Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) has announced the launch of Global Fast Track 2022, a programme that helps fintech companies leverage the unique advantages of Hong Kong to scale in Asia while building a solid foundation for long-term growth. Returning for its third year, Global Fast Track will be a standalone flagship programme that runs throughout the year and is now open for applications from global and local fintech companies until September. Given that fintech firms have varying needs throughout the business cycle, the year-long programme will enable InvestHK, corporates, investors and partners to provide long-term, tailored and holistic support for…
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Crypto.com will lay off 5% of its workforce (approximately 260 of its employees) citing the market downturn as a reason. Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com took to Twitter to address the rumours about the layoffs saying the firm had to make “difficult and necessary decisions to ensure continued and sustainable growth for the long term”. “Some of you have been with us since 2016/2017 and have seen us building steadily, with conviction throughout the 2018/2019 winter. That conviction, that focus on building throughout the bear market (in spite of crypto naysayers being out in full force) was what made…
These past years have seen Indonesia emerging into one of the hottest fintech markets in Southeast Asia, attracting local and foreign investors with the prospect of leveraging technology to address the massive pool of unbanked and underbanked individuals. In 2021, Indonesia attracted the second-strongest fintech funding across ASEAN, securing US$904 million, or 26% of all fintech investment in the region, data from UOB, PwC Singapore and the Singapore Fintech Association show. This year, the momentum is continuing with already a number of fast-growing fintech startups securing significant amounts of capital. To get a sense of Indonesia’s fintech leaders and up-and-coming…
Around the world, digital identity has emerged into one of the most significant technology trends, promising to not only improve access to financial services, but also enable civic and social empowerment by unlocking critical services including government benefits and education. During Fintech Fireside Asia’s latest panel discussion, top executives and government officials representing the Government Technology Agency of Singapore, Standard Chartered Bank, Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia and ForgeRock, a multinational identity and access management software company, explored the role of digital identity in creating seamless customer experiences in the banking sector, as well as its potential in improving access to…
Digital asset exchange Huobi Global announced the launch of Ivy Blocks, its new DeFi and web 3.0 blockchain ecosystem investment arm. Ivy Blocks will focus on identifying and investing in promising blockchain projects to help unlock their growth potential with its multi-billion dollar war chest. The new investment arm will be rolling out with three core services, Liquidity Investment Department, an asset management platform for smart DeFi mining and income aggregation; Ivy Labs, an innovative crypto and blockchain incubator; and Ivy Research, which focuses on blockchain and cryptocurrency research, together these services will offer all-around support for promising projects. These…
At the heart of the digital revolution for the financial services industry is digital identity. From creating seamless customer experiences to battling cybersecurity threats, getting your digital identity strategy right is crucial. However, getting digital identity right is no easy task, in this panel industry practitioners will deep dive into the latest practices, trends and developments. Evolution of digital identity in Asia The role of digital identity in shaping customer experience across all channels Securing customer data and privacy Panelists: Felimy Greene, COO/Global Head of Onboarding, Standard Chartered Bank Kendrick Lee, Director, National Digital Identity, Government Technology Agency of Singapore…
Singapore will issue up to S$35 billion worth of public sector green bonds by 2030 to accelerate and lead the growth of its green finance market. The inaugural Singapore sovereign green bond will be issued in the coming months. The island nation had also announced the publication of the Singapore Green Bond Framework which will serve as a benchmark for the corporate green bond market. Morningstar’s Sustainalytics has assessed the framework to be credible, impactful, and aligned with the ICMA Green Bond Principles and the ASEAN Green Bond Standards. To qualify for financing via the Singapore sovereign green bonds, a…
Digital banking software provider Backbase announced that it has raised US$128.6 million in growth equity funding from Motive Partners which values it at US$2.66 billion. Backbase said that this investment will it allow to “double down on its vision for engagement banking and accelerate its mission of re-architecting banking around the customer”. From onboarding, to servicing, to lending, to expanding share of wallet, Backbase added that this investment supports its growth through product expansion and further growing its sales and marketing operations. Having grown organically to over US$214 million in revenue, Backbase is now partnering with a fintech specialist private…
Singaporean taxi operator ComfortDelGro Taxi has partnered with Alipay+ to enable mobile payments from Malaysia and South Korea through Touch ‘n Go eWallet and Kakao Pay respectively in all its Comfort and CityCab taxis. Users of these mobile wallets can pay for the cab fare through the wallet apps without the need to exchange currency. Introduced by Ant Group in 2020, Alipay+ is a suite of global cross-border digital payments and marketing solutions designed to enable businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses, to process a wide range of mobile payment methods. Other e-wallets supported by Alipay+ include GCash (Philippines), TrueMoney…
Request Finance, a Web3 enterprise crypto payments startup, announced that it has closed a US$5.5 million in a seed funding round. Participants of the fundraise include metaverse company Animoca Brands, Europe’s early-stage venture capital investor Balderton Capital, and XAnge. The company’s seed round also attracted other Web3 founders including, Sebastien Borget, Co-founder and COO at The Sandbox, Michael Kong, CEO of Fantom, and Stani Kulechov, Founder and CEO of Aave, and Julien Bouteloup, Founder of StakeDAO. Request Finance said that the funds will be used to expand the company’s global team. It is actively hiring for a number of new…
Capital C Corporation, a Singapore-based financial services provider, announced that it has raised SG$74 million in a recent fundraise. The round was joined by PhillipCapital, Luminor Capital, Paradise Group, Citystate Group, various family offices and angel investors. Capital C said that the funds will serve to fuel their lending capabilities and expand their digital financial platform offerings to provide a seamless experience and also competitive credit rates to the underserved communities in Singapore. The latest line of its financial offerings, Capital C will be launching it buy now pay later (BNPL) solution ChopNow later this year. Beyond Singapore, Capital C plans…
Private market exchange ADDX announced that it now recognises cryptocurrency assets for the purposes of onboarding accredited investors to pave the way for more individuals to qualify as one. They can thereby participate in more sophisticated investment opportunities in the private markets, which tend to be more resilient in times of market volatility. These include asset classes such as private equity and venture capital funds, hedge funds and pre-IPO companies. In line with regulations, ADDX said that it will implement appropriate risk management measures that take into account the price volatility of crypto assets. Under Singapore’s regulatory regime, individuals have…
Pintu, an Indonesian crypto asset trading and investment platform, announced that it has closed a Series B funding round of US$113 million (Rp. 1.6 trillion). Investors joining the round include Intudo Ventures, Lightspeed, Northstar Group, and Pantera Capital. Through this funding round, Pintu said that it plans to launch new features and products. Additionally, the company will invest in the Pintu Academy educational programme to educate crypto investors. This will help them understand the risks of investing in crypto assets to carry out sustainable trading and investment practices. To support this growth, Pintu will be aggressively recruiting for all functions including…
Binance Labs, the venture capital and incubation arm of Binance, has invested an undisclosed sum in PancakeSwap’s utility and governance token CAKE. PancakeSwap is a decentralised exchange built on BNB Chain and has daily active users of over 400,000 since its launch in September 2020. Binance Labs said that the investment is part of its “mission to facilitate the next wave of global blockchain adoption by providing technology development, marketing and community support, and enterprise solutions for Web3 transformation”. With more than 1,300 active dApps across multiple categories such as DeFi, Metaverse, blockchain games, NFT, and more, BNB Chain has…
Currencycloud, a provider of B2B embedded cross-border solutions, announced that it was granted an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The granting of the AFS license follows the appointment of Nick Briscoe as Country Manager for Australia in January this year which gives Currencycloud the ability to build its team and ramp up customer support in-country. Prior to the license, Currencycloud had only been able to offer international payments services to its Australian customers. Now those clients will be able to provide customers with collections, management services and Currencycloud’s multi-currency e-wallet, Currencycloud Spark,…
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued revised guidelines on Business Continuity Management (BCM) for financial institutions (FIs). The move aims to help FIs strengthen their resilience against service disruptions arising from IT outages, pandemic outbreaks, cyber-attacks and physical threats. MAS said that the revisions take into account learnings from the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and increased digitalisation in the financial sector. Under the revised guidelines, the regulator added that FIs should adopt a service-centric approach through timely recovery of critical business services facing customers. They should also identify end-to-end dependencies that support critical business services, and address…
OCBC Bank has partnered its corporate customer SATS, a food solutions provider, to launch the inaugural OCBC Sustainability Innovation Challenge. Companies worldwide will pitch solutions to address three waste management and reduction challenges identified by SATS relating to the segregation of different types of waste, conversion of waste into byproducts of value, and the design of a business-to-consumer circular waste ecosystem. The three winning solutions from the challenge, selected by SATS senior management, will have the opportunity to pilot prototypes at SATS in Singapore, with a view to scaling the solution across its global operations. Each of the winning teams…
During COVID-19, Singaporean retailers adapted well to the constraints imposed by the pandemic, ramping up investment to improve their operations and integrate digital technologies. These investments bore fruit, with 68% of 500+ Singaporean businesses surveyed by Adyen and KPMG indicating seeing their revenue grow by 20% or more in 2021. These figures were shared in the Adyen Retail Report 2022, a report that presents findings of a 2022 global survey of 10,000 businesses and 40,000 consumers to learn about their concerns, aspirations, strategies, and investments for 2022 and beyond, and understand how they feel about the state of retail. The…
TripleA, a digital payment token licensee, has been selected as the global cryptocurrency payment gateway for Binance Pay. Binance Pay is the bridge between Binance, a cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, and the retail world. This partnership with TripleA gives merchants access to Binance’s large crypto user base. This news follows the recent announcement that TripleA will be one of the five participants selected to join the Visa Accelerator Programme for startups that have launched successful solutions in their home markets and are looking towards their next stage of growth. “We could not be more excited to announce TripleA as a strategic payment…
ANEXT Bank, a digital wholesale bank incorporated in Singapore and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ant Group, announced its soft launch today. The bank said in a statement that the soft launch follows its receipt of MAS’ approval to commence business on 2 June 2022. The Singapore-based digital bank will focus on providing digital financial services to local and regional micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), especially those engaging in cross-border operations for growth and global expansion. ANEXT Bank also signed a 2-year MoU with Proxtera – the entity supported by MAS, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and private sector…