Author: Fintech News Singapore

Singapore-based P2P investment network SeedIn has announced its rebranding to BRDGE. With the rebranding, BRDGE aims to better reflect the company’s mission to serve Singapore’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) not just through financial support but with the long-term aim of providing the public with opportunities to support local businesses. The announcement comes after BRDGE’s recent MOU signing with V3 Fintech looking to enhance the suite of liquidity solutions available to SMEs, and help to create awareness among SME communities on innovative ways to address liquidity challenges and funding gaps. SMEs in general are much more sensitive to economic headwinds…

Blockchain continues to mature this year as corporates move away from experiments towards the development of robust enterprise ready solutions. While 2019 revealed that blockchain is real and can serve as a pragmatic solution to business problems, 2020 saw leaders no longer considering the technology merely groundbreaking and promising, but rather perceiving it as integral to organizational innovation. Deloitte, which conducted a survey of 1,400+ senior executives and practitioners between February and March 2020, found that blockchain remains one of the top five strategic priorities in 2020. This year, the number of respondents who strongly or somewhat see blockchain as…

Despite being strong savers and reliable customers, the women’s market remain largely underserved with only 65% of women benefiting from financial services, compared to 72% of men. Though this gender gap represents a massive opportunity for fintech players, these are failing to tap into the market in a meaningful way, according to a new research by the Financial Alliance for Women. This is primarily because fintechs tend to focus on growing their user base as quickly as possible to capture investor interest when starting out, the research said. The reason for this is that men are perceived to be early…

Working over the last eight months with FinTech leaders and experts, together with global software engineers, computer graphic designers, digital artists, event and media professionals, Hong Kong FinTech Week (HKFW) will attract over 25,000 attendees from over 70 economies and present you the most awaited industry event with exceptional virtual content and business networking experience. What to expect from this year’s most awaited industry event Hear from some of the greatest minds on the planet Probably there was never such a strong lineup of any FinTech event with over 350 Global CEOs, founders, investors and regulators joining from over 35…

DBS Bank has launched real-time online tracking of cross-border collections for its global corporate clients. Powered by SWIFT Global Payments Innovation (gpi), more than 240,000 DBS corporate and SME clients in Singapore and Hong Kong are said to benefit from the real-time, online tracking of their cross-border payments and collections, for no additional fee. Raof Latiff, Group Head of Digital for Institutional Banking, DBS Bank said, “The importance of enabling real-time tracking of cross-border payments and collections amid the landscape we operate in today cannot be underplayed as it helps businesses improve their working capital management and fosters trust with…

Key Discussion Points: Evolution of the Malaysian investment landscape Emergence of alternative investment products Navigating the future of wealthtech in Malaysia Panelists Aaron Tang, Country Manager Luno Wong Kah Meng, CEO Funding Societies Sam Shafie, CEO & Co Founder pitchIN Chan Ken Yew, Head, Quant & AI Trading Solutions, Kenanga

With only 30% of adults in the Philippines having bank accounts are virtual banks the right answer for financial inclusion? We were invited by Finastra to moderate their webinar, which was joined by Microsoft, RCBC, and CIMB Philippines. Speakers: Vijay Manoharan, CEO of CIMB Bank Philippines Angelito Villanueva, EVP, Chief Innovation Officer and Inclusion Officer, RCBC Shweta Jain, Director, Retail Banking Product, Finastra Basudev Banerjee, Industry Executive, Financial Services, Microsoft

Mastercard has teamed up with IDEMIA, provider of identity-related security services, and MatchMove, a Singapore-based fintech, on their first pilot in Asia for a biometric card that uses fingerprints to authorise transactions at in-store payment terminals. The smart card named F.CODE Easy, is intended to mimic the intuitive experience of biometric authentication of a smartphone. It is said to make transactions more convenient, safe and secure by eliminating the need for the cardholder to provide a PIN number or signature, thereby reducing touch points in public places. Developed by IDEMIA in accordance with Mastercard’s technical and design specifications, F.CODE Easy…

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore businesses are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to manage consumer credit risk and deal with economic uncertainties, according to a new research by information services company Experian. Experian, which surveyed 3,000 consumers and 900 executives working in retail banking, e-commerce, consumer technology and telecommunications, found that COVID-19 has accelerated adoption of digital solutions. Singapore organizations in particular are embracing AI and ML at a much faster pace than their international peers, with 78% of organizations already using AI to cope with today’s marketplace unpredictability while 79% are leveraging ML. These are…

Social media platform and messaging app LINE has launched LINE BK which is powered by KASIKORNBANK, for the first “social banking” platform in Thailand. LINE’s push into financial services in Thailand is far from its first, in Taiwan, LINE was among one of the three approved by the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan to operate a virtual bank. This new platform allows customers to transfer money, open savings accounts, apply for loans as well as make payments from the LINE app. LINE BK can be found under the Wallet Tab in the LINE app where users can sign up, open…

Home to more than 2,100 fintech companies, India is one of the world’s largest fintech markets, after the US, China and the UK. Despite the massive disruption brought by COVID-19, fintech companies remain bullish on the long-term growth prospect of the industry. India’s fintech startup landscape counts 405 companies in payments, 365 in lending, 313 in wealthtech, 173 in personal finance management, 111 in insurtech, and 58 in regtech and cybersecurity, according to a research paper released in July by Medici. Most of these startups are located in Bengaluru (447) and Mumbai (437), which, between them two, represent 40.6% of…

Payments issuer processor, Global Processing Services (GPS) has secured an investment from strategic partner, Visa. Backed by UK growth private equity firm, Dunedin, this strategic investment will help accelerate GPS’ global expansion, following its success in launching new fintechs and digital banks in Europe and South East Asia, including Revolut and Starling Bank. Joanne Dewar, Chief Executive Officer at GPS, commented: “This strategic partnership with Visa is a fantastic step in the GPS growth journey, providing both recognition as a trusted and proven processing provider and further extends our reach. We have great relationships with Visa around the world and…

Silent Eight, Singaporean regtech startup leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), completed a new round of early-stage funding bringing the company’s total capital raised to US$15 million. The investment round was led by OTB Ventures, VC firm investing in technology businesses originating from Central and Eastern Europe. It was supported by Koh Boon Hwee, Chairman and General Partner of Altara Ventures, and SC Ventures – the innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm of Standard Chartered Bank. All are existing investors of the company. This round of investment is said to have doubled Silent Eight’s valuation from the company’s 2019 Series A funding,…

bolttech, an insurtech company that is a part of the Pacific Century Group, announced its expansion into South Korea through the launch of its partnership with LG U+, one of South Korea’s telecommunications carriers. LG U+’s customers around the country can now benefit from bolttech’s protection for their mobile devices through the switch service ‘My Phone Switch’. bolttech’s entry to South Korea represents its 13th market across 3 continents which includes Austria, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States. Rob Schimek, Group Chief Executive Officer at bolttech, said, “South…

The Libra Association, an independent member organization developing a blockchain-based payment system, appointed Ian Jenkins as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Risk Officer of Libra Networks. Libra Networks, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Libra Association, will manage the operations of the licensed Libra payment system. “I am excited to join the Libra Networks leadership team at a time when innovation in the financial sector has the potential to empower billions of people worldwide. The Libra project is poised to transform the industry and I am looking forward to being part of this team.” said Ian Jenkins, Chief Financial Officer…

In Singapore, open banking developments may be a bigger disruption to traditional banks than digital banks, says DBS. The addressable loan market for Singapore’s upcoming digital banks is estimated to be worth between S$220 and S$243 billion, but despite the market potential, DBS analyst Rui Wen Lim believes that open banking developments will have a much bigger impact on the traditional banking sector than digital banks over the medium term. Singapore’s new digital banks will likely have to put in the effort to acquire and develop meaningful customer stickiness to turn a profit, considering that Singapore is a relatively small…

Experian, a consumer financial data service provider, has partnered with Standard Chartered to drive financial access across key markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East by leveraging the “latest technology innovation” in credit decisioning. Without enough credit bureau data for financial institutions to determine their creditworthiness, especially in this time of unprecedented volatility, many underbanked communities are facing difficulties securing access to loans. The collaboration involves Experian’s global decisioning solution, PowerCurve® Strategy Manager, integrated with machine learning capabilities that will enable deployment of advanced analytics to help organisations make the most of their data. This machine learning capability is…

In Asia Pacific (APAC), adoption of digital payments has been on the rise over the past couple of the years but COVID-19 has significantly accelerated consumers’ shift towards digital commerce with no signs of turning back. This rapidly evolving payment landscape is bringing new security risks companies must consider and address. Consumers shift to digital In the Philippines, digital payments have soared since the country’s quarantine restrictions have been the world’s longest after being first imposed in March 2020. The country’s largest provider of mobile money services, GCash, reported in May 2020 that the total amount of payments through its…

Thunes, a Singaporean cross-border payments network, announced that Tamer El-Emary has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer. This is a new, strategic role at the company, and the appointment follows a recent financing round raising US$60 million, which sees Thunes continuing to grow its business and expand its product offering. El-Emary brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in driving growth and strategic alliance activity at companies such as Mastercard and American Express in London and New York. In his most recent role as Chief Commercial Officer at WorldRemit, he led the expansion and optimisation of the company’s global…

Hashstacs (also known as STACS), a Singaporean fintech company focusing on blockchain solutions, announced its partnership with Swiss EFG Bank (EFG) to co-develop a blockchain platform that will enhance and simplify the processes of structured products. Dubbed “Project Nathan – Smart Structured Products”, it is a collaboration between STACS and EFG, which aims at using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to automate and manage the entire lifecycle of a structured product. The Nathan platform comprises the underlying STACS blockchain and smart contracts, and a business application with an intuitive user interface. The Nathan platform was awarded the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s…