Author: Fintech News Singapore

Tradeplus24 Australia, a small and mid-size enterprise (SME) lending fintech, has restructured US$25 million of its existing debt facilities to underpin the execution of a material debt transaction of over US$100 million and reduce its cost of funding by 4 percent. iPartners has secured the senior debt position and Wentworth Williamson has, alongside other existing debt providers, taken the remaining mezzanine debt position. As a result of the transaction, Tradeplus24 is structuring a US$100 million growth debt facility at terms that will allow it to rapidly scale and offer SME lines of credit at comparable rates to lenders requiring residential…

In Asia-Pacific (APAC), sustainable financing has gained momentum over the past years as regulators across the region step up efforts to promote the development of green finance and facilitate the transition to a sustainable future. In Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched in December 2020 Project Greenprint, a collection of initiatives that aims to harness technology and data to enable a more transparent, trusted and efficient environmental, social and governance (ESG) ecosystem to enable green and sustainable finance. Singapore wants to leverage its position as one of the world’s most developed fintech markets to become a leader in…

Challenger bank Revolut announced that it has hired banking veteran Deepak Khanna as its Head of Wealth and Trading effective from today onwards. In his role at Revolut Singapore, Deepak will build and lead the teams that will launch Revolut’s wealth and trading products, design the operational setup and manage product performance. Revolut Singapore had obtained the Capital Markets Services license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore earlier this month and is looking to launch its commission-free stock trading feature in the first half of 2022. Deepak brings with him over two decades of diverse experience in wealth management. He…

In Southeast Asia, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of the economy, making up for 97%-99% of the region’s total enterprises and contributing between 52% and 97% of total employment. Yet, despite their centrality to national economies, MSMEs still face major barriers to obtaining the financing necessary to maintain and growth their businesses, according to a new report by SME digital financing platform Funding Societies. Of the 73 million MSMEs that operate in the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), around 39 million (51%) are either unserved or underserved by traditional lenders. This is leading to a…

In a recent Twitter post by blockchain research firm CryptoRank, they revealed that over 1 million Ether (ETH), worth roughly around US$ 4 billion, had been “burned” since the EIP-1559 protocol (also called the London Hard Fork) was introduced in August 2021. At first glance, you might wonder what the Twitter post meant by “burned” Ethereum, and what purpose did this fulfill. In order to understand that we first need to take a step back and understand Ethereum a little better. What Is Ethereum? Ethereum is described by its creators as the community-run technology powering the cryptocurrency Ether (ETH) and…

Singapore-based major payment institution FOMO Pay announced that it will be joining as a member of the DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx). FOMO Pay was recently granted a Digital Payment Token (DPT) Service license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in September this year. Two full licenses were awarded to Australian cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve and DBS Bank’s brokerage arm DBS Vickers while Singaporean cryptocurrency platform Coinhako was issued an in-principle approval. FOMO Pay is among the first DPT licensees to join the digital exchange as a member. Being part of the DDEx ecosystem, FOMO Pay said that it intends on leveraging…

2021 has been a record year for insurtech funding. As of Q3 2021, more than US$10.5 billion had been raised by companies in the space year-to-date (YTD), surpassing 2020’s total of US$7.1 billion by nearly 48%, data from insurance advisory firm Willis Towers Watson show. Global funding activity has been largely driven by mega-rounds of US$100 million and over, which amounted to a total of US$6 billion. Several of these mega-rounds took place in Asia-Pacific (APAC) where industry leaders in mature markets like India and China are closing massive late stage rounds ahead of public listings. As the year comes…

Binance Asia Services (BAS), the operator of its Singapore entity, announced that it intends to withdraw its licensing efforts in Singapore. The firm said in a statement that the “decision has not been made lightly”. BAS will be winding down its digital payment token (DPT) services in Singapore by 13 February 2022 and will no longer be taking on new users. With immediate effect, users will not be able to deposit crypto or fiat on Binance.sg. They may continue to buy and sell crypto using their existing assets until 12 January 2022. However, the company stressed that users must start…

Software as a service (SaaS) banking platform Mambu announced that it has raised US$266 million (€235 million) in an EQT Growth-led Series E funding round. The funding brings the company’s valuation to US$ 5.5 billion (€4.9 billion) post money. Carolina Brochado, Partner within EQT Growth’s Advisory Team, will be joining Mambu’s board of directors. Mambu said that it will use its fresh funding to further accelerate innovation in its next-generation platform, with the ambition of rolling out both new functional as well as technical capabilities. The company will also continue to expand its global footprint and customer success model to…

The F10 Singapore Global Summit that was held on 30th November 2021 marked the end of the 3-month programme for its second acceleration batch featuring 7 startups. GreenArc Capital, New Wealth, Doomoolmori, BlueFire AI, Onchain, Senseforth, and InvestaX will continue to work alongside F10’s corporate partners in their ventures ahead. F10 SG’s Acceleration Batch II officially graduated during the hybrid startup showcase, where a limited number of participants attended physically for the in-person interaction as well as live streamed online. During the 3-month acceleration programme, F10 did a comprehensive 360-degree analysis with the startups which allowed them to use as…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has approved Nityo Infotech Corporation’s investment into Singaporean fintech MatchMove Pay six months after it was initially announced. This also marks the completion of MatchMove’s Series C funding round. MatchMove will remain independent with Nityo as a significant minority shareholder. The deal has been further refined since it was announced in June this year. Nityo is providing MatchMove with an investment of US$100 million comprising US$20 million cash and US$80 million in kind consisting of technology services, specialist personnel, cost synergies and enhanced sales and distribution. For MatchMove, this allows the company to leverage…

With data becoming a core business asset for financial companies, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) continues to be a focal point in maximising the competitive advantage of this ‘new oil’. This is according to a new study by LSEG Labs, The Defining Moment for Data Scientists, on the applications of AI/ML in financial services. The study found that the adoption of AI/ML within organisations has remained steady since 2018. Over the last three years, between 40-50% of respondents reported deploying AI/ML in multiple areas. The survey is based on responses from 482 data scientists, quants, model governance professionals and…

Singaporean payments service provider Aleta Planet has partnered with Tencent Financial Technology to enable local residents to remit money to Weixin users in China. Aleta Planet said that this is the first time Tencent Financial Technology has partnered with a Singaporean fintech for cross border transfer of funds The service rides on Aleta Planet’s proprietary technology allowing residents to send money in a safe, secure, and speedy manner and at a lower cost than through conventional methods. Customers who wish to use the remittance service need to sign up for an Aleta Planet/Nestia digital card and perform the remittance to…

The SBI-Sygnum-Azimut Digital Asset Opportunity (DAO) fund announced that it has made its first investment into Singaporean cryptocurrency platform Coinhako. Japanese financial group SBI Holdings, Swiss-based digital asset bank Sygnum, and European asset manager Azimut Group had jointly launched the US$75 million fund based in Singapore to invest in startups in the digital asset sector. The strategic fundraising round was three-times oversubscribed and attracted other prominent institutional investors including SBI Group. Coinhako will be able to grow its team as it expands across Southeast Asia as well as accelerate its acquisition of a deeper and wider customer base in Singapore…

Binance Asia Services, the blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency provider behind Binance.sg, announced that it has snapped up an 18% stake in Hg Exchange (HGX). HGX is a member-driven private securities exchange, founded by financial institutions such as PhillipCapital, PrimePartners, and Fundnel, and powered by Zilliqa’s high performance blockchain. Earlier this year, HGX was granted a Recognised Market Operator license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. In addition to shares in private companies, HGX is working to list alternative assets including wines, art and real estate. Richard Teng, CEO of Binance Singapore said, “Through this investment, we seek to work with…

Singapore’s payment unicorn Nium announced that it has elevated its Chief Operating Officer, Pratik Gandhi to Co-Founder. Pratik joined Nium as Chief Business Officer in May 2016 as the company began building its global business operations. In his role as Chief Business Officer, Pratik led Nium’s consumer business before being promoted to his current position as Chief Operating Officer. Now as a Co-Founder, he joins Nium’s CEO, Prajit Nanu, and Chief Business Officer, Michael Bermingham, as part of the company’s co-founding team. As Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder at Nium, Pratik will continue to lead the global finance, operations, and…

Tyme, a multi-country digital banking group headquartered in Singapore, has secured investments from Tencent and CDC to complete its US$180 million Series B capital raise. The first part of Tyme’s Series B raise concluded earlier this year when it secured US$110 million from Apis Growth Fund II and Gokongwei’s JG Summit Holdings. The investment from internet giant Tencent and CDC, UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, is pegged at an additional US$70 million. African Rainbow Capital remains Tyme’s majority shareholder. The digital bank, which has its roots in South Africa, is using the US$180 million it has raised to…

The metaverse, a concept referring to a shared virtual environment that people access via the Internet, has become one of the hottest business trends this year, building on the accelerated shift to digital channels, growth of the augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) market, and advances in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. A new report by DBS Bank looks into the booming trend, highlighting the key drivers of the metaverse and the firms leading the trend. According to the report, the rise of digitalization brought about the COVID-19 pandemic, the shift to remote working, and the development of the so-called Internet of Senses…

In Singapore, consumer preferences are rapidly evolving, with banking customers increasingly preferring online interaction over in-person interaction. A new consumer survey by digital business transformation company Publicis Sapient found that Singaporeans are prolific users of mobile banking, with one in two (50%) consumers indicating turning to mobile apps to communicate with their bank. The figure was shared in the third edition of the Digital Life Index which looks at the state of digital adoption across various sectors, including retail, telehealth and financial services. Results from the survey show that in Singapore, banking customer prefer engaging with their bank through digital…

Challenger bank Revolut has obtained a Capital Markets Services (CMS) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This will allow them to launch its stock trading feature to its customers in Singapore and beyond, giving them the opportunity to invest in over 1,000 US-listed stocks on the NYSE and NASDAQ. Revolut expects to roll the service out to its Singapore customers in the first half of 2022. Once available, customers will have the opportunity to buy fractional shares in US listed companies from US$1 onwards, giving them access to stocks from companies like Amazon, Tesla, Coca-Cola, and Apple. There…