Investment in Australia’s fintech sector smashed previous records in 2019, jumping to US$1.913bn spurred by the acquisition of Property Exchange (PEXA) and the US$280 investment in neobank Judo, according to the Pulse of Fintech H2’2019, a bi-annual report on global and regional fintech investment trends published by KPMG. The report tracks venture capital, private equity and mergers & acquisitions across global fintech markets and shows that Australia bucked the global investment trend, which saw 2019 fall just shy of 2018’s record with US$135.7bn invested across 2,693 deals. Notable venture capital deals in Australia included neobank Athena’s US$43.4 mil Series C…

Onchain Custodian (ONC), the Sequoia-backed digital assets custody service provider headquartered in Singapore, has just released the next version of its SAFE™ platform, integrating cryptography services on an infrastructure securely hosted by IBM. The digital asset custody SAFE™ platform complements its cold storage offering with a wallet management service underpinned by the IBM Cloud™ Hyper Protect Crypto Services. IBM Cloud™ Hyper Protect Crypto Services allows for secure key generation and protection of key by taking advantage of the industry’s first and only FIPS 140-2 Level 4 1 certified Hardware Security Module (HSM) available in the cloud, which means that it’s…

OCBC announced today that they have enabled instant car loan approvals, according to their statement, when customers apply for a car loan with OCBC, they can now get it approved within 60 seconds. This service is made possible by a digital solution that leverages the national data repository – MyInfo – and OCBC Bank’s proprietary real-time KYC and credit assessment system to simplify a process that traditionally take a few working days. A total of 11 authorised car distributors, which together account for the majority of car purchases in Singapore, will use the new car loan approval process by March…

In its Open Banking APAC report, released earlier this month, the EPAA provides an overview of developments in the region and shares findings from a survey of industry participants and experts from APAC. Unlike the regulator-led approach in the European Union (EU), the approaches to open banking in Asia-Pacific (APAC) have been more diverse with development and adoption varying greatly between countries across the region, according to a new report by the Emerging Payments Association Asia (EPAA), an pan-Asian payments association. According to the report, like in the rest of the world, open banking has arrived in APAC but in…

In Asia, consumers’ tech-savviness, the rise of fintech, and advances in technology are requiring banks to reinvent themselves, according to a new report by McKinsey. In a paper titled Future of Asia Banking: How Asia is reinvesting banking for the digital age, McKinsey explores the current status of Asia’s banking industry and shares recommendations for banks in the digital age. Asia’s changing banking landscape According to the paper, Asia has been the world’s largest regional banking market for a decade, but is now preparing for consolidation with revenue growth already slowing and margins thinning. In addition to these headwinds,…

In a new report released by S&P Global Market Intelligence earlier this month, the financial information services provider says that for both new digital banks and incumbent banks, affiliation with technology platforms serving large pools of consumers and small businesses “could be key to [their] future.” For branchless digital banks, partnering with e-commerce companies could be “the quickest way to gain scale” because these platforms are already linked to many consumers and merchants. The prospect is especially attractive for digital banks in Southeast Asia where e-commerce sales in the region’s six largest economies are projected to grow to US$79.29 billion…

Regulators from Thailand and Cambodia announced earlier the launch of an interoperable payment QR code between the two countries. Cambodian tourists visiting Thailand will now be able to use the mobile payment app to scan QR codes in Thailand, whereas Thai tourists should expect to be able to scan QR codes in Cambodia by the third quarter of 2020. Commenting on the collaboration Dr. Veerathai Santiprabhob, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, said: “The development of interoperable infrastructure which connects payment systems of Cambodia and Thailand will benefit our people of both countries by allowing them to make cross-border payments…

MyInfo made verification process easier than ever for the citizens of Singapore and thanks to BASIS ID every FinTech can now integrate this service into its platform. Know Your Customer or simply KYC remains one of the biggest pains for FinTech companies. On the one hand, Due Diligence has tremendous benefits. It prevents money laundering, financial scams and other fraudulent activity. On the other hand, it scares many customers off. Imagine it yourself. Let’s say you wanted to take a quick loan but instead of “quick” you are required to: Enter your demographic data; Scan your documents; Do a video…

CIMB Singapore announced the launch of its virtual account today, which it hopes can eliminate manual and inefficient reconciliation processes that are inherent to businesses with a high number of suppliers and vendors. Commenting on the product Victor Lee, CEO, CIMB Singapore said, “D It is essentially a one-stop financial solution for business owners that boosts productivity by eliminating certain manual processes. We believe that business owners need to be equipped with the right tools in this digital age to manage and grow their businesses. Providing them with the convenience and flexibility to manage their finances are just one of…

On February 7, the Australian government released its national blockchain roadmap in which it said it was exploring the potential benefits of blockchain to create new economic growth and improve productivity. The Australia National Blockchain Roadmap sets out a strategy for governments, industry and researchers to capitalize on the opportunities of blockchain while addressing its challenges, and delves into three main industries which it believes would benefit from applying blockchain: the agricultural sector, the education sector and the financial services sector. In the agricultural sector, the report says that blockchain can improve every step in the process of generating produce…

Credify a Singapore based digital identity startup announced today that they have received seed funding from Beenext and Deepcore. The startup describes itself as a provider of Universal Identity and Trust System solutions to companies active in the e-commerce and finance space. Credify’s Universal Identity product acts as a personal data bridge, connecting consumer services like e-commerce marketplaces and lending platforms with institutions that possess valuable, yet untapped information like identity verification results and credit scores. This funding round allows Credify to enhance the development of its suite of products, further localize its software development operations in South East Asia,…

Home to more than 600 fintech startups and over 40 innovation labs, Singapore is one of the world’s leading fintech hubs and Southeast Asia’s undeniable fintech leader. With so much fintech activities, it is no wonder that we’re seeing demand for coworking spaces that are fintech dedicated. 2019 saw many developments in the local fintech landscape, including the launch of new regulations like the digital banking licenses, the successful inaugural SFF x SWITCH event, which drew more than 60,000 participants, as well as the launch of the National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy. Fintech investments in Singapore crossed the billion-mark last…

Diginex, a digital asset financial services and advisory company, has appointed Mr. Jim Pollock as Chief Operating Officer (COO) based in Singapore. In this role, he will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the company’s business strategy, which includes the development of fully regulated and institutional grade digital asset infrastructure for the financial services sector. A senior financial services executive with over three decades of experience in multi-jurisdictional business development, transformation, regulation, risk and finance, Mr. Pollock joins Diginex from Westpac, one of Australia’s largest banks. In his 16 years at the bank, he held the capacity of COO…

Concerns are heightening against the backdrop the COVID-19 novel coronavirus increased cases and deathtoll. In light of this global health crisis, event organisers around the world are taking steps to prevent the coronavirus from further spreading. Major events like the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which is the largest mobile show in the world just announced that they have postponed the much-anticipated event fearing it would further spread COVID-19. Outside of China, data has shown that Singapore is the country with the second-highest case, so it is inevitable that organisers of large scale events are reconsidering moving forward with their…

Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) has further enhanced its partnership with 7-Eleven to drive agent banking services. In this new enhanced partnership, new SCB customers will be able to open a non-passbook savings bank account at 7-Eleven’s Counter Service using facial recognition technology to verify their identity. This eliminates the need to visit an SCB branch and will serve to pave the way for other financial services in the future, such as SCB Easy, credit & debit cards, Planet SCB cards, loans, investments, and much more. The service has passed testing in SCB’s own sandbox and will be readily available…

Advancing Singapore’s trade digitalisation agenda, DBS Bank, in collaboration with Audi Singapore (Audi) and Audi’s local distributor, Premium Automobiles (Premium), completed the first trade financing transaction on Singapore’s Networked Trade Platform (NTP). The inaugural trade relates to a SGD3.5 million letter of credit transaction for a trade of Audi cars between Audi and Premium. In the traditional world of trade, car importers, such as Audi, have to physically present an array of paper-based trade documents to complete a letter of credit transaction. However, by digitalising the process through the NTP, Audi and their retail partner Premium, are now able to…

Singapore’s digital banking license was perhaps one of the most widely discussed topic in 2019 within fintech circles and we suspect 2020 will not be too different with MAS anticipated to issue licenses by mid-2020. There were many speculations as to who are the contenders-to-be and there’s no shortage of aspirants announcing their interest to bid for the digital banking license. With the deadline for application of 31st December behind us, the fog is lifted and we have a clearer picture of who still remains. Unsurprisingly, there are already some who have decided to drop out of the race. The…

DBS QR Gift, a QR-based payment solution for Ang Bao’s has nearly double its transaction this year. This Chinese New Year, nearly $SGD 2.7 million has been loaded onto DBS QR Gift card, this is compared to $SGD 1.5 million for the whole period of Chinese New Year. Besides the growing popularity of mobile payments, this growth is likely further driven by the fact that DBS has opened up this service to all PayNow users. Jeremy Soo, Managing Director and Head of Consumer Banking Group (Singapore), DBS Bank, said, “We’re heartened by the growing popularity and receptiveness of the public…

The mobile payment scene in Indonesia is burgeoning, with research indicating that it will exceed US$ 15 billion by this year. This trend is largely driven by heavy investments into the space by major players like GoPay and OVO, alongside supportive regulatory initiatives from Bank Indonesia. South East Asia has long been a proxy battleground between payment giants like Alipay and WeChat Pay, it should come to no surprise to most that these two players have got their eyes set on Indonesia. In May 2019, BI introduced a nationwide QR code payment standard called the Quick Response Indonesia Standard (QRIS)…

Despite awareness of cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) being high and interest in investing in this new asset class being strong, ownership of cryptocurrencies and tokens issued through ICOs is still low in Southeast Asia, according to a research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD, which conducted a survey in 2019 to understand the attitudes, behaviors and experiences of financial consumers in cryptoassets across Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, found a high level of awareness of cryptocurrencies. However, only 30% of respondents across these three markets owned cryptocurrencies. Ownership of tokens issued through ICOs…