Private capital platform iSTOX announced that it is rebranding itself as ADDX as it enters a phase of fast-paced growth following a Series A funding round that raised US$50 million in January from Japanese state-backed investors. Accompanying the fresh brand name is a newly-launched ADDX mobile app, now available on both Apple and Android devices, to enable users to invest in the private markets on the go as well as on the ADDX desktop website. Existing investors can log on to the new ADDX platform with the same username and password to view their current investment holdings or to trade.…
Author: Fintech News Singapore
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F10, a Swiss-based startup incubator and accelerator, is currently looking for promising growth-stage startups for its Singaporean Acceleration Programme running from September to November 2021. The accelerator will be focused on wealthtech, deeptech, as well sustainable finance solutions. F10 said in a statement that more than 130 fintech and insurtech startups have participated in its accelerator programmes globally since 2016. During the upcoming three month acceleration programme, F10 will work with selected startups to achieve successful collaboration with its corporate partners in Singapore while also introducing them to partners globally. The F10 accelerator programme comprises 360 degree evaluations, a collaboration…
Digital banking software provider Backbase announced the appointment of Abhijit Chavan as Regional Vice President of Customer Success for Asia, as part of the its Asian leadership team. Looking after customer success, ROI delivery, and prescriptive digital banking transformation for Backbase clients in the region, Abhijit will look to help customers leverage its engagement banking platform and strengthen their market positions in the increasingly competitive open banking era. Prior to joining Backbase, Abhijit was a market proven advisor on digitalisation, operating model design, productivity, market entry strategy, and channel strategy. His roles at Accenture Strategy and PwC Consulting saw him…
With online commerce booming, Asian banks and payment services providers have shown a clear interest in adopting 3-D Secure 2.0 or 3DS2. This is an improved version of the 3DS authentication protocol for card payments that comes with increased security and which allows for a more frictionless commerce experience. Nitin Palande, the Head of Sales and Partnerships for Asia Pacific (APAC) at Netcetera, a Swiss software company, sat down with Fintech News Singapore to explore this trend further. “The new standard ensures strong security, seamless operation, and a high conversion rate for online businesses, benefits which stakeholders in Asia’s payment…
Swiss banking software company Temenos announced that Wise, a London-based online money transfer service formerly known as TransferWise, is now live on Temenos MarketPlace. The Temenos MarketPlace comprises over 50 curated fintech solutions, enabling Temenos’ clients to innovate and differentiate quickly. The addition of Wise Platform, which is its infrastructural solution for banks, enables Temenos customers to quickly and easily switch on Wise’ trusted cross-border payments within their digital banking platform. Temenos customers will have seamless access to Wise’ technology through Temenos Infinity digital banking platform and Temenos Transact next-generation core banking product. The Wise solution is pre-integrated for rapid…
Thunes, a Singaporean cross-border payments network, has raised US$60 million in a Series B growth round led by global private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners, with participation from existing shareholders. The current investment round brings the company’s total funding to US$130 million in less than two years, with US$120 million in the last six months. In supporting Thunes, Insight Partners will provide financial and operational resources to promote the company’s rapid and sustained growth; Insight Partners has invested in more than 400 companies worldwide and has more than US$30 billion in capital commitments. The company said that it…
In Singapore, technology continues to lead hiring demand in the financial services industry with about 1,700 job opportunities in 2021. This represents more than a quarter of all newly created positions at Singapore’s financial institutions this year, and showcases how tech has become central to how financial services are produced, distributed, and consumed in the city-state, Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said in a speech. The remarks were made during one of the episodes Growing Timber, a webinar series organized by MAS in partnership with the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF), which focuses…
Like businesses have embraced digitalization to evolve in the wake of COVID-19, fraudsters and scammers too are embracing digital technology to evolve the threat that they pose to businesses and the public, experts from Visa, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), e-wallet BigPay, and cybersecurity firm OneSpan said during a virtual panel discussion. “With the global pandemic, things are going online at a much faster rate than we would have,” said Chackan Lai, Vice President of Global Risk Advisory and Innovations at Visa in the US. “The e-commerce channel has accelerated tremendously over the past 12 months and plus. At Visa,…
Deutsche Bank’s Securities Services in Singapore and Hashstacs (STACS) announced the completion of their proof-of-concept (POC) referred to as Project Benja on the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) for digital assets and sustainability-linked digital bonds. Set in the context of tokenised securities in the securities market, the teams worked on digital assets interoperability across platforms and related custody, digital securities and cash delivery-versus-payment practice, DLT to traditional systems connectivity, operating model evolution and smart contract templates including those involving sustainability-linked digital bonds. STACS, in collaboration with Deutsche Bank Securities Services, was awarded the POC grant on 29 October 2020,…
Pine Labs, a merchant commerce platform, announced that it has completed the first close of its US$285 million funding round. Its valuation is likely to jump to US$3 billion according to a report by The Economic Times. The company said in a statement that it aims to further scale its merchant commerce and online payments product stack. New investors include Baron Capital Group, Duro Capital, Marshall Wace, Moore Strategic Ventures and Ward Ferry Management while existing investors Temasek, Lone Pine Capital and Sunley House Capital also participated in the round. In this significantly oversubscribed round, in addition to primary proceeds,…
It has been six months since The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced the four successful applicants for Singapore’s inaugural digital banks. A Grab-Singtel consortium and SeaMoney (an entity wholly owned by Sea Group) snagged digital full bank (DFB) licenses to provide retail and corporate banking services. Meanwhile, Ant Group and a consortium headlined by Greenland Financial Holdings secured digital wholesale bank (DWB) licenses to serve the financial needs of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). While the digital banks are only expected to turn operational in 2022, there have been notable developments since the licensing announcement in December last year.…
Southeast Asian digital wealth manager StashAway has launched a group term life insurance policy underwritten by Prudential Singapore named StashAway Term Life. StashAway Term Life is a fully digital offering available on its app to Singapore residents where application for coverage reportedly takes only a few minutes, with no in-person medical check required. Customers can get a personalised recommendation for how much coverage they need, and then apply for coverage ranging from S$100,000 to S$500,000 by answering several health-related questions. StashAway Term Life is a yearly renewable policy designed to give clients a flexible insurance option. Those insured can renew…
Citi has launched a fully automated securities lending solution for the wealth management firms that it provides custody services to in partnership with London-based fintech firm Sharegain. Led by close partnership between Citi Ventures and Citi’s Agency Securities Lending (ASL) business in Asia Pacific, the solution enables global wealth management firms to deliver a securities lending programme to their customers without having to develop an internal programme from scratch. While securities lending provides holders of securities the opportunity to earn additional revenue on their stocks, bonds and ETFs, it is traditionally only viable for large financial institutions such as asset…
DBS Private Bank has introduced a trust solution for the asset class via DBS Trustee, the bank’s wholly-owned, licensed trust company, to enable its private banking clients to invest, custodise and manage their digital assets. According to DBS, this offering is Asia’s first bank-backed trust solution for cryptocurrencies, and builds on the DBS Digital Exchange (DDEX). Launched in December 2020, DDEX enables institutional investors and accredited investors to tap into a fully integrated tokenisation, trading and custody ecosystem for digital assets. DBS Private Bank’s new trust offering applies only to cryptocurrencies hosted on DDEX namely Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash and…
London-based fintech unicorn Wise has announced an integration to bring its platform to Google Pay users allowing the send money abroad within the app from today onwards. The initial launch will enable Google Pay users in the U.S. to send money to Google Pay users in India and Singapore. By the end of the year, U.S. Google Pay users will be able to send money to 80 countries through Wise. For new customers, Wise will make the first transfer free on transfers up to US$ 500 until June 16. The platform allows banks, businesses and software companies to tap into…
Y-Combinator backed fintech Aspire has reached US$1 billion in annualised transaction volumes within one year of the launch of its business accounts in May 2020. The firm also announced the launch of its Bill Pay feature, which automates a company’s invoice payment processes by eliminating manual data entry and reconciliation. Company owners simply forward their invoices via email to Aspire’s AI-assistant, which uses a combination of optical character recognition and deep learning to identify the payment details and payment date. The user then gets a notification to do a final check and to approve the payment for the scheduled date.…
Asia is seeing the emergence of a booming community of remittance-focused tech companies. These companies leverage technology and digital platforms to disrupt the legacy remittance value chain, bringing greater convenience and lower-costs to cross-border money transfer. A new infographic produced by financial data firm FXCIntelligence showcases particularly developed ecosystems in Singapore and Japan where players such as Singtel Dash, EMQ and Brastel Remit are headquartered. But recent market developments in the region signal that further growth is to be expected. Last month, Travelex, one of the world’s biggest foreign exchange brands, launched a new digital remittance offering in Asia Pacific…
Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) is introducing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other regtech solutions to enhance its oversight of listed issuers. SGX RegCo is expanding the solutions to include machine learning techniques and additional information sources with a view to improving predictive capabilities in these areas. The solutions will help automate the extraction of data that can then be used to compute certain indicators of financial risks. The indicators are based on SGX RegCo’s observations of indicative signs of possible financial distress or irregularities in listed companies. These include, among others, the existence of long outstanding trade…
Validus, a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform for SMEs, has received over S$50 million from UK’s alternative asset manager Fasanara Capital to boost SME lending for underserved and unbanked SMEs in Singapore. In addition to investing over S$20 million on Validus’ marketplace to fund SME financing facilities, Fasanara has committed S$30 million in new funds to Validus’ Enterprise Financing Scheme. These funds are earmarked for Singaporean SMEs under the government-assisted financing scheme, to provide cashflow support and growth capital for those impacted by the pandemic. With a key focus on real-economy impact investment solutions, Fasanara joined Validus as a lender in…
Global e-commerce sales have surged amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Vietnam, India and Japan recording amongst the highest revenue growth rates in the world, a Payoneer whitepaper says. Chinese sellers saw sales volumes surged 65% and 50% year-over-year (YoY) in Q2 and Q3 2020, respectively, while South Korea recorded a 65% and 129% YoY increase during the same periods. In Vietnam, e-commerce sales spiked more than 90% YoY in Q2 2020, and 45% in Q3 2020. Booming e-commerce activity in Asia Pacific (APAC) came alongside a surge in digital payments, with cross-border payments platform Payoneer…