The Global Payment Summit, organized by the Transactives, will take place in Singapore on August 28 and 29, 2017 at the Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort and Spa. The two-day event aims to act as a platform where global expertise of successful payment developments and innovations share and exchange. The Global Payment Summit will explore the latest innovations and hottest trends in the payment and transaction space, and cover topics such as real-time payments, remittances, cybersecurity, e-commerce, and blockchain technology. Confirmed speakers include representatives from Bain & Company, Standard Chartered, Bluzelle, the World Bank, Omise, MyCash, the Singapore University of Social…
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Initial coin offerings (ICOs), or token sales, are becoming an increasingly popular method for blockchain and cryptocurrency startups from around the world to raise funding. In the past year, ICOs have raised over a billion dollars for early stage startups. An ICO is a method through which a project or venture raises funding by creating and selling its own cryptocoins and tokens in exchange for cryptocurrencies of immediate, liquid value such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. The practice is unregulated and enables startups to skip banks or venture capital firms as intermediaries. An ICO campaign runs for a defined period during…
The Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) has formulated a set of ten best practices to guide regulators in Asia as they seek to support the development of Fintech to better serve consumers, businesses and investors. Fintech is dramatically changing the face of the financial services industry, and offers the potential for increased productivity and efficiencies in the way financial services are delivered. It has also challenged policymakers worldwide as they develop regulations that strike a balance between promoting innovation, maintaining the resiliency of the financial system and ensuring consumers are protected. ASIFMA is an independent, regional trade…
Regtech has grown from a niche to one of the most promising and exciting areas in the financial world. Regulatory technology, commonly known as regtech, is a classification of technology specifically addressing regulation and compliance issues in the financial industry. Regtech not only promises to improve reporting and compliance, it also promises to enable banks to save a lot of money. Bain & Company estimates that governance, risk and compliance costs account for 15 to 20% of the total operating cost for most major banks globally in 2016. A LexisNexis Risk Solution research paper found that financial institutions in China,…
While progress has been made in expanding financial inclusion, there are still billions of people in the world who do not have access to basic banking services, including access to credit. Between 2011 and 2014, the number of people worldwide having an account grew by 700 million between 2011 and 2014, according to the World Bank. Today, 62% of the world’s adult population has an account, up from 51% in 2011. Yet, there is still a long way to go. The organization estimates that there are still about two billion unbanked people in the world. Countries in Africa and Asia…
Singapore-headquartered Texcent is aiming to be the global leader in mobile payments and cashless transactions. It offers a digital payment platform (Paycent) with fully integrated mobile applications, enabling its users to transact in real time 24/7 while allowing merchants to accept cashless payments more easily and conveniently using a separate customized merchant app. Paycent saves not only time but money as all features like bills payments or sending funds is only a few clicks away right on your smartphone. Paycent is set to launch first in Singapore and the Philippines. It will be followed by Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Pakistan, Nepal,…
During the launch of the 9th BankTech Asia at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, iPayLinks’ SEA Regional Head, Tang Wai Zhuan announced the group’s strategic decision to expand into the Southeast Asia’s market, with Malaysia being the maiden market and ASEAN headquarter. “For the next five years, Southeast Asia is our key focus and we will focus on Malaysia’s market before expanding to other Southeast Asia countries like Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.” said Tang in his opening speech during the launch of the 9th BankTech Asia. He added, “We’re committed to share mature commercialization strategies with Malaysian Financial Institutions, based on…
In a room of over 200 senior level bankers, Deputy Finance Minister I, YB Dato’ Wira Othman Aziz made a call to Malaysian banks during his opening speech at the 9th BankTech Asia Conference & Exhibition to disrupt themselves before others do it for them. Banks are increasingly facing pressures on their revenues, largely driven by shifting consumer demands, the rise of fintech, and foreign banks getting full licenses in Malaysia under the Asean Banking Integration Framework. In response to these pressures YB Dato’ Wira Othman Aziz said “The new reality in banking is disruption.” He then added, “I call…
Fintech has achieved initial mass adoption in most markets but particularly in developing countries where startups have excelled at tapping into tech-literate but financially underserved populations, according to a new report by EY. Fintech in Asia A survey of more than 22,000 digitally active consumers found that fintech adoption has been growing rapidly globally. Adoption is especially high in China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, with an average adoption rate of 46% across these markets, well above the global average of 33%. These emerging markets are characterized by having growing economies and a rapidly expanding middle class, but without…
Gnowbe, an edtech startup headquartered in Silicon Valley and Singapore, has partnered with KPMG Digital Village in Singapore to provide the firm’s clients with its digital learning platform. Gnowbe is a mobile micro-learning solution that uses analytics, gamification and personalized learning to develop skills and mindsets of employees. The company says it aspires to “revolutionize corporate education through transformational learning – available anytime, anywhere.” Using the platform, companies can quickly curate and deliver “just-in-time” content in experiential ways covering topics such as onboarding, product sales, management training, customer service and agile training and innovation culture. “The main problem companies face…
In Asia, online alternative finance is developing rapidly, notably in China but also in the overall Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. China has been the world’s largest online alternative finance market by transaction volume, registering US$107 billion in 2015 or almost 99% of the total volume in APAC. Excluding China, the rest of APAC recorded a volume of US$1.12 billion in 2015, a 313% year-on-year growth rate from the US$271 million raised in 2014. Online alternative finance refers to the use of innovative financial instruments and channels outside of the traditional avenues of capital raising. The sector can be broken down by…
Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) recently concluded study on digital finance in the region found that addressing digital finance in the countries focused on could boost their gross domestic product (GDP) greatly. The study, named “Accelerating Financial Inclusion in Sout-east Asia with Digital Finance” focuses on four Southeast Asian markets, namely Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia and Myanmar. ADB, together with consulting firms Oliver Wyman and MicroSave, also focused on financial inclusion in three segments: base of pyramid (BoP); women and micro, small and medium enterprises. From its interviews with 80 stakeholders across the four markets and extensive resarch and analysis, it…
Singapore-based Cheers Now and its Global Wallet is tapping into a greenfield opportunity in Fintech through a rich mobile money ecosystem that enables app developers to financially connect global users within their platforms. This will enable users of any app to transfer money between each other and further redefine interactions beyond smileys and likes. Think of writing a relevant restaurant review and getting paid a $1 for it; or get paid directly from other users when revealing your phone number on LinkedIn or Tinder. Cheers Global Wallet Real-time transfers coupled with global scalability and micro transactions are a powerful combination to unlock…
Vietnam’s fintech ecosystem is on the rise fueled by a surge in foreign investor interest and a desire from the government to boost fintech development. The launch of the SBV Steering Committee on Fintech in March hinted at the government’s stance on financial innovation and brought clarity on some of the undergoing initiatives from the public sector. The committee, which consists of representatives from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam, was given the responsibility of advising the central bank governor on the solutions to foster the ecosystem. This includes proposing a legal framework…
It’s probably not the first social media platform you would think of when it comes to FinTech startups, but Instagram is becoming an important place to be seen. So, let’s just get right to the point here without wasting any time – which Singapore FinTech startups out of the Top 30 Lists are on Instagram and what is their account name? MoolahSense Category: Lending. Instagram account: @moolahsense Followers: 149. Founded: 2013. The goal of MoolahSense is to make it easier for the investor community to link up with businesses which require loans for expansion, new equipment, and so on. The…
Jachin Capital Pte Ltd, a home-grown independent fund manager, announced last month that it has received a Capital Markets Services Licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. With the licence, Jachin Capital can now offer its digital investing platform – iAdvisor – to all accredited investors in Singapore. Starting from an investment theme or idea, Jachin Capital constructs portfolios based on a transparent rules-based framework. The portfolios are regularly reviewed and re-balanced. If you think the Chinese on-line consumer represents the wave of the future, you can invest in the “China Online US” portfolio and at the click of a…
An initial coin offering (ICOs) is a method through which a cryptocurrency or blockchain-based project or startup raises funding by selling a portion of its tokens. An ICO campaign extends over a certain period of time during which everyone is allowed to purchase tokens in exchange for established cryptocurrencies like bitcoin or ether. ICOs have mushroomed this year, fueled by rising investor awareness and adoption. In 2017 so far, blockchain projects and startups have raised over US$200 million. Many critics have compared the ICO phenomenon to the dotcom bubble in the 1990s, warning of a possible burst. Fintechnews would like to…
MyCash Online, a fintech startup that is providing online services to the unbanked has raised RM1.3M (300k USD) in 24 hours in their equity crowdfunding campaign on pitchIN. Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle) led the funding round through their co-investment exercise along with a Hong Kong based co-investor. The MyCash Online equity crowdfunding (ECF) campaign went live on 1st June 2017 and was fully taken up in 24 hours. Cradle Fund and co-investor JC Management took up RM1.2M while other investors snapped up the remaining RM100K. MyCash Online operates a platform that offers online purchasing services to foreign workers. Users…
Regtech is earning regulatory endorsement all around the world, including in Asia-Pacific, where initiatives in locations such as Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Australia are being launched to address compliance and regulatory challenges more efficiently. Since the financial crisis of 2008-2009, banks across the world have dealt with the numerous new regulations by hiring thousands of compliance officers. The new reforms have dramatically increased challenges and costs for the financial sector related to compliance, reporting and supervisory requests. “This is particularly the case in Asia, where financial institutions often have to deal with more than a dozen different regulatory regimes,…
Blockchain has become a buzzword in the financial services industry, attracting billions in venture capital investment from some of the largest firms across the financial services landscape. Originally developed as the technology underlying Bitcoin, blockchain has quickly risen to fame for its ability to create a vast, globally distributed ledger running on millions of devices, capable of recording anything of value. A blockchain is essentially a digital, distributed transaction ledger with identical copies maintained on each of the network’s members’ computers. All parties can review previous entries and record new ones. Transactions are grouped in blocks and recorded one after…