonesia as of early 2024? With a rapidly growing economy and a tech-savvy population, Indonesia has become a hotbed for fintech innovation and startups, peering into the most well-funded fintech startups in ASEAN’s largest country can provide hints on what verticals investors are most bullish on in this region. In 2022, the country was home to 993 active fintech companies, representing about 25% of all fintech ventures operating across the ASEAN region, data from a 2022 report by the United Overseas Bank (UOB), PwC Singapore and the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) reveal.…
Alchemy Pay, a Singapore-based provider of fiat-crypto payment solutions, has expanded its services in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia through the integration of popular regional payment platforms into its NFT Checkout. This includes AlipayHK, Indonesian digital wallet DANA, Quick Response Code Indonesia Standard (QRIS), and the Philippines’ e-wallet GCash. This move allows users to purchase NFTs directly using these widely-used payment methods, improving accessibility to the NFT market. The integration is particularly significant in Hong Kong, where users can now easily use AlipayHK for NFT transactions, aligning with the region’s growing interest in the crypto industry. By incorporating these payment…
Jumio, a provider of identity verification and fraud prevention solutions, has announced the appointment of Igor Beckerman as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Beckerman has a robust background spanning three decades in finance leadership. His experience includes roles as the inaugural CFO of Gainsight, a customer success platform, and a tenure at Marketo, contributing through its IPO and subsequent acquisition by Vista Equity Partners in 2016. Prior to joining Jumio, Beckerman was the CFO at Newsela, following senior positions at Precise Software Solutions and Symantec. He is an alumnus of Stanford University, holding an MBA, and The University of…
Personetics, a global provider of data-driven personalisation solutions, announced that it has named Udi Ziv as its new Chief Executive Officer. Ziv, who brings a wealth of experience from previous leadership roles, including at SAP, NICE, and Earnix, will replace David Sosna, the company’s co-founder. Sosna, who has been at the helm for 13 years, having led Personetics through its global expansion plans, will step down but remain involved to offer support as needed. Ziv’s appointment is seen as a strategic move to guide Personetics through its next growth phase, building on the momentum established under Sosna’s leadership. “Personetics thrives…
Zühlke Group, a Swiss-based IT service management company, has announced the appointment of Eric Cheung as its new CEO for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Cheung is also a member of the Group Executive Committee now. In his new role, Cheung will oversee the company’s operations across APAC in collaboration with the APAC executive board. Prior to this new appointment, Cheung joined Zühlke in July 2023 as Managing Director Markets. Bringing over twenty years of leadership experience across consulting, banking, and financial sectors, Cheung had spearheading the development and expansion of a S&P 500 IT consulting firm within the Asia…
David Chen, previously CEO of the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) firm Atome, has stepped down to join Indonesia’s GoTo Financial as Head of Consumer Lending. According to Atome, Chen had significantly contributed to the firm’s growth into a leading digital financial services and embedded financing platform in Southeast Asia with more than a decade of experience in the technology and financial industries. Before his tenure at Atome, Chen founded and led Singapore consumer lifestyle app Nestia from 2014 to 2017. With a PhD from the University of Washington and a master’s degree from Fudan University, both in Computer Science, Chen…
Global payments software provider OpenWay, renowned for its Way4 platform, has been recognised by Juniper Research as a top-five market leader in digital wallet solutions. This underscores OpenWay’s role in enabling financial institutions, including banks, processors, and fintechs, to establish extensive payment ecosystems that comply with PCI standards, offering both card and wallet services with a wide array of functionalities. According to Juniper Research, the global digital wallet user base is expected to grow from 3.7 billion in 2023 to more than 5.4 billion by 2028, highlighting the increasing reliance on digital payment solutions. OpenWay’s Way4 Digital Wallet platform has…
The Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS) has announced the addition of John Yong as a non-executive independent director to its board, effective from 19 February. Yong brings over 40 years of experience in the field of information and communication security, with a career that spans both the public and private sectors. This appointment marks him as the third non-executive independent director on the NETS board, a move that is expected to bolster the board’s expertise and support the organisation’s ongoing innovation and growth. Yong’s background includes significant roles in cybersecurity and technology, having served in advisory and non-executive capacities at…
OCBC Bank plans to distribute a one-time financial aid package totaling nearly S$9 million to its junior employees worldwide, aimed at alleviating the impact of escalating living costs. The disbursements are scheduled between February and March 2024. This initiative is expected to benefit approximately 14,000 employees across the bank’s various subsidiaries, including the Bank of Singapore, OCBC Securities, and Great Eastern Holdings, which constitutes over 40% of its global workforce spread across 19 markets. In Singapore alone, 4,600 junior staff members are slated to receive S$1,000 each. This group, comprising newcomers to the workforce and unionised staff, represents about 40%…
Sleek, a platform providing incorporation and accounting services for SMEs and entrepreneurs, has announced its partnership with Absolute Immigration. This collaboration is designed to simplify the complex immigration process for business owners needing to hire global talent, furthering Sleek’s services to streamline company registration, bookkeeping, and tax preparation processes. As part of this partnership, Absolute Immigration will assist organisations in developing innovative migration strategies, enabling the recruitment of talent from across the globe to work and live in Australia. Businesses interested in leveraging this opportunity are invited to a free initial consultation offering expert immigration advice, along with subsequent discounts…
Singaporean fintech DCS Card Centre has established the DCS Innov, a fresh division aimed at propelling digital innovation in the payments space. Ceridwen Choo, an executive known for her extensive experience in the fintech and global payment networks, has been named CEO of the new unit. The new unit is poised to foster collaborations within the industry to develop innovative payment solutions that integrate seamlessly into the existing payment ecosystem. The creation of DCS Innov revolves around four strategic pillars designed to bring about impactful changes in the payments sector. These include forging partnerships to co-create and scale new initiatives, leading…
Transparently.AI, a Singapore-based AI firm specialising in detecting accounting fraud, announced that global asset management firm Franklin Templeton had joined its US$3 million pre-Series A funding round. This financial backing is part of Transparently.AI’s inclusion in Franklin Templeton’s Fintech Incubator programme. The company’s valuation now stands at US$20 million. The firm’s AI-driven software offers a sophisticated tool for detecting financial discrepancies and potential fraud in corporate balance sheets by assigning a risk score ranging from 0 to 100. This score aids various financial entities, including asset managers, banks, and auditors, in identifying and mitigating risks related to financial misconduct and governance…
Xalts, a Singaporean fintech firm supported by Accel and Citi Ventures, has acquired blockchain- based digital trade finance platform Contour Network previously owned by a consortium of leading global banks. Carl Wegner, the former CEO of Contour, is expected to join Xalts in a senior leadership role. This acquisition aims to further digitise trade and supply chain finance, building on Contour’s established base of more than 22 banks and over 100 global businesses, including Tata Group and Rio Tinto. Contour was launched in 2017 through a collaborative effort by major banks such as HSBC, Standard Chartered, and BNP with the…
Payments infrastructure company TerraPay has officially announced the appointment of Ruben Salazar Genovez as its new President. Genovez, who previously held the position of Global Head of Visa Direct, brings a wealth of experience to TerraPay, having worked with major financial institutions such as Visa, Citibank, Barclays, and Mastercard. His tenure at Visa Direct was marked by significant contributions to the enhancement and expansion of Visa’s money transfer services. In his new role, Genovez will focus on spearheading TerraPay’s strategic initiatives aimed at global expansion and enhancing the company’s payments infrastructure. His expertise in the payments industry is expected to…
Four major Southeast Asian stock exchanges – Bursa Malaysia, Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), and Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) – have united to form the ASEAN Interconnected Sustainability Ecosystem (ASEAN-ISE). This initiative aims to promote sustainable development within the ASEAN region by integrating common environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics into their data systems. The collaboration was formalised during a recent meeting where the exchanges agreed on a governance structure and operational plan for the sustainability ecosystem, with Bursa Malaysia taking on the role of the ASEAN-ISE Secretariat to oversee the initiative’s implementation. The ASEAN-ISE…
Global neobank Revolut has rolled out an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) feature designed to shield its 35 million users worldwide from the growing threat of card scams. The AI-driven feature is engineered to identify and prevent Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams, a prevalent form of fraud where individuals are deceived into transferring money to fraudsters. Leveraging sophisticated machine learning algorithms, the tool scrutinises transactions in real-time to detect potential scams, effectively intervening before users can complete a payment to a scammer. Developed by Revolut’s in-house financial crime team, this feature assesses the likelihood of a transaction being fraudulent. If a…
Aligning with global trends, Southeast Asian tech investments recorded a considerable decline in 2023, influenced by increasing interest rates, high inflation and supply chain disruption. Despite the notable pullback, fintech continued to see traction from investors, with digital lending in particular witnessing an uptake. New reports released by Cento Ventures, a Singapore-based venture capital (VC) firm focused on technology startups, and Tracxn, a market intelligence platform, explore the state of the Southeast Asian tech investment landscape and share trends observed in the market. Among the key trends outlined in the reports, the companies note a sizable decline in tech investment…
2024 is expected to be a year of innovation for the fintech industry, marked by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), cross-border and real-time payments, cryptocurrency and blockchain, and bundled software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings. At the same time, the sector is anticipated to witness a massive wave of consolidation as attractive capital continues to lack, forcing many firms to seek outcomes such as acquisition or closure, partners and advisors of venture capital (VC) firm Lightspeed Venture Partners predict. These predictions, shared in a blog post on January 31, 2024, reveal the thoughts of Lightspeed partners and advisors Aaron Frank, Sam Eisler, Connor…
In 2023, the value received by illicit cryptocurrency addresses amounted to US$24.2 billion, representing a 39% year-over-year (YoY) decline from US$39.6 billion in 2022, new data released by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis reveal. Despite the notable drop and improvements, the prominence of sanction-related transactions and the growth of ransomware attacks remain key challenges for the industry to tackle. These data, released preliminarily in anticipation of the upcoming Chainalysis 2024 Crypto Crime Report, reveal that 2023 was a year of recovery for the cryptocurrency industry as the sector rebounded from the scandals, business collapses and price declines that took place in…