Over the past decade, Southeast Asia has undergone a significant technological transformation, a shift that’s been enabled by the region’s highly adaptable digital consumers. Consumers have leapfrogged to mobile devices, skipping personal computers altogether. Southeast Asia’s mobile-first digital ecosystem can be seen today by consumers’ clear preference for mobile channels. A new study by IT security company Entrust shows that compared to other regions, Southeast Asian customers were the most fervent users of mobile banking. Entrust, which polled more than 1,300 banking customers from nine countries, found that usage of mobile banking through apps was the highest in Singapore and…
Author: Fintech News Singapore
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Fraud patterns are changing considerably as consumer dependence on the mobile channel continues to increase. Over the past three years, the share of attacks on mobile channels, versus desktop, has risen steadily, moving from accounting for just about 40% of all attacks in H1 2018 to about 60% in H2 2021, data from the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Cybercrime Report, July to December 2021, show. The research, which analyzed 35.5 billion transactions over the six-month period, found that users’ shift to mobile channels has driven fraudsters and cyber criminals towards mobile apps and mobile browser. In H2 2021, attacks on mobile…
Tranglo, a cross-border payment processing hub, has launched a comprehensive business payment solution that helps businesses send and receive global payments quickly. The Tranglo Business solution was developed for corporates of all sizes, specifically non-payment providers such as e-commerce traders, local vendors with regional suppliers and customers, cross-border travel agencies, global freelancing and outsourcing platforms, and giggers. The solution provides an all-in-one business payment solution from FX and wallet management to multi-currency support and AI-assisted compliance screening. Customers can customise their payments using intelligent routing, API integration, and even approval management for different users. It also offers volume discounts and…
Changes in customer behavior are causing a fundamental shift in the insurance business. Consumers are embracing digital channels and online tools which are now becoming critical not only to ensure that existing customers get the experience they want but also to attract new customers. These are the findings of a survey of 500+ consumers conducted in 2020 by software house and systems integrator Comarch for the “How Insurers Can Build Better Relationships With Their Customers” report. The research which sought to understand the evolving relationship between insurance companies and their clients, found that policyholders have turned to the online world…
Zeta, an Indian banking tech unicorn and provider of next-gen credit card processing to banks and fintechs, announced that it has signed a 5-year global partnership with Mastercard. As part of the agreement, the firms will go-to-market jointly to launch credit cards with issuers worldwide on Zeta’s modern, cloud-native, and fully API-ready credit processing stack. Additionally, Mastercard has also made an investment in Zeta for an undisclosed sum. Zeta is looking to leverage Mastercard’s support and the integration of its capabilities in digital issuance, fraud and risk, loyalty solutions and more. With both partners pre-configuring key capabilities behind the scenes,…
Rising demand for access to credit, a progressive regulatory landscape, and a massive addressable population are setting the foundation for India to become the largest market for buy now, pay later (BNPL). This will further be propelled by the meteoric rise of e-commerce and digital payments, aided by the thriving domestic fintech ecosystem and the success of the India Stack. This is according to Lizzie Chapman, the CEO and co-founder of Indian BNPL firm ZestMoney. In a new guest post on Fintech Futures, the BNPL executive looks at the Indian BNPL market, delving into why she believes India will become…
With 1,350 fintech companies as of October 2021, Singapore is Southeast Asia’s fintech powerhouse, and a major fundraising and operational hub for fintech companies operating across the region. In 2021, Singapore-based fintech firms continued to attract the strongest funding in ASEAN, securing almost half (49%) of the total 167 deals, amounting to US$1.6 billion in funding. This includes six mega-rounds worth US$972 million in total, according to the Fintech in ASEAN 2021 report by UOB, PwC Singapore, and the Singapore Fintech Association. The year also saw Southeast Asian super-app Grab begin trading on the Nasdaq, becoming the largest-ever company to…
Hugosave, Singapore’s all-in-one digital account that helps consumers spend, save, and invest, starting with gold, announced that it has secured a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). As the bearer of an MPI license, Hugosave said it strictly abides by MAS’ Technology Risk Management Guidelines and MAS’ notice on cyber hygiene for the purposes of upholding security patches, multi-factor authentication, malware protection, and network perimeter defense. The company’s protection measures mirror that of the Payment Services Act and that is, to undertake the full mantle of responsibility of user safeguards by being fully liable…
Fractional share trading startup Gotrade has raised US$15.5 million in a Series A round led by Velocity Capital Fintech Ventures, bringing its total funding to US$22.5 million. The funding round also saw participation from MUFG, BeeNext, Kibo Ventures, as well as returning investors LocalGlobe, Social Leverage, Picus Capital and Raptor Group. Velocity’s Don Montanaro will be joining Gotrade’s board alongside LocalGlobe’s Remus Brett. The funds will help Gotrade grow its team of 40 and launch localised versions of its product in various markets, starting with Southeast Asia. Following its Series A funding, the company also announced the launch of Gotrade…
Conversational messaging platform Gupshup announced the acquisition of Active.Ai, a conversational AI platform used by banks and fintech firms. The sum was not disclosed. The acquisition aims to strengthen Gupshup’s customer experience solutions for its banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) customers. Headquartered in Singapore, Active.Ai serves BFSI customers across 43 countries with its Conversational Banking as a Service (CBaaS) platform. Active.Ai said it has enabled more than 300 million user interactions via voice, video and messaging, managed over 30 million service requests and fulfilled 50 million plus enquiries in aggregate, with 95 percent accuracy. The company’s marquee customers include…
Pace Enterprise, a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) company, announced the launch of its virtual Pace Card which is now available in Singapore which can be activated instantly without any fee via the app. As a new feature of Pace’s app, the Pace Card offers consumers the same control, flexibility and security when making BNPL payments as one would with a physical card. At launch, consumers will be able to use the Pace Card for all online purchases with Pace’s merchants, with in-store payments soon to follow. With the Pace Card connected directly to the app, consumers can easily track…
The financial measures that were imposed by the Singapore Government in relation to Russia applies to all financial institutions in the country, including digital payment token (DPT) service providers, according to a Parliamentary reply yesterday. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Minister in charge of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said this in response to questions whether Singapore’s regulation of cryptocurrencies and decentralised finance (DeFi) will prevent sanctioned individuals and companies from using non-traditional forms of finance to circumvent the sanctions. The query arose in light of the financial sanctions that have been imposed against Russia in opposition to its invasion…
Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, has recently purchased the complete set of the crypto artworks “Twelve Digital Zodiac Heads” at an auction hosted by Metapoly XM, a brand under Poly Auction (Xiamen). TRON is a decentralised, open-source blockchain-based operating system with smart contract functionality, proof-of-stake principles as its consensus algorithm and a cryptocurrency native to the system, known as Tronix. In December 2021, the completely decentralized TRON network was restructured into the TRONDAO community, which made it become the largest decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) in the world. The “Twelve Digital Zodiac Heads” is a NFT art collection that draws…
Challenger bank Revolut announced that it has appointed Charles Debonneuil as its APAC General Manager. Debonneuil will focus on building out Revolut’s local growth teams and developing the business’ growth strategy as well as driving rapid new user acquisition in the APAC region. Prior to joining Revolut’s APAC team, Debonneuil was the President of Intrepid Group, an e-commerce solutions company for global brands, overseeing the growth of the company to over 300 employees across Asia. Debonneuil is also a Co-founder and former Chief Marketing Officer of Lazada, an e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia which was acquired by Alibaba in 2016.…
Fintech training platform 10×1000 Tech for Inclusion (10×1000), a joint effort by the International Financial Corporation (IFC) and Alipay, announced that its platform saw a total of 1,067 learners from 66 countries and regions complete its Fintech Foundation Programme and Fintech Leadership Programme in 2021. Close to 80% of its learners are from South and Southeast Asia, with Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines ranking as the top three countries. On the back of a strong year, 10×1000 also announced a series of new and enhanced learning programs for 2022. Among it is the Fintech Expert Programme which will be introduced…
Binance, a global blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, has signed a deal with the Recording Academy, a music recording company known for the Grammy Awards. The deal makes Binance the first-ever official cryptocurrency exchange partner for the 64th Annual Grammy Awards and the Grammy Week events, including the inaugural Recording Academy Honors celebration. As the official crypto exchange partner, Binance said that it will continue to work with the Recording Academy throughout the year to bring various Web3 technology solutions and experiences to the organisation’s members, events and initiatives. Binance added that more details about the partnership will be…
The Financial Times (FT) has released its fourth annual ranking of growth champions in Asia-Pacific (APAC), recognizing the region’s fastest growing companies. The FT ranking, compiled with data partner Statista, aims to identify the APAC companies with the strongest revenue growth between 2017 and 2020. It ranks them by their compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and absolute growth rate. The ranking excluded China due to “difficulties in verifying data.” Out of this year’s top 500 high-growth companies in APAC, 38 are fintech companies. The following are the fintech firms that made it into the FT’s High-Growth Companies APAC 2022 ranking.
VMware, an enterprise software provider, has announced the launch of its new regional digital innovation hub in Singapore. This joins nine other virtual briefing centers located in key markets around the world including Bangalore, Beijing, Tokyo, and Sydney in the Asia Pacific. The hub is equipped with cutting-edge tools like digital whiteboarding, virtual reality (VR) and a personalised experience utilising radio-frequency identification (RFID). Using the Virtual Briefing Center (VBC), business leaders can explore VMware solutions, collaborate with experts, and experience in-depth demonstrations through both hybrid and online briefings. Hybrid briefings leverage physical engagement with the center’s wall-size display with navigational…
The BIS Innovation Hub Singapore Center and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have jointly developed a new supervisory analytics platform known as Project Ellipse. The platform successfully demonstrates how regulatory and other data, such as articles and news, can be integrated into a single platform to help regulatory authorities identify potential risks to individual banks and the banking system. With the support of the Bank of England, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Accenture and Financial Network Analytics, the project was undertaken in two phases. Phase one of the project investigated how machine executable digital reporting could enable data-driven…
Global cross-border payments firm Thunes announced a partnership with the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services provider Afterpay, known as Clearpay in the UK and Europe. Thunes can now offer Clearpay’s BNPL solution to its network of gateways, merchants and marketplace partners. Having acquired major payment institution licenses in Europe, Singapore and the UK, Thunes is able to offer global merchants, marketplaces and payment service providers the flexibility to accept and make cross border payments with this new BNPL solution. Christophe Bourbier, CEO, Thunes Collections said, “There are many reasons why this partnership is so important for Thunes: BNPL solutions…