Author: Fintech News Singapore

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has appointed Lawrence Wong as its Deputy Chairman. Wong, who is also Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, will take up the new role on 1 October 2023. In his new role, Wong will assist the Chairman in leading the board in overseeing GIC’s long-term asset allocation and portfolio performance. Wong has been a GIC Director and Chairman of the Investment Strategies Committee since November 2018 and July 2023 respectively. He is currently the Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and Chairman of Singapore Economic Development Board’s International Advisory Council. Wong is…

Global payments platform Nium announced that it has opened a new European headquarters in London. Nium has been investing in the growth of its business in Europe through M&A, talent acquisition, and product innovation over the last three years. In 2021, Nium had acquired travel payments company Ixaris and recently hired ex-Payoneer SVP Manuel Sandhofer as General Manager to run and expand regional operations. Nium shared that its European business contributed to more than 40% of the firm’s global revenue in 2022. The company currently has European offices in London, Amsterdam, and Malta with local operations in Germany, France, and…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will be imposing higher capital requirements on domestic systemically important insurers (D-SIIs) as part of its efforts to strengthen the resilience of the financial sector. In a D-SII framework that will come into effect on 1 January 2024, MAS also shared the inaugural list of four D-SIIs namely AIA Singapore Private Limited, Income Insurance Limited, Prudential Assurance Company Singapore (Pte) Limited, and Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited. Under the new framework, D-SIIs will be required to hold a 25% capital add-on, which will increase their Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) and Tier 1 capital…

12 fintech companies have been named among the top 100 companies in Asia-Pacific (APAC) to watch this year, recognized by business magazine Forbes Asia for breaking new ground and for their potential to become regional success stories. These companies were featured in the third annual edition of the 100 to Watch list, which spotlights small companies and startups on the rise across APAC. The 2023 list, which was released on August 28, 2023, showcases fast-growing businesses that are targeting underserved markets or applying new technologies to address some of APAC’s biggest challenges. These companies come from 13 countries and territories,…

The International Data Corporation (IDC), a leading provider of market intelligence and advisory services for the information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology markets, has released its annual ranking of the world’s largest and most successful fintech providers. The 20th annual IDC Fintech Rankings, released on September 11, 2023, categorize and evaluate technology providers based on calendar year revenues from financial institutions for hardware, software, and/or services, to determine the world’s biggest fintech services providers. A total of 150 companies were selected from the process and categorized in two main groups: The IDC Fintech Ranking Top 100, which recognizes the top…

Insurtech company bolttech announced that it has raised US$50 million from LeapFrog Investments, an impact investment firm. This investment is an extension of bolttech’s Series B funding round, which now totals US$246 million. bolttech said that it will use the fresh funds to support its global growth strategy, with a focus on emerging markets, and to expand its technology-enabled ecosystem for protection and insurance for emerging consumers. The insurtech will also leverage LeapFrog’s extensive track record with tech-enabled insurance businesses in Africa and Asia to help target its products to this growing market. Additionally, bolttech will be appointing Fernanda Lima,…

HSBC has pledged to invest US$1 billion in high-potential early-stage climate tech companies around the world. The funding will support startups working on a range of new solutions, including EV charging, battery storage, sustainable food and agriculture, and carbon removal technologies. The bank has already invested US$ 100 million as an anchor partner in Breakthrough Energy Catalyst in January 2022. The investment comes at a time when venture capital funding for climate startups declined by 40 percent in the first half of 2023. The IEO report “Net Zero by 2050: a Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector” found that almost…

If one looks inside the fintech regulatory landscape, they will see a complex web of shifting laws, regulations, and frameworks. However, many jurisdictions have an insular approach, and companies are slow to collaborate on fraud prevention. This is why the knowledge gap opens, causing the anticipated US$48 billion loss due to fraud in 2023. Full-cycle verification platform Sumsub’s data shows that over 70% of fraudulent behavior occurs after onboarding, and many companies use outdated transaction monitoring processes. Sophisticated Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) solutions are often used, but the next compliance steps are unfit for purpose. Clients…

Alvin Tan, Minister of State at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, shot down the proposal for banks to bear full responsibility for scam losses in his response to the Motion on “Losses from Scams and Malware Fraud: Doing Right by Bank Customers”. Tan argued, “Full restitution without due consideration of culpability is neither fair nor desirable. He said that doing so could erode vigilance and personal responsibility, and lull users into complacency.” He said that individual customers thus also have an important responsibility to protect access to their accounts, and this includes practising good cyber hygiene and being diligent…

Singapore-based digital payments platform dtcpay has tied up with global full-cycle verification platform Sumsub to enhance the security and reliability of digital currency transactions in target markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, the UK, and Europe. Sumsub’s e-Know Your Customer (KYC) solution will be integrated into dtcpay’s wallet platform to simplify the onboarding process for users. This applies for customers looking to make multi-currency swap, online payments, in-store payment and PayByLink. Additionally, this partnership also aims to empower businesses and merchants to scale and facilitate their integration into the larger digital currency ecosystem. “We see Sumsub’s role as a regtech…

Ant Group has officially welcomed seven new e-wallets and payment apps from Asia to its “Alipay+-in-China” Program (A+China Program). This includes mPay (Macao SAR, China), Hipay (Mongolia), Changi Pay (Singapore), OCBC (Singapore), Naver Pay (South Korea), Toss Pay (South Korea) and TrueMoney (Thailand). The new additions bring the total number of overseas e-wallets accepted in China to 10. AlipayHK, Touch ‘n Go eWallet, and Kakao Pay were the first to pilot the program in late 2022. Alipay+ covers 5 million merchants in 56 markets outside of China, and works with over 20 mobile payment partners across Asia which together serve…

Australian neobank Judo Bank has partnered with digital banking software provider Backbase to create new digital experiences for its small and medium (SME) business banking and term deposit customers. Backbase’s Engagement Banking Platform (EBP) will enable Judo to release additional features on a monthly basis going forward. Uniquely focused on SMEs, Judo Bank has grown its lending book to over US$9 billion and a deposit book over US$6 billion with over 35,000 customers since inception. Lisa Frazier, Judo Bank’s Chief Operating Officer said, “Through our partnership with Backbase, we have enhanced our high-tech, high-touch model, further empowering SME business owners…

Swift and online money transfer service Wise have announced a new collaboration to offer financial institutions and their customers more options for cross-border payments. Under the agreement, financial institutions will be able to route Swift payment messages directly to Wise’s platform, enabling their customers to benefit from Wise’s speed and convenience, and Swift’s reach and reliability. Wise’s global payments network enables over 57% of customers’ cross-border payments to settle almost instantly, in under 20 seconds, and over 90% to settle in under an hour. Financial institutions will only need to make one simple configuration change to start offering their customers…

Major retail banks in Singapore have stepped up their security measures to protect customers from malware scams, the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) announced on Monday. The banks have designed and implemented the anti-malware security measures suited for their customer base and systems. The measures will detect the presence of malware on customers’ devices and trigger additional actions, including blocking access to the banking app or calling customers when suspicious activities are detected. OCBC recently shared that its anti-malware security feature prevented scammers from stealing more than S$2 million from more than 30 customers in the first month since…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has banned Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, the founders of Three Arrows Capital, from managing or becoming a substantial shareholder of any capital market services firm. Three Arrows Capital was a cryptocurrency hedge fund that collapsed in May 2023, sending ripple effects across the industry. MAS found that the company had provided false information to the regulator, failed to notify the regulator of changes to its board of directors and shareholdings, and exceeded the assets under management threshold allowed for a registered fund management company. The regulator also discovered that Three Arrows Capital did…

Singaporean telecom conglomerate Singtel has partnered with Great Eastern to launch a flexible home and contents insurance plan. Customers need to be an existing Singtel broadband subscriber to qualify for the plan. The Singtel Home Protect Flexi is an enhancement of Singtel’s home insurance offering, Singtel Home Protect, which is currently available with a one or two-year commitment. Priced at S$8 a month, the insurance continues to provide homeowners with the same comprehensive coverage for various types of residential housing, of up to S$80,000 for household content and renovations, and up to S$500,000 for personal liability. As the plan is…

Navigating the New Wave: AI’s Role in Project Management Do you recall those days when manually sifting through data was a task? Or when tracking project timelines felt cumbersome? If the nostalgia hits hard, there’s good news. AI and automation are here to redefine those narratives, ushering us into a new era of project management. The AI-Infused Transformation Ever relied on platforms like Quandoo for restaurants to plan your nights out? If AI can simplify our dining choices, imagine its potential in project management! Key Benefits of AI in Project Management: Forecasting and Decision-making: Ditch the educated guesses. AI offers…

Crypto.com has launched its inaugural APAC Hackathon focused on Web3.0 and AI-powered solutions to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The agenda, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a blueprint to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030. Open to only APAC participants, the hackathon is supported by academic partners Singapore Management University (SMU) and Melbourne Business School. Participants are specifically encouraged to focus submissions on these three goals – Quality Education (Goal 4), Decent Work and Economic Growth (Goal 8) or Climate Action (Goal 13). Following the proposal submission period, 12 participants…

Visa and Currencycloud have launched a new cross-border payments solution for banks, fintechs, FX brokers, corporates, and other payment institutions. The Visa Cross-Border Solutions combines its cross-border and cash management capabilities, previously known as ‘Treasury-as-a-Service’, with solutions enabled by its acquisition of Currencycloud. It offers a suite of modular building blocks which can be easily integrated with a company’s existing technology infrastructure. Colleen Ostrowski, Senior Vice President and General Manager Visa Cross-Border Solutions said, “Cross-border offers a huge opportunity for innovation and growth. Until now it’s always been a difficult market to crack due to compliance, regulatory and technological challenges.…

Circle Internet Financial and Southeast Asian ride-hailing super app Grab has partnered to pilot Web3.0 customer experiences in Singapore. Grab’s foray into Web3.0 was reported by Fintech News Singapore on Monday (11 September). The article features screen grabs of the new features. Singapore-based users can now set up a blockchain-enabled ‘Grab Web3 Wallet’, earn rewards and collectibles, and use non-fungible token (NFT) vouchers. Here is a guide on setting up the Grab Web3 Wallet. To start, the Grab Web3 Wallet supports the use of the SG Pitstop Pack NFT vouchers at popular stores and adventures in the island state during…