Author: Fintech News Singapore

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…

Traveloka recently concluded a wellness survey with Singaporean respondents and uncovered that 51% of the men named financial stability as the top stressor. In Hong Kong, Cigna’s 2020 360 Well-Being Survey revealed that only 15% expected to be able to maintain their current living standards. Before you rush to attribute the dismal findings to the pandemic, we like to point out a 2018 Northwestern Mutual study where 44% of Americans stated that financial concerns were their number one stressor. Financial stress seems to be an evergreen and widespread problem. So… when do people really feel the financial stress? Individualised perceptions…

Superapp Grab will begin trading on the Nasdaq today following the completion of its merger with Altimeter Growth Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The deal raised US$4.5 billion in what is touted to be the largest U.S. public market debut by a Southeast Asian company. Proceeds include a fully committed US$4.0 billion PIPE deal led by US$750 million from funds managed by Altimeter Capital Management, LP. Other investors include funds and accounts managed or advised by BlackRock, Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley Investment Management), and T.Rowe Price Associates, Inc., as well as Fidelity International, Fidelity Management and Research LLC,…

The sudden surge in e-commerce activities has brought with it a rapid rise of card-not-present (CNP) fraud, costing e-commerce merchants an estimated US$35.54 billion globally in 2020, a new report by Forrester says. According to the “How to balance risk in an ever-changing retail landscape” report, this massive jump in CNP shows that merchants are overwhelmed with the massive increase in new customers and activities, and calls for greater use of fraud management efficiency metrics. CNP is a category of fraud where the cardholder does not or cannot physically present the card for a merchant’s visual examination at the time…

Singapore-based AI startup Pand.ai has unveiled GINA.sg, an English-Chinese bilingual WhatsApp chatbot that helps car owners find the most competitive motor insurance that suits their profiles. This was done in partnership with 3 major insurance companies namely Allianz, Etiqa, and MSIG. GINA.sg is offering digital brokerage services for general insurance under the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Fintech Sandbox programme. The company is also collaborating with the Singapore Management University (SMU) on a doctoral-level research led by Associate Professor Hannah Chang and James Tan, the former CEO of Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore (TMLS), to better understand consumer psychology and…

Rapid adoption of instant payments and the proliferation of national real-time payment rails are making Asia-Pacific (APAC) a leader in real-time transfers. This, coupled with efforts to make cross-border payments faster and most efficient, are turning the region into a hotspot for real-time cross-border payments, a new report by UK-based fintech firm Finastra says. Across APAC, 11 nations including China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, have active instant payment infrastructures, and five other initiatives are currently in the works in Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar and New Zealand. Infrastructures such as FAST/PayNow in Singapore and Thailand’s PromptPay are amongst the…

Singapore’s multi-currency travel wallet YouTrip announced that it has raised US$30 million in its latest Series A round, bringing its total funds raised to over US$60 million since launch. The round was driven by unnamed returning investors from major Asian family offices and financial technology investors. YouTrip said that the new capital will be used to boost the company’s technological capabilities to bolster its suite of payment products, in particular entering the adjacent B2B payments space. In line with this, YouTrip plans to launch a new corporate credit card, YouBiz, which offers higher spending limits while transacting at the best exchange rates…

Singaporean digital wealth app Endowus announced it has raised an additional S$35 million (US$27 million) to accelerate its growth across Asia. This brings the company’s total funding this year to S$67 million (US$50 million). The investment by Prosus Ventures and EDBI, who are co-leading the round, as well as Z Holdings adds to the roster of existing investors Softbank Ventures Asia, Lightspeed Global Ventures, UBS, Singtel Innov8, and Samsung. Employees of Endowus, who remain the largest shareholders of the company, also added to their investments. New investors include clients of Endowus namely K3 Ventures (founded by Kuok Meng Xiong and…

Cryptocurrency payments company TripleA has been granted a Digital Payment Token license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The license allows TripleA to provide end-to-end cryptocurrency payment services for businesses. This includes crypto payments, payouts, remittances, and white-label trading in the following license categories; Digital Payment Token Services, Domestic Money Transfer Services, Cross-Border Money Transfer Services, and Merchant Acquisition Services. With the prior license exemption provided under the Payment Services Act, TripleA said that it had demonstrated its capabilities as a trusted provider complying with MAS regulations to receive the full license. Now with the crypto license, TripleA said…

Hong Kong Fintech Week (HKFW) 2021 ended on November 5, closing a global conference exploring an array of business opportunities for the fintech industry in Hong Kong and across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The event which featured renowned speakers from around the world, revealed several key policy announcements and put a spotlight on Hong Kong as the destination for fintech startups and scale-ups to expand business in Asia. The five-day event themed “Scaling Fintech Future Together” had attracted over 20,000 attendees. The conference was host to over 300 speakers, more than 400 exhibitors, and 39 international delegations…

Global cross-border payments company Thunes announced that it has appointed Biren Zandani as the SVP for Asia Pacific (APAC). Biren, based in Singapore, is a recognised payments expert with over 20 years of experience in financial services, particularly B2B, B2P, and P2P payments. Before joining Thunes, Biren was the Head of APAC at Transfast, a Mastercard company, where he was in charge of generating revenue and establishing robust network partnerships. He was also the Head of Business Development & Network Management for SEA & ANZ at Earthport, now known as Visa Direct. Prior to that he held several leadership roles…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore said that it will consider appropriate supervisory actions after DBS Bank conducts an investigation following the disruption of its digital banking services that lasted for two days. According to Bloomberg’s report, Marcus Lim, Assistant Managing Director at the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in an emailed response, “This is a serious disruption and MAS expects DBS to conduct a thorough investigation to identify the root causes and implement the necessary remedial measures. MAS will consider appropriate supervisory actions following the investigation.” Tse Koon, DBS’ Singapore Country Head provided an update on the 24th…

Sparrow, a digital assets trading platform headquartered in Singapore, announced that it now accepts PayNow transfers for institutional clients. PayNow is a convenient and secure method of transfer which is in line with the high-security standards adopted by the local banks in Singapore. With the increased adoption of cryptocurrencies, Sparrow aims to leverage an integrated, secure, trusted, and regulated platform for its digital asset transactions. By adopting a safe and secure digital payments solution from a major local bank, Sparrow said that it is committed to building a sustainable trading platform that simplifies fiat and cryptocurrency conversions. This is part…

F10 Singapore announces the list of nine promising startups that will be joining the third batch of its Incubation Programme starting 22 November 2021 onwards. Selected from more than 200 applications, they cover themes such as Buy Now Pay Later, NFTs, and regulatory technology. The goal of this 5-months programme is to support early-stage startups in the process of transforming their prototype into a scalable product, while they gain traction. The startups will be given the opportunity to receive world-class individual coaching to gain valuable insights and gain access to F10’s vast global network of mentors, experts and investors. They…

TradeTogether, a Singapore-based digital assets management company, continues to establish a strong footprint in the high-net-worth and institutional segments by operating under a regulatory exemption from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to manage funds investing in cryptocurrencies. The company was founded by ex-colleague-turned-friends, Geoff Ira and Jordan Ko when they were serving leadership roles at Standard Chartered Ventures, and decided to combine their expertise and passion in crypto investments at TradeTogether to grow the possibilities of increasing investment returns in the digital assets space including crypto, DeFi and NFTs. TradeTogether, who had recently participated as co-exhibitor at Singapore Fintech…

Pace, a Singapore-based Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution, announced that it has raised US$ 40 million in its Series A investment round. Investors that joined the round include UOB Venture Management (Singapore), Marubeni Ventures (Japan), Atinum Partners (South Korea), AppWorks (Taiwan), and a series of family offices from Japan and Indonesia. Previous investors, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia, Alpha JWC, and Genesis Alternative Ventures also participated in the round. Pace said that the new funding will go towards its technology, operations, and business development as it aims to hit a Gross Merchandise Value run rate of US$ 1 billion in…

Cryptocurrencies are gaining traction, mainly amongst institutional clients who find themselves embracing a new and rising asset class. Sparrow, a home-grown digital asset specialist, sheds some light on the trends unfurling in the digital assets space. “We observe growing interest among financial institutions and family offices in a new developing asset class that not only yields but also grows, creates value, and acts as an alternative way to store value,” said Alvaro Patron, Head of Sales at Sparrow. Whilst individual clients tend to gravitate towards a “buy low and sell high” mentality with a bias towards a shorter-term financial gain,…

Usage of digital financial services is witnessing strong growth in Southeast Asia this year, a trend mostly driven by digital payments and digital lending adoption, according to the eConomy Southeast Asia Report 2021. The annual report, produced by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company, looks at the state of Southeast Asia’s digital economy, delving into emerging trends and sharing key projections for the coming years. According to the report, all digital financial services are flourishing in Southeast Asia, but digital payments and digital lending, in particular, have been leading the change, driven by strong usage of digital services such as…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused work to shift drastically, bringing about new employee expectations, rising demand for greater flexibility, and a whole new working paradigm. Research indicates that the changes caused by the health crisis will remain post-COVID-19. An April 2021 study by global staffing firm Robert Half shows that about 1 in 3 professionals (34%) currently working from home due to the pandemic would look for a new job if required to be in the office full time. Nearly half of all employees surveyed (49%) said they prefer a “hybrid” work arrangement, where they can divide time between the…

Climate Impact X (CIX), a global marketplace and exchange for high-quality carbon credits, has announced the appointment of Mikkel Larsen as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. He has been acting as Interim CEO for CIX since 20th May 2021. CIX is a joint venture between DBS Bank, Singapore Exchange (SGX), Standard Chartered and Temasek. In this role, Mikkel will be collaborating with technology partners to build up its Project Marketplace and Exchange platforms as well as curating a pipeline of high quality carbon credit projects to feature on these platforms. He will also drive the company’s culture, values, and behaviour,…