Singapore’s economy faced strong headwinds in 2016 and most key business indicators and economists have expressed pessimism for 2017. The Singapore economy is “in for a tough period that will last for a while,” said deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in September, 2016, adding that the government’s priority right now was to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) innovate and “commercialize their capabilities beyond Singapore to take advantage of the growing regional opportunities.” In Singapore, the high interest rates for bank loans, suppliers tightening credit access and the need for more and more collateral have become challenges for SMEs looking to…

Singapore has had quite an amazing year with regard to fintech. The city-state organized the world’s largest fintech event, a number of banks and tech firms opened innovations labs in the country, and the government launched new initiatives and funding schemes to support startups and boost fintech development. For the new year ahead, we look at the hottest fintech companies in Singapore to keep an eye on in 2017. We eyed established players in Online Wealth Management, Insurtech, Regtech, Big Data, Mobile Payments and Personal Finance. Dragon Wealth Founded in 2013, Dragon Wealth is an award-winning startup that offers…

Fintech has further risen in 2016, a year marked by an increase in governments’ support and interest in the field. The regulatory sandbox approach has taken hold in Asia-Pacific. In the third quarter of 2016, Hong Kong launched a regulatory sandbox for financial technology innovation in the banking sector, following on the heels of Australia and Singapore. Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are also moving in this direction. In Asia, a number of fintech areas are gaining more attention from VC investors, in part, because of their potential to traverse different markets. These sectors include payments, mobile, data and analytics and…

Launched in February last year, Bambu is a Singaporean B2B robo-advisor services provider delivering sophisticated automated online management solutions to financial institutions in Asia. Bambu has developed unique solutions for each segment of the market: a white label platform for financial institutions to offer robo-advisory to their customers; “Robo-in-a-box,” a one-stop-shop for any company to offer end-to-end digital solutions to retail investors; and the Intelligent Advisor, a propriety algorithm-ranking tool for relationship managers to improve customer experience targeted at high net worth investors. The company has signed partnerships with notably industry players including Tigerspike, Thomson Reuters and Finantix, and has already…

Meetings are the bane of many an employee’s life, but having to facilitate them can be a nightmare of its very own. Depending on when you schedule them, they can go from bad to unbearable in a relatively short amount of time. Not sure when you should schedule your next important video conference? In this article, we’re going to talk about the pros and cons of holding that conversation at three different times of the day: first thing in the morning, right after everybody’s had their lunch, and late in the work day.   Holding a Discussion First Thing in…

2016 was an important year for Singapore as the city-state moves further to become a leader in fintech. Ranked as the second leading fintech hub in the world by Deloitte, Singapore has made financial technology one of its top priorities. The local fintech scene has largely benefited from the strong governmental support, which has encouraged fintech ventures to settle in and influenced some of the world’s largest tech firms and banks to open innovation labs. Key announcements have been made throughout the year, which have further reaffirmed Singapore’s commitment to the field. Here are our highlights of this year’s key fintech moves…

From Hong Kong to Singapore or even USA, let’s take a look at some upcoming fintech events in 2017, picked by Fintech News Singapore. Fintech Finals Hong Kong 2017 When:January 18-19, 2017 Where: PMQ, Hong Kong It’s about bringing people together. 1000 people will gather at PMQ in Hong Kong, with the world’s best speakers assembled to cover fintech design, innovation & entrepreneurship, and see the top 24 startups globally pitch for prizes and cash. Innovation in ASEAN Insurance 2017 When: January 24-25, 2017 Where: Jakarta, Indonesia Innovation in ASEAN Insurance is the premier platform to learn from industry leaders…

Access to and use of formal financial services is low in Vietnam compared with other countries in the region, with only 31% of all adults having formal bank accounts in 2014, according to the World Bank. 14.6% percent of Vietnamese had saved money with a formal financial institution in 2014, 18.4% had a loan with a formal financial institution, and only 26.5% had access to a debit card. Interestingly, about 30% of adults borrowed from friends or family in 2014 in Vietnam, against 18.4% who have borrowed from a financial institution. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well have been…

South East Asia has got it’s first Blockchain Incubator. Mentored/invested by Bitcoin Pioneers like Roger Ver, Amit Bhardwaj, Michael Terpin to name a few. The Incubator is very aptly named Satoshi Studios and is inviting applications from entrepreneurs working in South East Asia region. The incubator has a 3 month intensive residence program in New Delhi India, where the founders will spend time with the other Blockchain startups and receive 50K USD in funding for 8%-15% equity in the company. In our conversation with the Incubator’s co-founder, Sahil Baghla, said, that ”we had been receiving a lot of interest from…

Over the last years, the growth of fintech has gained significant momentum globally, attracting US$19.1 billion in investment in 2015 alone. In Asia, fintech funding reached an all-time high, quadrupling 2014 total with US$4.54 billion in investment across 130 deals, according to a report by CB Insights and KPMG. While corporates in more mature regions of the world typically see fintech companies as a disruptor to traditional banking, in Asia, there is a much broader focus on fintech as an enabler for existing companies to extend their market share and to gain customers among the unbanked and underbanked populations. Fintech…

The banking industry has undergone tremendous changes in the past 10 to 15 years. These changes have come at a time when the consumption of digital technologies is at an all-time high. Also, the banking industry has been forced to change by several political and economic events that have occurred in the last ten to fifteen years. Some of the changes that the banking industry has undergone in relation to finance technology include the following: Big Data Analysis The amount of data that financial institutions interact with on a regular basis is huge. This being the case, the demand for…

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a $100 million credit to support Myanmar in improving the access of families and small and medium-sized businesses to financial services. Myanmar’s Financial Sector Development Project aims to promote the development of a sound and stable financial sector, includes reforms to increase the provision of banking services and access to loans and financial products across the country, and to develop the country’s nascent microfinance and insurance sectors. “The project will help increase access to finance for households and small and medium-sized enterprises by reforming state-owned banks, strengthening the financial sector’s legal…

Neosurance  and KLCC Runners Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the distribution of microinsurance to KLCC Runners Group growing community members. The microinsurance product will be provided ad hoc by a leading reinsurer and insurer who will be disclosed later, together with the price and features of the microinsurance. The InsurTech sector has already seen investment deals of more than $2B in 2016 and the growing trend is expected to continue in the coming year. Interest in the InsurTech industry has increased significantly over the last few years, reaching a media coverage 8 time higher and an investment…

It’s interesting that whilst paper cash has been around for over three centuries the move away from it has been difficult to imagine. The huge increase in the use of credit cards as a form of conducting business was believed by many to have signalled the death knell for cash, but it just never quite happened. People still like the feel of folding money in their pockets and, unlike cheques, the fact that cash can’t bounce (counterfeit notes excluded). With the development in fintech industries, the world might well at last be moving away from traditional payment methods and towards…

Vietnam is a very Internet-connected country, and with the increasing penetration of smartphones there is a wealth of opportunity for online businesses, digital agencies and application developers. Like other late-adopters of Internet technology, Vietnam has benefited from the cheap hardware like wireless routers and the very affordable Internet access. Most particularly, mobile phones and smartphones are the main drivers of Internet penetration in Vietnam. A research conducted earlier this year found that in 2015, mobile phone and smartphone penetration reached 69% in Vietnam. For most consumers, their first online experience was via mobile, leapfrogging other devices. These trends, combined with…

Stop hiding behind the screen and start listening to what your friends and family have to say. This is because spending too much time on the computer or mobile devices can cause a real threat to relationships, according to the 2016 Prudential Relationship Index report which provides a snapshot of the health of relationships in Singapore. The research found that 28% of couples in Singapore argue because of time spent on phones and computers. In fact, spending too much time on the computer or phone is the fourth most likely source of arguments between couples, after children, money and housework.…

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), dealing with their finances and ensuring appropriate funding can be a real struggle. The reasons are manifold: finances of SMEs are characterized by high complexity, yet are low scale. Thankfully, the rise of fintech has led to the introduction of solutions that are efficient and effective at lower scale. “This trend has the potential to become a game changer for small businesses,” according to a report by the World Economic Forum. “The overall potential of fintech for small business and thus for the economy as a whole seems tremendous.” Now, it is easier than…

Vietnam is working on a regulatory framework for virtual properties, electronic money and virtual currencies like bitcoin amid concerns of their use in illegal activities. A report by local media outlet VNEconomy says that the government is looking to take measures to regulate virtual currency transactions in order to address risks related to money laundering and tax evasion. The government says that it is necessary to clarify the legal status of virtual currencies and minimize risks for consumers and for the domestic currency market. The initiative seeks to build a comprehensive legal framework for virtual property, electronic money and virtual…

With the launch of UOB Mighty Secure, United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) consumer banking customers can now use their smartphone as a digital security token. UOB is the first bank in Singapore to enable customers to use their mobile phone as their security token. UOB Mighty Secure ensures the necessary additional layer of security traditionally provided by physical tokens for conducting certain banking transactions. These include adding new payees for fund transfers or credit card bill payments. In October alone, more than 9,000 UOB customers added a new payee to transfer funds through the UOB Mighty app. With UOB Mighty Secure,…

OurCrowd, an equity crowdfunding, announced that it has opened an office in Singapore, its seventh worldwide, to serve the growing community of Asian investors interested in funding early stage high-growth companies. It has appointed Denes Ban, a successful entrepreneur and technology executive, as Managing Partner Asia and head of OurCrowd’s Singapore Management company. The move follows OurCrowd’s announcement earlier this year that it has partnered with United Overseas Bank (UOB) and Sassoon Investment Corporation (SassCorp) to pursue equity crowdfunding for startups and SMEs in the region. OurCrowd also received a formal license to begin operating in Singapore from the Monetary…