Author: Fintech News Singapore

HSBC announced the appointment of Ashmita Acharya as Head of Wealth and Personal Banking (WPB) in Singapore, with effect 18 January 2023. Ashmita will report to both Wong Kee Joo, CEO, HSBC Singapore and Greg Hingston, CEO, HSBC Global Insurance and Partnerships, and Interim Head of WPB, South Asia. She joins HSBC from Citibank where she was most recently Retail Banking Head for Singapore. Ashmita was responsible for wealth management and mortgage business growth in her past role. Prior to that, she was Asia Pacific Head of Retail Segments, leading acquisition, segment proposition, client engagement and analytics for all 17…

Global private market exchange ADDX has sold its stake in Taiwanese Web 3.0 infrastructure platform CYBAVO to Circle, a global financial technology firm and issuer of USD Coin (USDC). ADDX was a pre-Series A investor in CYBAVO and held a significant stake. Details of the transaction was not disclosed. This deal is a part of Circle’s plans to acquire CYBAVO which was signed in June and concluded in July. CYBAVO is an infrastructure-as-a-service platform providing digital asset custody technology and security services to enterprise customers, such as cryptocurrency exchanges, NFT marketplaces, cryptocurrency wallet providers, and fintech service providers. To date,…

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) announced that they have officially launched their joint QR payment services as an alternative means of cross-border payments between the two countries. Nguyen Kim Anh, Deputy Governor of SBV and Ronadol Numnonda, his counterpart from BOT participated in a live demonstration of cross-border QR payments between Vietnam and Thailand using mobile banking applications of their respective countries. Through this QR payment connectivity, payments can be made with convenience, speed, security, transparency and at low cost. The project also serves to promote the use of local currencies for payments…

In Indonesia, consumers are showing high levels of awareness and interest in open finance and embedded fintech, with most people agreeing that sharing their data allows them to be provided with better products and services, as well as tailored recommendations, a new study by DailySocial, a local tech blog and information portal, found. The survey, which polled 100 respondents across Indonesia, found that more than seven-in-10 customers are aware of embedded finance, indicating that digital ecosystems like Gojek and Grab are allowing them to purchase insurance coverage and investment products. Respondents also know how providers are using their data, with…

The world of financial services is in a state of constant change, with many traditional banks across the Asia Pacific, and indeed the world, now actively pursuing digital transformation strategies. For many of these organisations, it has been the impact of disruptive technologies and digital-only challengers that have compelled traditional financial institutions to actively begin to reinvent themselves from being bureaucratic, machine-like organisations into agile organisms which have people – employees and customers – at the centre. From machine-like bureaucracies to agile organisms For decades, traditional banks and financial institutions have operated as highly structured organisations, with rigid top-down hierarchies,…

OCBC Bank announced the appointment of veteran banker Noel Gerald DCruz as Group Chief Risk Officer from 1 January 2023, succeeding Vincent Choo who will stay on as an adviser. DCruz joined OCBC in 1989 after a stint in the Monetary Authority of Singapore and currently heads both the Group Risk Portfolio Management department as well as the Group Data Management Office. He has been closely involved in the reorganisation of the OCBC’s credit risk management structure, the set-up of the Credit Risk Management Committee and various specialised risk management units. He has also been covering for Choo in his…

Singapore’s state-owned investor Temasek announced that it has decided to write down its full investment in collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, irrespective of the outcome of its bankruptcy protection filing. Temasek had invested US$210 million for a minority stake of ~1% in FTX International, and another US$65 million for a minority stake of ~1.5% in FTX US, across 2 funding rounds from October 2021 to January 2022. The investor added that the cost of its investment in FTX was 0.09% of its net portfolio value of S$403 billion as of 31 March 2022. Temasek claims to have done an “extensive due…

Google Wallet has now been extended to three additional Southeast Asian countries – Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia – making it available in 57 countries total. In Vietnam, the feature is currently only supported for Visa cardholders while Mastercard will be integrated into the wallet in the coming weeks. Banks offering this feature are ACB, Sacombank, Shinhan Bank, TP Bank, Techcombank, Vietcombank and VPBank although not all banks support this feature for both their credit and debit cards. Meanwhile, in Thailand, Bangkok Bank and Krungthai Card has enabled Google wallet for both Mastercard and Visa cardholders. Malaysian banks supporting the digital…

Over the past year, 43 new digital challenger banks have been launched around the world, bringing the total number of players to 291, data acquired by Finbold, a platform that covers news on finance, cryptocurrencies and fintech, show. The figure represents a 17.11% increase from October 2021’s 248 digital challenger banks. Looking at geographical trends, Europe witnessed the sharpest rise in absolute number, adding 21 new digital challenger banks between October 2021 and October 2022. The figure represents a growth of 27.6% from the 76 recorded the year prior. As of October 24, 2022, Europe had 97 active digital challenger…

The fall of FTX last week will have “cascading effects” on the broader cryptocurrency industry with more companies possibly going belly up in the coming weeks, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO and co-founder of Binance, warned during a recent industry event in Bali. Speaking at the 4th Indonesia Fintech Summit 2022 on November 11, 2022, CZ told the audience that the collapse of FTX, which was once among the world’s top five largest crypto exchanges, could create ripple effects throughout the entire industry, stating that the 2008 global financial crisis was “an accurate analogy” to the event.  “With FTX going…

Social live streaming platform Bigo Live has partnered with crypto payment gateway TripleA to enable their users to top up account by paying with cryptocurrencies. The crypto payments, which includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), are made via a QR code displayed at point of purchase. Bigo Live said that it has over 400 million users in over 150 countries, as well as an average monthly active userbase of 32 million. Eric Barbier, CEO of TripleA said, “TripleA is delighted to team up with Bigo Live to drive growth within the creator economy. Diversity…

Cryptocurrency exchange giant Binance’s Chief Executive Officer Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao announced plans for an industry recovery fund amidst FTX’s staggering collapse in recent weeks. CZ also called upon other like-minded industry players with resources to co-invest in the fund to help rebuild the crypto industry. However, the size of the fund was not disclosed. According to the tweet, the industry recovery fund was formed with the intention to aid projects that are facing liquidity issues. Those who are interested in this can reach out to Binance Labs, the crypto exchange’s venture capital and incubation arm, to see if they meet…

A vast majority of the populations in the emerging markets of Southeast Asia, Latin America, and India are at the cusp of financial inclusion, thanks to the growing availability and adoption of digital lending services. The fintech-as-a-service market is predicted to grow to around US$ 949 Billion by 2028 due to the popularity of the alternative payment solution Buy Now Pay Later in these markets. With increased acceptability for digital lending in segments that had never been a part of the financial mainstream, organizations must enhance risk decisioning while ensuring faster turnaround on credit applications. Maintaining a high rate of…

Global enterprise software firm R3 has partnered with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to explore the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in driving digital transformation. The partnership involves a proof-of-concept (POC) project aimed at establishing a cross-border multi-currency securities settlement system based on DLT in Asia Pacific. It will also look into the relevance of DLT for ADB’s institutional priorities and in support of its operational priorities. The partnership will also explore DLT use cases in key industry verticals such as sustainability, accountability and traceability, digital assets, and identity and Know Your Customer (KYC) across the region. As part…

HSBC announced the official opening of its new head office at Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 2 (MBFC) as part of its long term commitment to Singapore. The new head office includes over 140,000 sq ft of space over the top floors of the 50-storey MBFC Tower 2 building which incorporates design elements to minimise energy consumption and carbon emissions. The bank currently has 4,000 employees, where it saw over 16% increase since 2019 following the acquisition of AXA Singapore in a US$575 million deal. The bank has completed a number of other strategic acquisitions this year including LTIM asset…

Global private market exchange ADDX announced that it has raised approximately US$20 million in an upsized Pre-Series B round led by KB Securities, a subsidiary of Korea’s KB Financial Group (KBFG). The round kicked off in May 2022 when ADDX announced a US$58 million fundraise, bringing its total funds raised to around US$140 million since its inception in 2017. KB Securities and ADDX will also explore possible tie-ups to expand private market services in Asia, including potential collaborations in Singapore or Korea. Part of the newly raised capital will go towards growing ADDX Advantage, the company’s wealth management platform launched…

Five central banks in ASEAN announced that they have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on regional payment connectivity to support faster, cheaper, more transparent, and more inclusive cross-border payments. Signed at the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the central banks involved in the payment connectivity include the Bank Indonesia (BI), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and Bank of Thailand (BOT). The implementation of cross-border payment connectivity serves to support and facilitate cross-border trade, investment, financial deepening, remittance, tourism, and other economic activities, as well as a more inclusive financial ecosystem…

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s New York Innovation Center (NYIC) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced a joint experiment to investigate how wholesale central bank digital currencies (wCBDCs) could improve the efficiency of cross-border wholesale payments involving multiple currencies. Project Cedar Phase II x Ubin+ will enhance designs for atomic settlement of cross-border cross-currency transactions, leveraging wCBDCs as a settlement asset. The effort, which entails establishing connectivity across multiple heterogeneous simulated currency ledgers, aims to significantly reduce settlement risk, a key pain point in cross-border cross-currency transactions. Project Cedar is a multi-phase research effort to develop…

The Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) this year brought together more than 62,000 participants from over 115 countries, emerging as its largest gathering to date since the inaugural edition in 2016. SFF 2022 featured more than 850 speakers from private and public sectors as well as more than 570 exhibitor booths, including 25 international country pavilions. This year’s festival also saw a new ESG Fintech Zone being introduced to showcase technological solutions driving innovation and change in the region’s net zero effort. Other key highlights include the inaugural Founders Peak, which featured 10-minute TED-like talks from more than 50 founders. Attended…

Huawei has partnered with the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) PIXEL Innovation Hub to launch the inaugural Spark Incubator programme in Singapore. The programme aims to support pre-seed and seed stage fintech, metaverse, and software as a service (SaaS) startups by providing access to resources and expertise from Huawei and IMDA. Startups are expected to receive third-party financing of over S$250,000, increase their valuation by at least 20%, or cross S$250,000 in annual revenue post-program. The programme will incubate up to 12 startups per cohort for a period of five months, and will be run twice each year. Incubator participants…