Currencycloud, a provider of B2B embedded cross-border solutions, announced that it has opened an Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. The new office, located in Raffles Quay, will serve as a hub to drive the London-based fintech’s expansion throughout the wider region. The company expects to hire double digit number of employees by the end of 2021 and is applying for a license with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Rohit Narang who was thee Co-founder and COO of Trusting Social, a big data analytics firm specialising in credit scoring on alternate data, also joins the company as Managing Director for the…
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Global enterprise software firm R3’s Development Fund announced that it has hit the US$ 10 million mark in capital deployed across over 30 investments in more than 20 promising early-stage blockchain and confidential computing companies. The fund invests in startups building apps on R3’s enterprise blockchain platform, Corda, and its new confidential computing platform, Conclave. It was launched in 2019 to support firms leveraging blockchain for global commerce and to further establish R3’s presence in financial services, trade finance, insurance and digital assets. With the launch of Conclave, the fund expanded its investment thesis to include startups building with the…
HSBC Singapore and Marketnode successfully completed a digital bond issuance on Marketnode’s digital asset issuance, depository and servicing platform. Marketnode is a joint venture between Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Temasek. The transaction with Singtel is said to represent the largest issuance on the platform to date, with the widest investor base of 123 accounts. Combined, the total ‘bond notional’ that has been successfully completed on Marketnode’s platform now stands at over S$2 billion which is reportedly the largest volume of digital bonds issued on an exchange-operated network in Asia. The bank said that the digital bond issuance was in conjunction…
Most customers still don’t understand what open banking is and its benefits, a misunderstanding that’s hampering adoption, found a new survey by Mambu, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) banking platform provider. Out of 2,000 global banking customers surveyed, more than half (52%) said they have never heard of open banking and 61% said they have never used it, despite a large majority of respondents (80%) using one or more mobile finance apps and overall caring about receiving better financial services. 57% respondents cited data sharing as their main concern, with 43% of respondents believing that open banking is a dangerous use of…
Singaporean blockchain development company Hashstacs (STACS) announced the completion of its US$ 3.6 million (S$ 4.8 million) pre-Series A funding round, bringing its fundraising total to more than US$ 6 million (S$ 8 million). The fundraise led by Wavemaker Partners is a prelude to STACS’ Series A funding round, which will commence on a larger scale later this year. The round was also joined by the Tribe Accelerator, a Singapore government supported blockchain innovation and education accelerator, and Stellar Partners adding on to their initial investment. STACS was an alumni of Tribe Accelerator batch three in 2020. The fundraising propels…
Indian payments firm Razorpay announced that it has secured US$160 million during its Series E funding round which has tripled its valuation to US$ 3 billion. The funding round was co-led by GIC, Sequoia along with Ribbit Capital and Matrix Partners. Razorpay said that a portion of the funds raised will be allocated to “develop tailored products on a new tech stack to further enhance convenience and security”. The company also plans on increasing the disbursement of working capital to businesses from Rs 700 crores (US$ 93.5 million) per month to Rs 1000 crores (US$133.5 million) per month. Razorpay added…
R3, the enterprise software firm, Tramés, a Singapore-based supply chain orchestration technology startup, and Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) to accelerate global trade and supply chain digitalisation. The MOI will support the collaboration and adoption of a new digital solution built by Tramés using R3’s blockchain platform Corda Enterprise and IMDA’s TradeTrust digital utility. IMDA’s TradeTrust comprises a set of globally-accepted standards and frameworks that support the exchange of electronic trade documents with the aim to reduce inefficiencies and complexities of cross-border trade arising from current paper-based processes, such as the bill of…
Finch Capital, a UK and Amsterdam-focused venture firm, has reached an agreement to acquire Wirecard Payment’s entities in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand through Nomu Pay, a vehicle that invests in payment assets. The transactions are expected to be completed in May 2021 for Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong, and for the Philippines later in the year. In March 2021, Nomu Pay had announced plans to acquire Wirecard Turkey as well. This investment is part of Nomu Pay’s larger plan to build out a leading unified payment company in high growth customer segments in EMEA and Asia. Following these…
Digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), are having an exciting year 2021, with many developments and booming adoption witnessed in Q1’21, DBS’ latest quarterly update on digital assets outlines. In Q1’21, digital assets rose in value, product offerings and use cases against the backdrop of cryptocurrencies’ ongoing bull run. Total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies jumped 1,035% over the past year, rising from US$196 billion in April 2020 to US$2.225 trillion 12 months later. Bitcoin (BTC) crossed its previous all-time high in December 2020, breaking through US$20,000. During the first quarter, the cryptocurrency surged…
Podcasts and webinars have been around for decades but it’s only in the last few years that they became big business. Growth was further propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic that forced professionals to move to digital channels to continue networking and build connections. In the fintech space, a lot of new podcasts and webinar series have emerged over the past years. We’ve curated a list of the top fintech podcasts and webinar series launched in 2020 and 2021 to follow this year. Fintech Fireside Asia YouTube | Spotify | Google Podcasts Launched in 2020, Fintech Fireside Asia is a monthly…
Julius Baer has rolled out its Digital Advisory Suite (DiAS) in Asia that aims to simplify the complexity of regulations for relationship managers, enabling them to offer compliant advice to clients. The suite acts as a fully integrated solution, ensuring a seamless end-to-end advisory process, providing relationship managers with a holistic overview of client situations and identifying opportunities for engagement. DiAS was designed to boost efficiency by navigating regulations, automating administration and saving time in delivering investment advice. It screens Julius Baer’s investment universe and recommends investment ideas that meet clients’ investment objectives and risk appetite levels. It goes beyond previous…
Singapore-based insurtech 360F announced that it has appointed Martin Frick as a member of its advisory board, where he will support the ramp up of the bancassurance business. Martin will be an advisor to 360F operating under the legal umbrella Amsantix. Martin brings nearly 30 years of extensive industry knowledge, regional expertise and leadership experience in providing technological solutions to the financial services industry. His experience spans across both the developed and emerging countries in Asia Pacific. Over the last decade, he has successfully spear-headed numerous large and complex projects in multiple financial services organisations in their journey to achieve…
Perx Technologies, a SaaS lifestyle marketing platform provider, announced its partnership with Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platform hoolah to offer engaging in-app customer experiences. Launched in February 2018, Singapore-headquartered hoolah offers merchants a BNPL platform with a seamless, gamification-based in-app customer experience to solve critical challenges faced by merchants in customer acquisition, frequency of purchase and basket size. To support its growth in the region, hoolah has chosen to partner with Perx and leverage their customer lifestyle marketing platform to deliver personalised and gamified engagements that reward customers for their actions and interactions. Stuart Thornton, CEO, hoolah said, “Perx’s…
Robo advisors in Singapore are seeing rapid growth. Robo advisors first emerged in 2008 as a result of the financial crisis. As time passed and digitalisation began to play a more prominent role in society, robo advisors grew in tandem. In fact, the assets under management (AUM) in the robo advisory segment is projected to hit US$2.845 trillion by 2025. Interestingly, a study also forecasts that the Asia Pacific market will have the highest growth rate from 2021 to 2026. What makes robo advisors attractive? Lower fee and initial investment amount, for the starters. By lowering the barriers robo advisors…
Standard Chartered Bank announced the launch of its online financial planning solution named SC Goals Planner that was developed in collaboration with Singapore-based fintech BetterTradeOff. Available on SC Online Banking and SC Mobile, users will be able to independently plan and track their financial goals through real-life simulations and insights specific to their life stages and financial status. The tool accounts for total household income, allowing clients to include loved ones in their financial plans and better take control of their finances. With SC Goals Planner, Standard Chartered clients can simulate key milestones and plan ahead which includes planning for goals…
All DBS/POSB retail customers can now access a new feature on DBS’ AI-powered financial and retirement planning tool NAV Planner, which will provide specific investment recommendations that are tailored to their investment profile. Head of Financial Planning and Personal Investing, DBS Bank said, “Our ongoing efforts to democratise access to wealth management services not only enable more people to participate in the markets, but also help mitigate their risks. We found that only one in 10 customers could successfully complete their investment journey, because they actually prefer a lot more hand holding. So with today’s launch, we are augmenting the…
ZA Tech Global Limited (“ZA Tech”), the technology venture founded by ZA International and backed by Softbank’s Vision Fund 1, has today announced the opening of its Asia Fintech Center (AFC) in Singapore, dedicated to exploring financial services innovation and helping industry partners in the region to build new products that will accelerate their digital ambitions. The AFC is a global first for ZA Tech, as the business continues to build on the vision of creating a unified technology platform that powers the future of financial services and increases access for underserved population segments. The Singapore-based Center will specialise in…
After explosive growth in the US, the craze surrounding special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, is now heading to Asia. Analysts believe that Southeast Asia, where the tech startup scene has thrived on economic growth and a need to boost financial inclusion, could very well be the next hotspot for SPAC acquisitions. SPACs are blank-check shell corporations set up by investors with the sole purpose buying and reverse merging with a private company. Their growth has so far been mostly centered around the US with US-based SPACs raising more than US$64 billion through initial public offerings (IPOs) so far this…
Fintech funding significantly picked up this year and is estimated to have reached US$15 billion in Q1’21, data from CB Insights show. In Asia, fintech investments are projected to surpass US$2.6 billion, the region’s highest quarterly total since Q1’20. Driving this growth has been the surge in mega-rounds of US$100 million and over. In the first two months of 2021, the number of mega-rounds globally and the volume of funds raised in mega-rounds set a new record. In Asia Pacific (APAC), fast-growing startups including Grab, Airwallex, GCash and MoMo, all raised mega-rounds this year to fuel their growth. To get…
Finder, a fintech firm company founded in Australia in 2006, has acquired the GoBear brand as it accelerates its global expansion. Live in over countries and servicing more than 10 million consumers globally every month, Finder is a fast growing financial comparison platform. Finder’s acquisition of the GoBear brand includes trademark and digital assets including domains, website content and social channels in seven markets: Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. The GoBear brand will continue to operate via social media and email channels, however the website content will now form part of finder.com and its local…