Author: Fintech News Singapore

KPMG has released a new report naming the top 50 fintech ventures in China, which include Ant Financial, Baidu Finance, Dianrong.com, WeBank and Zhongan Insurance. The report, titled 2016 China Leading Fintech 50, aims at promoting the industry’s growth by highlighting the leading mainland companies in fintech. These companies were selected by over 20 senior partners from KPMG international member firms and KPMG China. “China is fast becoming one of the leading fintech markets globally and an important innovation center in the fintech sector,” said Arthur Wang, head of China banking at KPMG China. “The companies shortlisted were distinguished by their…

The pace of global change in financial services continues to accelerate as market incumbents, emerging FinTech startups and newcomers of every kind try to offer more sophisticated yet convenient means of moving money. Nowhere is this trend more apparent than in Hong Kong; the city that prides itself on being the financial gateway to the rest of China as well as a hugely influential international finance hub in its own right. An emerging shift in financial and economic influencing factors means that Hong Kong’s status as the primary financial hub in China is under threat from the rest of the mainland,…

Hong Kong is making a move to challenge Singapore and others as the dominant location for fintech in Asia. Hong Kong in specific led the growth of the blockchain market in northeast Asia, with its friendly regulatory frameworks and policies for digital currency and blockchain-focused platform providers. In contempt of the advanced banking systems and financial platforms offered by the city’s multi-billion dollar banks and financial institutions, a substantial portion of the Hong Kong population currently utilizes non-bank payment platforms and applications to send cross-border payments and settle international transactions efficiently. FintechNews has made a list of fintech events in…

The following list complements a previous article we published in September 2015 which included a selection of some of Singapore’s most notorious incubators and accelerator programs including Startupbootcamp Fintech Singapore – which will open up applications for startups on November 01 -, TCF-PnP Program, InspirAsia, the Joyful Frog Digital Incubator, Fatfish MediaLab, PACT Incubator, FocusTech Ventures, East Ventures, Jungle Ventures, WaveMaker Labs and 10k. For this selection, we have selected some of the top acceleration and incubation programs, as well as startup competitions, available to Singaporean fintech ventures. Most of these are led by top banks and tech firms and…

After Singapore’s central bank made the decision in 2015 to turn the country into the fintech hub of Asia, fintech has suddenly become the new buzzword across the South East Asian region. South East Asia has long been at the coat tails of the international development of financial technology, but with member countries rolling out new regulatory frameworks, the region is poised to become a new fintech leader worldwide. All is well and good, but in a region where millions are still living without any bank accounts, one can’t help but wonder how exactly will fintech change the landscape of…

Ant Financial, Alipay’s parent company and Alibaba’s financial-services affiliate, is said to be worth US$75 billion, according to Elinor Leung, the head of telecom and Internet research at CLSA in Hong Kong. According to a Bloomberg report, Leung estimates that Ant Financial’s Alipay is worth US$50 billion, its micro loans service US$8 billion and its wealth management unit US$7 billion. The rest of Ant Financial’s valuation comes from investments and cash on hand. Ant Financial was founded in October 2014 by the Alibaba group after the Chinese e-commerce giant went public in the US. Ant Financial is controlled by Alibaba’s…

Since its release, Pokemon Go has been breaking records in both the Apple and Android app stores. Apart from being one of the most popular mobile games ever, what impact has Pickachu and his pals had on businesses? In this infographic we see how Pokemon Go influenced the stock market and economy. This infographic is from brokernotes.com

A world without banks is coming closer. A new report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) investigates how legacy banks will unquestionably come to an end and the possibility of the future ‘invisible banking’. Existing banks seem fail to keep up with digital transformation “Banks are trying to be cool and hip and build super cool digital front ends… But it’s like putting lipstick on a pig – ultimately it’s still a pig and the new front end is still running into an awful digital back end.” – Mark Mullen, Chief Executive Atom, Durham, UK The report, ‘Digital Banking…

Leading independent wealth management firm collaborates with Pershing and Bambu to bring bespoke digital investment solution to affluent investors. Crossbridge Capital, an independent wealth management firm which provides investment solutions for ultra-high net worth families, today announced plans to launch Singapore’s first digital advisory platform for accredited investors*. The platform is being developed in collaboration with industry-leading asset management and technology firms, including Bambu and Pershing, a BNY Mellon company. Designed to deliver a premium wealth management experience, it will enable users to take control of their investments and seamlessly access and manage tailored products chosen to match their investment…

Automated investing services, also known as robo-advisors, are growing rapidly as they seek to provide customers with low-cost portfolios designed accordingly to each investor’s risk tolerance. According to Cerulli Associates, a financial services research firm, assets under management of robo-advisors will rise by 2,500% to US$489 billion in 2020 from US$18.7 billion in 2015. One of the regions that will be driving this trend is Asia-Pacific, which is expected to surpass Western Europe and power most the private wealth’s growth for the next decade and beyond. Given the region’s high Internet penetration rates, its large millennial population and the changing…

IBM announced it has signed a contract with the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) to examine the design, management and execution of contracts among business partners using blockchain technologies. The two companies will begin by piloting blockchain to automate business transactions between the two companies. This is one of the first projects built on the Hyperledger Project fabric, an open-source blockchain platform, to use blockchain for real-life contract management on the IBM Cloud. IBM and BTMU have built a prototype of smart contracts on a blockchain to help improve the efficiency and accountability of service level agreements in multi-party business…

Online gambling is growing rapidly as the amount of wagers worldwide is expected to surge jumping from US$550 billion in 2016 to nearly US$950 billion by 2021, according to a report from Juniper Research. The industry’s growth comes with an increase in the number of online gambling websites offering customers with the ability to use bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to wage. There are many obvious reasons why cryptocurrencies are good fit for online gambling, starting first with the (quasi-)anonymity of transactions when using these media of exchange. This comes with their user-friendliness and ease of use during transactions which are…

A close approach to the FinTech Ecosystem in Singapore, made by 2geeks1city. FinTech experts and entrepreneurs in Singapore talked about the state of Fintech in Singapore, their challenges and the future of this trend in the coming years. State of Fintech in Singapore All experts in the interview agreed on one point, that Singapore is an ideal environment for fintech startups. Keir Veskiväli – CEO & Founder of Smartly – called Singapore as “Switzerland of Asia” because everyone are well-experienced in money management, unlike other countries in Asia where people don’t have bank accounts, payment solutions or credits. Lots of development have been made by the Monetary…

CEM Asia & CX Network congratulates all winners of the 2016 Excellence in Customer Experience Awards, which were announced during the awards gala dinner on 6 September 2016 at the 4th Customer Experience Management Asia Summit. “In our second year, we received a record-breaking 85 entries across 7 awards categories,” said Ann Liu, Awards Director at CEM Asia. “As customer expectations in the region continue to increase and evolve, Asia’s organisations are becoming more creative and attentive in their delivery of great customer experience. We thank all of our entrants for sharing their journey with us and the judges for…

eWise, a leading provider of personal financial data management solutions, announced its strategic partnership with Singapore’s WeInvest, a digital wealth management solutions provider. Their latest product streamlines the investment process by personal wealth tracking and goal-based investing services generally available only to high net-worth individuals, through a secure platform for individuals. WeInvest is launching its new Personal Wealth Management tool for investors called TrackWealth, enabling clients to conveniently aggregate their financial information across institutions and analyse their complete portfolio. Trackwealth consolidates their financial data across all banks and brokers, and helps them assess their investment health covering portfolio performance, Income…

Representatives of the State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) met in Bern to deepen their bilateral cooperation and exchange views on domestic and international financial market developments and policies. MAS and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) also signed a cooperation agreement to foster greater collaboration in FinTech. The financial dialogue was led by Ambassador René Weber, Head of the Markets Division in the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF), with representatives from FINMA and the Swiss National Bank (SNB). Jacqueline Loh, Deputy Managing Director of MAS, headed the Singapore’s delegation. The…

IDC Financial Insights announced the 2016 IDC Financial Insights FinTech Rankings and Real Results, the 13th and 2nd annual respectively. The rankings and winners were announced at an invitation-only event on September 7, 2016, on the eve of Finovate Fall New York 2016. The Call for Entries for the 2017 IDC Financial Insights FinTech Rankings & Real Results will open in May 2017. The IDC Financial Insights FinTech Rankings categorize and evaluate technology providers based on calendar year revenues from financial institutions for hardware, software, and/or services. Two categories of companies are ranked: – FinTech Rankings: Top 100 – vendors that…

IDC Financial Insights announced the 2016 IDC Financial Insights FinTech Rankings and Real Results, the 13th and 2nd annual respectively. The rankings and winners were announced at an invitation-only event on September 7, 2016, on the eve of Finovate Fall New York 2016. The Call for Entries for the 2017 IDC Financial Insights FinTech Rankings & Real Results will open in May 2017. The IDC Financial Insights FinTech Rankings categorize and evaluate technology providers based on calendar year revenues from financial institutions for hardware, software, and/or services. Two categories of companies are ranked: – FinTech Rankings: Top 100 – vendors that…

Visual Capitalist’s infographic visualizes the 27 largest fintech startups worldwide. They look at valuations, cash raised, location, sub-sectors, and much more!

Remittances can contribute to a big chuck of the GDP of a country, notably in emerging markets. The World Bank estimates that migrants will send up to US$636 billion home in 2017, with three quarter of that amount being remitted to developing countries. In 2015, remittances to South Asia grew by 2% or US$117.9 billion. Given their magnitude and contribution to national economies, reducing remittance cost would add billions to these local economies. Digital platforms, mobile and cutting edge technologies have already shown that not only can the remittance costs be significantly brought down, but the money can also be…