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…

Rapyd, a Fintech-as-a-Service company, announced a $300 million Series D financing round led by Coatue, a global technology-focused investment manager. Several new investors participated in the financing, including Spark Capital, Avid Ventures, FJ Labs, and Latitude, along with further investment from current investors General Catalyst, Oak HC/FT, Tiger Global, Target Global, Durable Capital, Tal Capital, and Entrée Capital who had previously invested $100 million in October 2019. The new financing will be used to double the engineering and product teams, as well as expand the “self-service” element of Rapyd’s platform, empowering businesses globally to onboard and begin utilising any of…

Mastercard has partnered with NMI and Global Payments Inc. to launch its first live Cloud Tap on Phone pilot with Computer Engineering Group (CEG), a California based independent IT services provider. Its software is hosted on Microsoft’s Azure Cloud platform. Tap on Phone democratises point-of-sale technology by turning an Android smartphone or tablet into an acceptance device, allowing businesses to accept contactless payments while minimising the need to invest in hardware terminals or extra features. Mastercard has convened an ecosystem of partners to launch Cloud Tap on Phone. Among them are payments enablement technology company NMI which operates as a…

A new whitepaper by Huawei and the International Data Corporation (IDC) looks at how banks around the world have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies the way forward in the new normal. In a report titled Banking Industry Rises up to the New Normal, the two organizations share results of the Banking Resilience Index, which aims to act as an indicator of banking operation and capability for recovery amid the pandemic. The index quantifies the current status of banking by region in terms of six key measures, and shows the major regional differences. It evaluates each region’s performance and…

A new study from Juniper Research has found that the total number of QR code payment users will exceed 2.2 billion in 2025, up from 1.5 billion in 2020, which is equals to 29% of all mobile phone users across the world in 2025. The QR Code Payments: Beyond China & India Whitepaper predicts that much of this growth will be within emerging markets, where weak card infrastructure creates a strong opportunity. However, the research also found that the US will see a strong growth of 240% in user numbers between 2020-2025, as QR code payments tap into the need…

Propine, a Singapore-based end-to-end securities services firm catering for digital securities services to institutional clients, has become the first independent digital asset custody service provider to graduate from the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Fintech Regulatory Sandbox.  Since its admission to the sandbox to provide independent digital asset custody services in November 2019, Propine offers a full range of services adapted to the latest financial markets and regulatory trends across digital asset custody, asset servicing, trade settlement facilitation, investor reporting as well as services catering to global security issuers under the watchful eyes of MAS. With the approval from MAS…

Southeast Asian economies performed remarkably well in 2020 despite the pandemic. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates a contraction of 3.8% for the region in 2020, a modest figure when compared to the eurozone at 7.9% and Britain at 10.1%. In particular, Southeast Asia’s digital economy accelerated last year, hitting US$100 billion on the back of a booming e-commerce sector. According to the e-Conomy SEA Report 2020 released in November, 2020 saw the addition to 40 million new online customers, bringing the total number of Internet users in the region to 400 million. The region’s digital economy is on track…

SaaS banking platform Mambu has raised €110 million during its latest funding round, securing a valuation of over €1.7 billion. With the Asia Pacific head office in Singapore, South East Asia will continue to be a key focus area for Mambu in 2021. The company said it will deepen its footprint in key markets including Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) as well as Malaysia. The firm also plans on doubling its team to over 1000 staff by the year 2022 and is eyeing new markets like Brazil, Japan, and the United States. The round was…

Wave Money, a Myanmar-based mobile financial services provider, recorded a total of 12 trillion Myanmar kyat (US$ 8.7 billion) in transactions last year as the country rapidly embraced digital financial services in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm reported that the figure was doubled from 6.4 trillion kyat (US$ 4.3 billion) and is equivalent to 11.5% of Myanmar’s estimated 2020 gross domestic product (GDP) of US$ 75.5 billion. Wave Money said that last year it had over 1.5 million monthly active users (MAU) on its WavePay app and more than 3.9 million MAUs for its agent-led money transfer…

Deutsche Bank Securities Services and Hashstacs Pte Ltd (STACS) will collaborate to jointly explore a proof-of-concept (POC) related to the technological and practical feasibility of digital assets. The POC will explore interoperability, liquidity, cross-border connectivity, and smart contract templates, including the support of sustainability-themed digital bonds. The two entities were awarded the POC grant on 29 October 2020 as part of the Financial Sector Technology and Innovation (FSTI) scheme under the Financial Sector Development Fund administered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). STACS is focused on capital markets use cases, such as the trade lifecycle management of bonds, Environmental,…

Citi and Grab, South East Asia’s super app, have expanded their partnership in consumer lending with the launch of the bank’s first API-enabled lending capability in Asia Pacific. Beginning with Singapore with more markets in the region to follow, existing and eligible Citi credit card customers can apply for a personal installment loan or Citi Quick Cash through the Grab app. Qualified customers who meet Citi’s lending criteria can apply for a loan from Citi through the Grab app, with flexible repayment options ranging from 12 to 60 months at attractive rates to help them manage their personal finances. Citi…

Syfe, a digital wealth management company licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has launched the Syfe Cash+ portfolio which is its latest cash management product that aims to enable all Singaporeans to grow their savings and still have full access to their funds. As it is increasingly challenging for savers to earn a decent yield on cash savings, Syfe has developed the Cash+ portfolio aiming to deliver a projected rate of 1.75% per annum on any amount, and has no lock-up period or limits. Syfe’s Cash+ portfolio is constructed using funds from Lion Global Investors, an asset manager…

Silent Eight, a Singaporean regtech using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, announced a multi-year partnership with HSBC that will support the bank in enhancing its compliance operations. HSBC selected Silent Eight to improve its manual processes and existing statistical models to decrease risk while simultaneously increasing efficiency. Following a successful trial period, the solution is set to be integrated into HSBC’s existing infrastructure to provide case adjudications that are explained and auditable. “Given the growth in alert volumes, and unpredictable spikes driven by global volatility, we saw an opportunity with Silent Eight that would give…

In Singapore’s burgeoning 1,000+ strong fintech industry, the wealthtech subsegment continues to grow and mature on the back of increased appetite from investors, acquisition deals, and rising demands for automated financial advisory services, notably from the younger generations. But as the space gets more and more crowded, some startups just can’t cope with the stiff competition. Bigtech moves H1’20 saw bigtechs and platform providers furthering their fintech ambitions in a bid to extend their market reach and customer value propositions. One particular move was ride-hailing giant Grab’s acquisition of Singapore-based business-to-business (B2B) robo-advisor Bento in February 2020. The service, which…

Digital travel platform Agoda has launched a regional partnership with Singaporean buy now, pay later platform Atome to offer flexible instalment payment options for accommodation bookings first in Singapore and Malaysia, before rolling out to include eight additional markets in South East Asia and Asia Pacific this year. Under the partnership starting from 21 December, travellers in Singapore and Malaysia can pay for their accommodation in three installments without any additional interest, charges or service fees by selecting Atome during checkout on Agoda’s website or mobile app. This new convenient and secure payment option for Agoda travellers will expand to…