Author: Fintech News Singapore

Six startups from F10 Singapore’s first fintech accelerator cohort will be ready for market launch after graduating the programme. Two of those startups namely SynctacticAI and CoverGo will also undergo an accreditation programme by PwC Singapore to vet them for corporate adoption readiness. SynctacticAI and CoverGo were selected for the accreditation programme based on various criteria such as traction, potential, team composition and focus area. The selection committee consisted of senior leaders from PwC Singapore, F10 and some of its corporate partners. SynctacticAI provides a data science platform while CoverGo helps insurance businesses overcome their legacy systems to serve their…

Finastra, a financial services software and cloud solutions provider, revealed changing priorities for corporate banks in APAC and their customers over the next five years during its flagship virtual event Finastra Universe. Finastra’s research showed that corporate banks are moving away from the traditional ‘relationship builder’ approach of client interaction and management where they build wider banking relationships with clients to cross-sell additional services towards being ‘platform players’ that offer value-added services and can deliver real-time execution. The research, which gauged the views of over 700 heads of relationship, technology and product across global corporate banks, shows how their priorities…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) jointly issued a paper on managing new risks that could emerge from extensive remote working arrangements adopted by financial institutions (FIs) amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Risk Management and Operational Resilience in a Remote Working Environment” is part of the ongoing collaboration between MAS and ABS’ Return to Onsite Operations Taskforce (ROOT), to coordinate responses to the crisis and prepare for a post COVID-19 new normal. The paper highlights that, in view of the protracted remote working arrangements and the likely adoption of hybrid working arrangements in future,…

HSBC announced that it has become the first financial institution to move software firm R3’s blockchain platform Corda Enterprise onto Google Cloud. HSBC said that the move will reduce client onboarding time from months to weeks, improving the client experience and significantly reducing costs. The bank currently uses R3’s Corda technology for its Digital Vault which is HSBC’s custody blockchain platform. R3’s Corda platform enables businesses to transact directly and privately using smart contracts, reducing transaction and record-keeping costs and streamlining business operations. HSBC is pursuing using blockchain to support the custody of future digital asset classes. Shifting the Corda…

Australia is home to 733 active fintech companies, up from 629 in September 2019, reveals KPMG’s Fintech Landscape 2020 map. This represents an increase of 104 companies that joined the sector between September 2019 and December 2020. The infographic, released on December 21, 2020, provides a snapshot of the Australian fintech ecosystem, revealing several major trends that have emerged over the past year. In particular, the blockchain and cryptocurrency segment saw the strongest growth with 49 new companies being established. It’s followed by lending with the addition to 26 companies (some reclassified from the payments category since KPMG’s Fintech Landscape…

Interest in Thailand’s insurtech sector is picking up, with companies in the space closing million dollar funding rounds, incumbents ramping up digital capabilities, and foreign companies entering the market. So far, 2021 has seen two Thai insurtech companies securing funding. The two Series A rounds were closed by Muang Thai Broker (US$6.7 million), the operator of online insurance comparison platform and sales platform Gettgo, and AppMan (US$4.6 million), the operator of AgentMate, an electronic point-of-sale (POS) that digitizes the sales process of life and non-life insurance. AppMan, one of Thailand’s insurtech pioneers, said it will use the proceeds to expand…

Digital banks are proliferating in Asia on the back of favorable regulatory changes, market liberalization pushes by governments, and enhanced digital penetration by consumers. In Singapore’s digital banking race, the Monetary Authority of Singapore granted 4 digital banking licenses with SEA Group and the Grab-Singtel consortium securing the full digital banking license. Across the causeway, in Malaysia, roughly 40 parties have registered their interest in Bank Negara Malaysia’s digital banking license, the new regulatory framework is anticipated to spur massive funding rounds in Malaysia. Just last month, Vietnamese ride-hailing company Be Group launched its digital banking offering Cake in partnership…

‘Buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) adoption is set to grow exponentially in the coming years with Asia Pacific (APAC) being the key driver. A study by Coherent Market Insights estimates that the global BNPL was valued at US$7.3 billion in 2019, but is expected to reach US$33.6 billion in 2027, growing at an annual rate of 21.2% between 2020 and 2027. During the forecast period, APAC is set to be the fastest growing region owning to increasing mobile Internet users in the region. Rising interest in BNPL have pushed regulators in jurisdictions including the UK and Singapore to begin looking deeper…

As part of its regional hiring efforts, Grab expects to create around 350 new jobs in Singapore this year to support its growth plans. These include the expansion of products and services to support the digitalisation of micro SMEs, the delivery of digital financial services across Southeast Asia, as well as the development of the upcoming digibank which will be managed by a Grab-Singtel consortium. The hiring drive was announced when Grab signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Digital Industry Singapore (DISG). The MOI will see Grab working with IMDA and DISG…

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced organisations and individuals to embrace new practices and move to online channels, bringing with it a significant increase in fraudulent activities. Affirming this situation, cybersecurity firm Kaspersky recorded a 20% increase in the share of account takeover incidents in 2020 compared to the previous year. This trend comes on the back of the growing adoption of digital and mobile banking. Boston Consulting Group’s survey of 17,600 respondents last year found that 16% of those surveyed enrolled into online or mobile banking for the first time as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. One in three…

Swiss fintech NetGuardians, known for its AI-based, enterprise risk platform for combating banking fraud, announced a partnership with PwC Singapore to help banks fight fraud. With this partnership, banks in Singapore will have access to NetGuardians’ solution along with PwC Singapore’s fraud advisory and technology implementation services. NetGuardians said that its AI-based fraud solution is already being used by established Tier 1 to Tier 3 banks as well as new and emerging digital banks in Asia Pacific and across the world. The move comes as banks are increasingly offering innovative digital services to meet the needs of their clients and…

Episode Six, the global provider of modern payment processing and banking infrastructure, today announced that it has secured an additional $30 million of investment, bringing its total capital raised to $40 million. This additional funding comes nine months after the company secured $7 million of its Series A funding. Episode Six’s investors include HSBC, Mastercard, SBI Investment Co., Ltd., and Anthos Capital. Episode Six will leverage its latest investment to continue to accelerate its global expansion across all regions and key financial markets, supporting clients across a broad range of verticals. The Company will continue delivering flexible and extensible technology…

While the world continues to contend with COVID-19, with various countries now taking extreme lockdown measures, there is no doubt that many businesses have to maintain their work-from-home mandates. Critical economic sectors like banking, financial institutions, and digital financing platforms – like fintech services, e-wallets, and micro-funding, are expected to keep the economy running somehow. Many news reports throughout 2020, have shared how the workforce prefers being in a proper office environment. In contrast, an extensive research study that Singapore-based EngageRocket put out late last year had revealed that 64% of those surveyed confirmed they are more productive at home…

Fenergo, provider of digital transformation, customer journey and client lifecycle management (CLM) solutions, announced the appointment of Gary Brookes as its Head of Sales in Asia. In his new role, Brookes will spearhead growth and execute Fenergo’s cloud strategy across the Asian continent. Brookes brings with him an extensive background in driving revenue for disruptive and fast growth technology firms across Asia and Australia with sales leadership roles at Datasite, eFront and Ansarada. Brookes will look to expand Fenergo’s sales presence in Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong and will be responsible for growing and strengthening Fenergo’s partner ecosystem to boost…

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platform Afterpay will be offering its payment services to Stripe merchants through a seamless integration. The partnership enables both new and existing Stripe merchants to offer Afterpay services which allows their shoppers to pay in four installments, without the need to take out a traditional loan or pay upfront fees or interest. Stripe claims that businesses can start accepting Afterpay in minutes as there is no application, onboarding, or underwriting process to get started. Afterpay and Stripe are also extending the payment service to major e-commerce platforms with Squarespace, an all-in-one website building platform, being…

Almost all countries increased regulation of the crypto finance industry in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic provoked a significant boost of digital crimes, including money laundering, terrorist financing, online black marketing and other related criminal activity. Certain jurisdictions have already implemented the legal framework, while others are just getting ready to do so. Although even pending legislative initiatives may make a big difference in the near future of the global financial system. BASIS ID compliance team gives you an overview of the regulatory changes in crypto finance 2020- early 2021. BASIS ID is a company of the ZignSec group. The software…

MC Payment Limited announced that is now listed on the Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) Catalist, claiming to be the first digital payments company to do so. With a market capitalisation of about S$139 million, the listing of MC Payment Limited brings the total number of companies listed on Catalist to 218, with a combined market capitalisation of around S$11 billion. Headquartered in Singapore, MC Payment Limited is a fintech startup that provides merchant payment services and digital commerce enabling services, with a focus on servicing customers who are merchants in the retail, transportation and food and beverage industries. MC Payment Limited…

Pauline Sim, former United Overseas Bank’s (UOB) Senior Vice President, has joined Singaporean fintech startup Sleek as its new Head of Fintech and Strategic Partnerships. In her new role, Sim will oversee the development of financial services and digital solutions at Sleek. Through its AI-driven customer platform and automations, Sim will be leading the company’s new business verticals expansion projects. Sim started her banking career serving the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) segment, covering all aspects of banking and financing requirements that SMEs have in UOB and Standard Chartered Bank. In 2015, she was part of the team that set…

DBS is using facial biometrics for online corporate account opening for SMEs to speed up information authentication and verification. This new feature runs on the Government Technology Agency of Singapore’s (GovTech) SingPass Face Verification technology, and DBS claims to be the first bank to be deploying the technology for the business community. DBS first introduced SingPass Face Verification as a pilot for SME account opening in November 2020 and since then, more than 100 customers have used the feature. With the success of the pilot, DBS will offer SingPass Face Verification as an authentication option for all qualifying applications from…

London-based fintech unicorn TransferWise announced its rebranding to Wise and the strengthening of its Asia Pacific presence with the expansion of its office in Singapore. Originally launched in 2011 as a money transfer service for people, the company has expanded to build a cross-border payments network with a userbase of 10 million personal and business customers. The final switchover for all customers to the Wise brand will take place by March 2021. This announcement comes as Wise also strengthens its global footprint in Asia Pacific, the company’s fastest growing region, with the opening of its new, larger office space located…