DBS announced that it will be rolling out a digital audit confirmation solution for its corporate and SME customers. According to their media statement, the DBS Audit Confirmation cuts processing time for audit confirmation requests to under 24 hours, as compared to industry norm of at least seven days. The bank’s corporate and SME customers can request for DBS’ confirmation to verify their financial positions and balances digitally. The solution replaces manual workflows between customers, auditors and banks, with all documentation received, reviewed and processed digitally. These confirmations are then automatically sent to the customers’ auditors as part of statutory…

Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Temasek announced that they have entered into a joint venture (JV) to advance digital asset infrastructure through the use of blockchain. SGX said in a statement that the JV is set to be Asia Pacific’s first exchange-led digital asset venture focused on capital markets workflows through smart contracts, ledger and tokenisation technologies. The partnership between SGX and Temasek combines SGX’s multi-asset experience in operating market infrastructure together with Temasek’s expertise in blockchain technology and ecosystem connectivity. The JV will look to partner with fixed income issuance platforms to connect to its post-trade and asset servicing infrastructure,…

StashAway, Southeast Asian digital wealth manager for retail and accredited investors, announced that they’re managing more than US$ 1 billion (SG$ 1.35 billion) since their launch in 2017. The firm said in a statement that it was able to generate such strong returns even through the last few years’ volatility through 2 market corrections in 2018 and a market crash in 2020. StashAway reported that its portfolios generated annualised returns ranging from 16.5% for its highest risk portfolio to 4.3% for its lowest-risk portfolio since July 2017. In 2020, the portfolio returns ranged from 21.9% to 3.4% for those same…

We are experiencing more change in the payments space than we have over the past thirty years. This is an exciting time to be involved in payments. As we begin 2021, Accuity’s payments specialists look ahead to identify four digital payment trends that will drive change this year. Accuity’s new whitepaper identifies these four digital payment trends for 2021. Trend 1: The point of online purchase will become increasingly crowded for payment service providers When a customer arrives at the payment setup point on a merchant’s website, they are asked to select a payment option. In 2021, customers will be…

Tradeteq, a technology provider for bank asset distribution, has announced the successful completion of its Series A funding round, securing US$ 9.4 million from a consortium of US technology investors. This brings the total raised since the company launched to more than US$ 16 million. Tradeteq plans to use the funding to speed up its product development and expand its geographical reach. The firm provides banks, credit insurers and asset managers with the technology and services to streamline asset distribution and reduce friction costs through automation. This includes the ability to package trade finance products into standardised investments that can…

Identity data intelligence specialist GBG has announced the launch of its GBG Intelligence Center. The center is intended organisations better validate, verify and assess profiles, behaviours and intent of individuals and entities across branch, web, mobile and app, and transform raw data points to data intelligence, to enhance fraud detection and accuracy. It provides access to solutions to handle emerging fraud typologies like social engineered first-party fraud, identity fraud, identity theft and cybercrimes. Capabilities in GBG Intelligence Center include GBG proprietary solutions like Loqate for international address validation and greenID for international biometric, facial and identity verification, and technology partners…

Digital securities platform iSTOX announced that it had closed its Series A funding round with a total of US$50 million joined by two state-backed investors in Japan. The new investors include the venture capital arm of Japan Investment Corporation (JIC) and Development Bank of Japan Inc (DBJ), which is a financial institution wholly owned by the Japanese government, Juroku Bank and Mobile Internet Capital (MIC), a venture capital firm. Existing investors Singapore Exchange (SGX), Japan’s Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings, Korea’s Hanwha Asset Management, Temasek Holdings’ subsidiary Heliconia Capital Management and Thailand’s Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group also made fresh investments. Founded…

PPRO, a London-based payments infrastructure provider, announced over US$ 180 million in new investment which pushed its valuation to over US$ 1 billion. Investors include Eurazeo Growth, Sprints Capital, and Wellington Management. This news comes just six months after the company raised US$ 50 million from Sprints Capital as well as Citi Ventures and HPE Growth. The funding will fuel PPRO’s continued global expansion and support the development of its borderless payment technology and services. Financial Technology Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor and Noerr as legal advisor to PPRO in the transaction. PPRO’s valuation is underscored by its rapid…

Entrepreneur Turochas “T” Fuad who had previously founded Spacemob and Travelmob, has launched his latest venture Pace Enterprise, a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution that facilitates extended buying limits to underserved segments. Pace raised a seven-figure seed round co-led by Vertex Ventures, a Temasek subsidiary, and Alpha JWC, which will be used to further develop its platform. The launch of his new venture comes off the back of a growing interest in the Buy Now Pay Later space in South East Asia. Pace is headquartered in Singapore and is available in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong. Using a…

Over the last several years, blockchain has been gaining traction in India especially with the financial institutions undergoing massive digital transformations. According to Tracxn, a startups and private companies tracking platform, there are 218 blockchain startups in India as of April 2020. In light of this booming industry, Prasanna Lohar, Head Digital, Innovation and Architecture at DCB Bank, a commercial bank in India, has named the top 30 Indian blockchain influencers to watch out for in a recent LinkedIn post. Srinivas Mahankali Linkedin Srinivas is an alumnus of IIT Madras and IIM Bangalore and is pursuing Doctorate in Business Administration…

Asia-based private equity firm Navis Capital Partners has made an investment in Singaporean fintech startup Moneythor for an undisclosed amount. Founded in 2013, Moneythor provides financial institutions and fintech firms with solutions to enhance their digital banking services. Navis was advised by PwC and Ashurst on the investment. Headquartered in Singapore with offices in London, Paris, and Tokyo, Moneythor also looks to working closely Navis’ affiliate, DZ Card which is a Thailand-based smart cards manufacturer. The collaboration is expected to help Moneythor break into new markets where DZ Card has an established client base to offer a wider suite of product and…

Volopay, Singaporean AI-based real-time expense management software, has raised US$2.1 million during its seed round funding. The investment round was led by Tinder founder Justin Mateen. Other investors joining the round were Soma Capital, CP Ventures, Y Combinator, VentureSouq, the founders of Razorpay, and other prominent angel investors. Volopay said that the new funds will be used for hiring, product development, international expansion and strategic partnerships. Since its launch in Singapore, the startup said that it has been on a strong growth trajectory, growing at 70% month on month. There are plans in its pipeline to expand across the Asia…

MarketAxess Holdings Inc., New York-headquartered operator of an electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, announced the appointment of Raj Paranandi as its Chief Operating Officer for EMEA and APAC. The appointment will come into effect on March 1st, 2021. Based in London, Mr. Paranandi will have day-to-day operational oversight for EMEA and APAC, including technology and product development, client and account services, data operations, regulatory operations and controls, settlements and middle-office functions. He will play a lead role in setting the long-term goals for the international business and lead new strategic change management initiatives. He will report to Christophe Roupie…

In Southeast Asia, buy now pay later (BNPL) is becoming an increasingly popular way for shoppers to pay for purchases and players including Grab, GoJek, Razer and Oriente have all jumped at the opportunity. BNPL allows customers to make purchases and pay them off over time in weekly, bi-weekly or monthly installments. These products often come with appealing features including 0% interest, pay-in-instalments and ease of use. Globally, BNPL is a booming market that’s set to grow from US$7.3 billion in 2019 to US$33.6 billion in 2027 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.2%, Coherent Market Insights estimates.…

Broadridge Financial Solutions, a US-based technology solutions provider, announced the appointment of David Ingleson as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for APAC effective immediately. The appointment was made to meet the growing demand for delivering technology solutions to financial institutions in Asia Pacific (APAC). Based in Singapore, Ingleson will report to Samir Pandiri, President of Broadridge International. In this role, he will oversee regional implementation strategies for Broadridge, direct operations and support of capital markets clients in the region, and focus on further investing in Broadridge’s local market expertise and capabilities. “Clients are facing an extraordinarily complex operating environment and David’s…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued a revised Technology Risk Management guidelines in light of the recent spate of cyber attacks dominating the headlines. The revised guidelines focuses on addressing technology and cyber risks in financial institutions (FIs) deploying cloud technologies, application programming interfaces, and rapid software development. The guidelines reinforce the importance of incorporating security controls as part of FIs’ technology development and delivery lifecycle, as well as in the deployment of emerging technologies. The revised guidelines set out enhanced risk mitigation strategies for FIs which includes establishing a robust process for the timely analysis and sharing…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is encouraging Singaporeans to use e-hong baos, monetary gifts given in envelopes, during the coming Lunar New Year. This is in line with the safety measures currently in place due to COVID-19. E-hong baos will enable remote gifting across a variety of visitation practices, including virtual gatherings, during the upcoming Lunar New Year. Giving e-hong baos instead of physical notes is also environmentally more sustainable as it reduces the printing and subsequent wastage of new notes that are returned by the public to banks after each Lunar New Year. E-hong baos are part of…

Singapore’s fintech industry continued its momentum in 2020 on the back of new regulations, fintech initiatives from regulators themselves and the introduction of the city state’s very first digital banks, according to the Singapore Fintech Report 2021 produced by Fintech News Singapore in partnership with Alibaba Cloud. The Singapore Fintech Report 2021, released in January 2021, which can be downloaded here, looks at the state of the fintech industry in Singapore, highlighting the key developments made in 2020 that are set to shape the industry for the year to come. The report indicated that 2020 was a fruitful year for…

A relatively new kid on the block digital insurer Singlife has been making waves in the insurance scene. Having completed Singapore’s largest insurance deal of $SGD 3.2 Billion with the merger of SingLife and Aviva, we speak to SingLife’s Group CEO and Founder, Walter de Oude to look at how his company is reinventing the insurance sector.

Grab Financial Group (GFG), the fintech arm of Grab, announced that it has raised over US$300 million in its Series A funding round, led by Hanwha Asset Management Co. Ltd., South Korean asset management company. Other investors in the round include K3 Ventures, GGV Capital, Arbor Ventures, and Flourish Ventures. GFG, which offers payments and financial services across lending, insurance and retail wealth management in the region, will use the new funds to further invest in talent, and expand its offerings in SEA with more affordable, convenient and transparent financial solutions. The funding came at a time when GFG reported…