Author: Fintech News Singapore

You may be looking for the top accounting software in Singapore because you want to start your own business. Or, you may have an existing business and are looking for a change. In any case, this article is here to help you make that purchasing decision, and it will explain what you should look for in accounting software and hopefully make your decision easier. Features Offered When finding the top accounting software in Singapore, it is important that you find the software with the best features to offer. The best feature-packed accounting software available in Singapore offers a variety of…

The rise in Industry 4.0 technologies such as Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning is driving the global data explosion post-pandemic. Gartner projects that by 2025, around 75% of enterprise-generated data will be created and processed outside a traditional data center or cloud. The financial services sector is one of the most data-forward industries globally, yet many are neglecting the role of data on a core part of their infrastructure: storage. A trustworthy storage lays the foundation for more efficient and productive digital customer acquisition, faster processing, and enhanced data protection for financial industry players. In addition to…

Funding Societies, a Southeast Asian Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) digital financing platform, announced that it has received a US$50 million credit facility from HSBC Singapore. Through this new facility, Funding Societies will be able to channel the funds via its range of tailored financing solutions across SME segments across all its five markets. Meanwhile, this will also enable HSBC to extend its global capabilities by tapping on the underserved segments across the region. Furthermore, HSBC will act as the structuring bank, lender, facility and security agent in providing a flexible, scalable and pan-regional financing solution to support Funding Societies’…

Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) jointly announced the addition of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) track to the Global Fast Track 2022, giving local and global firms valuable opportunities to partner with the central banking institution to boost the growth and adoption of fintech in Asia and beyond. The Global Fast Track is organised by InvestHK and co-organised by Finnovasia. It is a one-stop programme with a business matching portal, pitching competition, and mentoring sessions which connect global fintech companies with a diverse range of Asian Corporate, Investor and Service Champions to explore…

Bhop Consulting Pte Ltd trading as Singapore-based crypto exchange BHEX.SG, announced that it has received the Standard Payment Institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The granting of the Standard Payment Institution license will enable BHEX.SG to offer Digital Payment Token (DPT) services to customers in Singapore. BHEX.SG has partnered with licensed service providers in the global market aiming to focus and better serve institutional investors, family offices, accredited and high net worth investors rather than the retail investors, as this crypto field is still volatile for the retail segment. According to BHEX.SG, it has not experienced any…

Singapore-based major payments institution licensee FOMO Pay announced that it has secured a US$ 13 million investment for its Series A funding round led by Jump Crypto. Other participating investors include HashKey Capital, Antalpha Ventures, Ab Initio Capital, and Republic Capital. With the injection of fresh funds, FOMO Pay said that it will accelerate its geographical expansion and invest in talent acquisition and its infrastructure. The firm will also strengthen diversify its product offerings by working closely with regulators on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) projects. FOMO Pay was granted approval by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to offer…

Crypto.com announced that it has appointed Chin Tah Ang as its General Manager of Singapore. Ang brings a wealth of strategic business development experience in the technology sector and a deep understanding of the Singapore market landscape. Most recently, Ang served as Head of Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), a joint office between the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). Ang also previously served in a variety of roles with EDB, advancing strategy and policy engagement for the EDB in various international markets. In June 2022, Crypto.com received in-principle approval from the Monetary…

Cryptocurrency platform Hodlnaut has filed an application with the Singapore High Court to be placed under judicial management on 13 August 2022 to avoid forced liquidation of its assets. The firm called it a “suboptimal solution” that will require it to sell its users’ cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH and WBTC at the current depressed asset prices. Judicial management is a mechanism under Singapore law for companies under financial distress to rehabilitate their business. In this process, an independent officer of the court, also known as a Judicial Manager, is appointed in place of the company’s directors to manage the…

Close to 900,000 transactions, totaling over S$41 million, have been made through GovWallet on the LifeSG mobile application since the launch of the jointly developed digital payment service in November 2021 as Singapore aims to go cheque-free by 2025. LifeSG (formerly Moments of Life) is one of the Strategic National Projects under Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative. Singaporeans and its permanent residents can receive government payments via the app, instead of cheques and paper vouchers. Depending on the scheme they are eligible for, users can either transfer the government payments to PayNow NRIC-linked bank accounts, or spend them at merchants that…

Global payments platform Nium announced the recent appointment of Ramana Satyavarapu as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and he will be responsible to drive the firm’s global engineering, strategy and technology vision. Satyavarapu will manage the company’s core technology strategy and capabilities that support Nium’s business programs and facilitate revenue growth, as well as organise the concepting and implementation of major technical decisions for the company. He will be based in San Francisco, California, and report to Prajit Nanu, Co-founder and CEO of Nium. “Ramana is an industry visionary with the ideal mix of finance, technology, and engineering expertise to propel…

Accustomed to the highly personalized digital experiences they get from bigtechs like Google and Amazon, banking and insurance customers are increasingly growing dissatisfied with the services they receive from their traditional financial services providers. This suggests a gap between customers’ expectations and what’s being offered to them, and implies that financial services institutions need to step up their game to meet the expectations of an increasingly digital-first clientele, a Saleforce 2022 survey found. The survey, which polled 2,250 customers in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific (APAC), found that less than one third of banking, wealth and insurance customers are satisfied…

In Asia-Pacific (APAC), though decentralized finance (DeFi) remains a nascent sector, adoption of DeFi services among consumers is growing rapidly, fueled by the region’ burgeoning blockchain and cryptocurrency startup scene. A 2022 survey conducted by Visa and YouGov, which polled 16,295 adults across 14 markets, found that 21% of APAC consumers had used DeFi services before, a proportion that’s expected to grow 17% points this year, with a further 38% expressing interest to try DeFi services in the next six months. Vietnam, Indonesia and India among the biggest adopters Results of the study show that while adoption of DeFi is…

Singlife with Aviva’s Navigator Investment Services has bolstered its management team as part of its plans to develop its financial advisory services. The new appointments to Navigator’s leadership team include Wei Lin Chin, who joins as Head of Strategy and Business Management. She brings two decades of banking, compliance and legal experience. She was previously Executive Director, Group Strategy and Planning at DBS, where she was involved in strategic projects such as Digital Exchange and Evolution X. Farooq Lone was appointed as Head of Product and Business Development. He brings a wealth of experience in product management and sales from…

Atome Financial announced that it has entered into an US$100 million debt facility with HSBC Singapore to fuel its flexible deferred payments business across Asia. The fintech company is an umbrella business unit made up of two brands; buy now pay later platform Atome as well as digital lending platform Kredit Pintar in Indonesia. It is a subsidiary of Singapore-based tech unicorn Advance Intelligence Group. Last September, the group recently closed over US$400 million in a Series D financing round from an investor consortium led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Warburg Pincus, Northstar and Singapore-based global investor EDBI, valuing the company…

The Reserve Bank of Australia is collaborating with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) on a research project to explore use cases for a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The DFCRC is a 10-year, AUD$180 million research program funded by industry partners, universities and the Australian Government, through the Cooperative Research Centres Programme. The project with the DFCRC will focus on innovative use cases and business models that could be supported by the issuance of a CBDC. It will also be an opportunity to further understand of some of the technological, legal and regulatory considerations associated with a CBDC.…

Singaporean robo advisor Syfe announced that it has officially launched in Australia, its third market after Hong Kong in the last quarter. Syfe will first roll out its digital brokerage offering and has built a unique offering for investing into a diversified portfolio of US stocks, ETFs and crypto. The robo advisor added that it will offer free monthly trades and in-app discovery tools for insights and market data, coupled with the ability to invest securely and safely in crypto. Syfe will also provide customer support 24/7. The platform will offer real-time funding so investors have full control of their…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced the return of the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) as an in-person event to be held from 2 to 4 November 2022 at the Singapore EXPO. SFF 2022 is organised by MAS and Elevandi, in partnership with Constellar, a global player in the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions industry, and in collaboration with The Association of Banks in Singapore. Eelvandi is a Company Limited by Guarantee (GLC) created by MAS to manage the SFF and lead a series of new initiatives to provide year-round engagement with the global fintech community. The theme of…

Wallex, a B2B FX and cross-border payment platform, announced that it has named its current Chief Technology Officer Andrew Marchen as its Co-founder. Andrew who has been Wallex’s CTO since 2019 will join former COO and current CEO Hiro Kiga as a Co-founder. With over 20 years of experience in the tech industry, Andrew Marchen joined Wallex early in its journey to lead the tech and product team to build a FX solution for small-medium businesses in Asia. Since its operations, Wallex said it has moved over US$6.13 billion and helped businesses with over 180,000 overseas transactions. This announcement comes…

OCBC Bank’s customers will be able to make direct contributions to their Central Provident Fund (CPF) from within their banking app or internet banking platform. Close to 150,000 OCBC’s customers have already leveraged the Singapore Financial Data Exchange (SGFinDex) to sync all their financial information from various financial institutions and government agencies to OCBC Financial OneView. They can have a comprehensive view of all their financial information – across deposits, credits cards, loans, investments, securities-related holdings, assessable income and CPF account balances – before making a more informed and considered decision to top up their CPF accounts. Customers can also…

Cryptocurrency platform Hodlnaut announced that it will be halting withdrawals, token swaps and deposits with immediate effect citing “market conditions” as its reason. The crypto lender said that it will be looking to “stabilise its liquidity and preserve assets” while it works to protect its users’ long-term interests. The firm will also be withdrawing its Major Payment Institution License application from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Hodlnaut will no longer be providing regulated digital payment tokens (DPT) services. This includes its token swap feature as well as all borrowing and lending services. MAS had granted Hodlnaut the in-principal approval in…