Author: Fintech News Singapore

Zurich Insurance recently launched DigitalResolve, a coordinated incident response service to help businesses in Asia Pacific (APAC) mitigate and recover from cyberattacks. As the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Risks Report recognises cyber dependency among the top three trends that will shape global development during the next ten years, Zurich is at the forefront of offering a co-ordinated post-cyberattack service in APAC1, servicing Zurich Security and Privacy customers. Offered through our partner Crawford & Company, DigitalResolve helps organisations to co-ordinate and manage resources so they can recover from damaging cyberattacks with minimum disruption. The new service launches at a time when…

Markus Gnirck – Co-founder @ tryb & former COO of Startupbootcamp FinTech- once again summarized the recent updates , opportunities and challenges for the Fintech Community in Asia after visiting multiple Fintech hubs. Over a year ago I wrote the first summary of the FinTech developments in Asia after I travelled to 10 countries to run Startupbootcamp FinTech Pitch Days – most of the time it was the first time ever a FinTech event has happened in each location. This year around, and as part of my recently set up firm tryb, it was good to visit multiple FinTech hubs again, deepen relationships, make new…

Access to invoice financing, an emerging asset class, where accredited investors buy yet-to-be-paid invoices and earn an attractive return when invoices are paid Backed by Centurion Portfolio Managers, London based FCA regulated investment advisors, with many years’ experience in Alternative investments Innovates how Singapore SME businesses manage their cash flow to generate faster growth Capital Springboard (S) Pte Ltd launched today a peer-to-peer financing platform for savvy accredited investors seeking high returns on short-term invoices. Investors benefit from annualised returns of 11-25% depending on the grade of risk of the invoice, during a 90 day investment window. The higher the…

KPMG in Singapore has launched “Digital Village,” an online platform aimed at stimulating collaboration between corporates and the startup community. Aimed at “matching, fostering and forging” innovation ventures between both worlds, KPMG Digital Village functions as a digital ecosystem that leverages KPMG’s global innovation network of corporates, startups and investors. The firm said that the digital platform will focus on “bridging the gap between ideation and the commercialization of innovation.” According to Lyon Poh, the head of digital and innovation at KPMG in Singapore, commercial innovation activity often lacks appropriate management support to obtain tangible outcomes. “Whether it is a…

FinTech is undeniably one of the most promising industries in recent time. Find out the most discussed topics and what you should not miss. The Blockchain Technology It is only a matter of time before the broader financial services and banking industries shift to blockchain and network-based approaches. Blockchain, as a pure platform technology, will maybe able to cut out the middlemen (or middle companies) everywhere. Because of that, many fintech entrepreneurs and experts constantly discuss topics such as: What does Blockchain matter? What are the various Blockchain concepts – sidechains, hyperledger, public or private blockchain? Who are the major…

Automated advisory platforms, also known as robo-advisors, have already caused a stir in the US and the UK, and are now winning market share in Asia. These digital platforms offer online, customized investment advice and portfolio constitution, most of the time through ETFs or mutual funds, and are starting to appear in Asia as the region is expected to drive most the private wealth’s growth for the next decade and beyond. The Boston Consulting Group predicts that Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) will surpass Western Europe (a projected US$49 trillion) – which currently stands as the second-wealthiest region after North America -…

Often perceived as the latest phase in the ongoing digital revolution, fintech has attracted much interest from governments from around the world as none wants to pass on the multi-trillion-dollar opportunity. South Korea is no exception. Last year, the country’s financial regulator unveiled new rulings to push digital banking. The detailed plan, announced in June 2015 by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), aims at allowing private companies to launch online-only banks domestically and provide them with the ability to hold up to a 50% stake. The announcement was made a few months after the FSC established Fintech Center of Korea.…

Two Singapore startups aim to improve the accessibility and security of international payments Wells Fargo  announced today that it has selected two early stage payments companies — Alpha Payments Cloud and Jewel Paymentech — for investments of up to $500,000 for the spring 2016 class of the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator, a non-exclusive, six-month, semiannual program where Wells Fargo mentors and helps startups refine their potential breakthrough technologies for financial services and other applications. Wells Fargo business and technology leaders will work closely with the incoming accelerator participants to test their concepts for merchants and guide them through the process…

One of the biggest expenses for migrant workers is the cost of sending money to their family abroad. Migrant workers are often taken advantage of by banks and other financial institutions where they are charged high fees and offered limited resources. Neema, in collaboration with MasterCard, is launching the first debit card that dramatically reduces the cost migrant workers pay to send money home since there are no transfer or foreign currency exchange rate fees. With the help of Neema’s mobile app, the migrant worker can monitor the use of the two MasterCards they will receive. Through this model, one card…

Next week, BlockFin Asia in collaboration with Viet Youth Entrepreneurs, will bring together regulators, bankers, investors and fintech experts to discuss the future of finance. The event, which will occur in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) on June 15 and 16, 2016, is one of the very first conferences in Vietnam dedicated to exploring the opportunities and challenges of financial technology. Fintech is still in its early days in Vietnam, and while a great number of innovative payments services have emerged in recent years, just a few of them have managed to gain international recognition. Notably, MoMo, a service of…

Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) is preparing new rulings for Indonesian fintech companies which the authority plans to finalize by the end of the year. Chairman of Board of Commissioners of the OJF, Muliaman Hadad, said in April that the regulator will consult foreign authorities in the region to understand the ecosystem. “We will start consulting our peers in China, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia. I want to see their responses and suggestions first. However, we will try our best to finalize it this year,” Hadad said, quoted by DealStreetAsia. As a country with high Internet penetration, high middle-class growth, and…

BitTitan, the leader in cloud services enablement, today announced it closed a $15 million round of Series A financing led by TVC Capital, a San Diego-based growth equity firm focused on investments in enterprise software companies. The round also included participation from Tao Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based family office. The funding marks the first time BitTitan has raised any capital since its founding in 2007. BitTitan will use the financing to further establish its position as a leading cloud services enablement provider, to augment its MSPComplete platform with more managed services automation capabilities, and to aggressively expand into new geographic…

Opening of IBM Studios Singapore IBM today announced the opening of IBM Studios Singapore, a new design center to help clients reinvent their business for the digital age and develop individualized experiences through a combination of cognitive capabilities and experience design. The announcement was made at the launch of IBM’s Watson Center at Marina Bay in Singapore, and was officiated by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. IBM Studios Singapore acts as a hub for IBM iX Located in the Marina Bay Financial Centre, IBM Studios Singapore will serve as the regional hub and will host more than 100 designers…

Close to 5,000 IBM Cognitive Solution Professionals across the region co-creating with clients to drive transformation New Watson Centre at Marina Bay to house IBM Garage Singapore and IBM Studios – Singapore In less than five years, disruptive technologies such as cognitive computing and blockchain are expected to drive dramatic shifts in every industry, from healthcare, to financial services, to tourism.  To help clients of all sizes in the Asia Pacific region lead in shaping the future of their industries, IBM today announced plans to assist in the rapid prototyping and commercialization of solutions based on cognitive computing and blockchain. IBM…

Banks have ignored consumer demands for too long and their legacy infrastructure needs to be fixed thoroughly. The effect of disruption is very big across the banking sub-sectors, especially for retail banks. Retail banking segments such as lending, remittances and payments have undergone disruptions while the infrastructure supporting retail banking such as bank branches and ATMs are also undergoing a transformation, thanks to the millennials’ habit of using mobile devices. Non-digital banks also face the threat of of losing customer relationships. Ease of use, fast service and positive customer experience are the advantages that FinTech companies see the opportunities in consumer…

Aimed at simplifying personal budgeting, Seedly is an app that lets you track your money in a simply and convenient manner. Based in Singapore, Seedly provides a solution that works in three simple steps. First, you need link your bank or credit cards via a secure channel. The software then analyzes and aggregates your transactions historic. Finally, you can communicate with Seedly’s artificial intelligent chatbot to receive insights, patterns and recommendations. The app utilizes behavioral machine learning to learn about your spending habits and let you know about discrepancies. According to Kenneth Lou, co-founder and CEO of Seedly, the app…

EZ-Link Pte Ltd, Singapore’s largest issuer of CEPAS-compliant cards, welcomes the full launch of the new unified Point of Sale (POS) system in Premier Taxis that accepts ez-link and other contact and contactless modes of payment including MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club, JCB, Union Pay and NETS, and soon Visa cards. EZ-Link’s integrated POS system provides more payment choices Replacing the current payment system in over 2,000 taxis under Premier Taxis Pte Ltd, this latest integrated payment solution offers high level of transactional security combined with contactless, magnetic stripe and Chip & PIN, allowing taxi commuters to choose from a wider…

As a country where cash is still the king of currency, the current state of implementation of Blockchain technology solutions in Vietnam is still very new. A few Vietnam fintech startups have been working on providing basic infrastructure layers in order to enhance the local ecosystem around these technologies, yet there has not been attempts yet to implement any advanced use cases of Blockchain technology in order to improve the efficiency and unforgeability of data & documents in the local economy. On January 25th , Bitcoin Vietnam Co. Ltd. – Vietnam’s first bitcoin exchange – and Coinify ApS – the…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today released a consultation paper on proposed guidelines for a “regulatory sandbox” that will enable financial institutions (FIs) as well as non-financial players to experiment with financial technology (FinTech) solutions. The FinTech landscape is fast evolving, with a proliferation of technological innovations and solutions. MAS encourages FIs to test and introduce these innovations if they are relevant, and do their own due diligence. However, there may be circumstances where it is less clear whether a particular FinTech solution complies with regulatory requirements or poses unacceptable risks. The uncertainty may stifle promising innovations, and may…

The Philippines has one of the highest population growth in Southeast Asia and remains a strong economic performer in the region, despite slow global growth. That shouldn’t last too long, though, as HSBC predicts that in 2050, the Philippines should rank as the 16th largest economy in the world, the 5th largest in Asia, and THE largest in Southeast Asia. The future seems bright given the country’s fast growing economy, and yet 69% of the Philippines’ adult population remains unbanked, according to the World Bank. Malik Khan Kotadia, Global Banking Group senior vice president, believes that fintech companies will play…