Author: Fintech News Singapore

ti&m is a market leader in digitalization and security products, and for innovation projects in Switzerland and the EU’s financial centers. Now, ti&m has taken its first step outside Europe. For this, it has chosen Asian financial metropolis Singapore, which excels in innovation in financial products. ti&m aims to make a significant contribution to this ecosystem with its digitalization products. The most innovative financial center in the world – ti&m is hiring locals “Singapore is one of the world’s most dynamic financial centers. Both innovative fintechs and almost all the global major banks can be found clustered in its small…

Provenir announced today the appointment of John Warren as the new General Manager for the Asia Pacific region. Provenir provides risk analytics platforms that enable customers to increase sales conversions with instant, real-time risk decisioning. Their solution is primarily focused on the financial verticals including consumer, cards, payments, e-commerce and auto financing. John is a respected senior executive, thought leader, and speaker with more than 20-years of experience in the financial services industry across the Asia-Pacific region. His wealth of knowledge and proven record of leading high-performing teams across a range of organisations. Prior to joining Provenir, John served as…

Standing shoulder to shoulder with the community, Maybank today announced that it is offering complimentary remittance services for Malaysians working and living in Singapore who have been impacted by the Malaysia Movement Control Order (MCO). All Maybank and non-Maybank Malaysian customers may visit any Maybank branch to remit funds at S$0 transfer fees to any Malaysian bank account at attractive SGD/MYR exchange rates from today till 14 April 2020. This is only applicable to individual-to-individual accounts. Mr Alvin Lee, Head of Community Financial Services and Group Wealth Management of Maybank Singapore said, “As the leading financial institution in Malaysia, it…

Corporate venture capital (CVC) funding hit an all-time high last year, with banks pouring billions into fintechs as they look to diversify and feel pressured by increasing competition. From 2014 through Q3 2019, total CVC deals by banks and other financial services companies surged 500%, according to a CB Insights report released in November 2019. In 2019 alone, financial services companies pumped US$8 billion across 329 fintech deals with nearly half (US$3.5 billion) coming from banks. In particular, Q3 2019 saw the highest deal activity on record by financial services VC. According to the report, Citi Ventures had been the…

BASIS ID will dedicate 1 million free verifications to companies from the APAC region to aid them recover from the crisis. During this difficult time, COVID-19 is restricting face-to-face contact between people, whereas the necessity to conduct customer identification and verification remains. Moreover, ensuring security of relations with the clients and partners has never been so important for SMEs. BASIS ID will support enterprises from APAC by dedicating 1 million free identity verifications. “We have made a decision to support companies in our economic region, as they still need to operate during the pandemic and require identity verification. We have…

Grab, announced today that it has strengthened its finance division by hiring corporate finance veteran, Peter Oey, as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Oey brings over 20 years of corporate financial and strategic planning experience to Grab, joining from legal technology solutions provider LegalZoom where he served as CFO for more than five years. Prior to LegalZoom, he was CFO of MyLife.com, a US consumer internet business, and spent over 12 years at Activision Blizzard in various roles including VP, Corporate Controller. Based in Singapore, Mr. Oey will report directly to Anthony Tan, Grab’s Group CEO and Co-Founder. Mr. Oey will…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), together with the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), the Life Insurance Association (LIA), the General Insurance Association (GIA), and the Finance Houses Association of Singapore (FHAS), today announced a package of measures to help ease the financial strain on individuals and SMEs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The package of financial measures complements the initiatives in the Government’s Unity Budget and Resilience Budget to preserve jobs and support enterprises and households. The COVID-19 outbreak is now global, and increasing in intensity. Stringent measures are being adopted around the world to contain the virus,…

MatchMove announced today that they have entered into an agreement with the e-commerce enabler Shopmatic to make a strategic investment into the company with immediate effect. Shopmatic is an e-commerce platform company specializing in providing turnkey solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) wanting to set-up an online store. This includes the entire ecosystem from setting up the store-front, payment, shipping and logistics integrations, selling across multiple channels including Social media and Marketplaces, to sales management and customer support. This investment will enable MatchMove to extend its ‘Banking-as-a-Service’ wallet capability to Shopmatic’s ecosystem of more than 435,000 e-commerce SMEs and…

Around the world, countries are ramping up fiscal measures and financial aid programs to respond to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. With our colleagues on the ground in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), we look today at the various initiatives and schemes these countries’ respective government have put in place to support local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Singapore Singapore has unveiled several measures to help businesses and SMEs amid the coronavirus outbreak. These measures include wage subsidies to help businesses keep their workers, deferment in income tax payments for…

Technology and digitalization are changing the way we spend, save and lend, and with more and more products and services being delivered online, cybersecurity and fraud have become a major area of concern for fintechs and the financial services industry. According to a 2019 fintech research by PwC, in partnership with the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology and Ping An Academy of Financial Security, 71% of industry participants consider data security and privacy protection to be the biggest cybersecurity issue to address, and 61% already apply anti-fraud applications, dynamic risk monitoring and user behavior analytics etc. to drive…

The coronavirus pandemic is putting a toll on the global economy at large, and although tech and digital companies, including fintechs are arguably the most prepared, they are still facing the impact in various ways. The impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic is already being felt in every nation and every industry, and has already delivered the fastest, deepest economic shock in history, experts say. Around the world, “nonessential” businesses are closing their doors, governments are issuing orders to stay inside, and people are preparing for a changing work environment. Though the disruption is certainly hard on many businesses, it…

Global digital wealth management solutions provider, InvestCloud, has announced Taryn Balthazar as EVP, Head of Distribution Asia Pacific and Australia as the firm looks to scale up its presence and delivery capabilities in APAC. InvestCloud’s Singapore appointment is a major step in the firm’s drive to build local teams across key markets throughout South East Asia. The move is designed to support product delivery and development of closer relationships with key clients and partners across the region. Having led the delivery of the largest robo-advice and digital self-select investing project for InvestCloud in the U.S., Balthazar will now spearhead InvestCloud’s…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued today an advisory to all financial institutions (FIs) in Singapore, telling them to implement safe distancing measures in all aspects of their business operations, especially customer touch points. This is part of the national effort to reduce the risk of further local transmission of COVID-19. FIs were asked to strengthen their measures to meet the latest advisory from MAS, as well as the relevant guidance issued by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Manpower and Enterprise Singapore. This will help to safeguard the health of customers and ensure the financial sector’s continued…

A new breed of digital banking is just around the corner as Singapore introduces its digital banking framework which attracted the likes of Grab, Razer, Ant Financial, Sea Group and many more to bid for the license. With growing interest from non-banks to enter into the banking space, how interested are consumers to embrace this new breed of banks? Very, according to a recent Visa study. Close to 65 per cent of Singaporeans are open to the idea of adopting a digital-only bank, according to the Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study. Based on the study, 84 per cent of Singapore…

DeeMoney, a fintech company based in Thailand specializing in digital cross-border money transfers, today announced its platform is now processing live transactions, in partnership with Ripple. DeeMoney is the first non-bank institution in Thailand to use RippleNet. As recent as January, Ripple has also successfully secured a partnership with Thai-based Siam Commercial Bank. Aside from Thailand they are also seeing success in other South East Asian countries where they have secured partnerships with Philippines’ based Azimo, and Malaysia based MoneyMatch and CIMB Bank. The Thai startup is currently using RippleNet to process inbound payments into Thailand; namely between the remittance…

In 2019, Australia’s fintech industry continued to grow and mature. By the end of the year, the country was home to 629 active fintechs, which is a 8% increase since September 2018, according to the KPMG Australian Fintech Landscape 2019. Fintech companies raised a record of US$1.4 billion through 38 deals last year, according to data from Fintech Global. Of this total, 72.8% was invested in transactions valued at or above US$100 million, or so-called mega-rounds. In 2020, local fintech companies are expected to continue witnessing strong growth, with research firm Frost & Sullivan estimating revenue to grow at a…

Grab and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) today announced a partnership to pilot Grab Ventures Ignite (GVI), a 14-week accelerator programme, for Singapore-based startups with interest to venture overseas. The Singapore pilot of GVI will focus on high potential startups with an aspiration to launch in the Vietnamese market. It will be held alongside the GVI Vietnam programme to enable startups from both countries to exchange ideas and learn from one another. The unique arrangement allows the Singapore startups to gain a better understanding of Vietnam’s culture and business context, as well as build strategic and ecosystem networks with…

AMTD Digital, the digital finance arm of AMTD Group announced that it will acquire a controlling stake of PolicyPal, a company licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the first graduate of MAS fintech regulatory sandbox, which deepens the company’s plan to build a Southeast Asian Fintech platform headquartered in Singapore. This acquisition is pending approval by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. After the acquisition, PolicyPal will become a member company under AMTD Digital, and using its digital insurance broker license granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, as well as acting as AMTD Digital’s operating vehicle to develop…

In Southeast Asia, the imminent entrance of virtual banks is set to shake up the banking industry. But despite the potential disruption these are expected to bring, incumbent banks have a lead in the digital banking race, according to a new report by S&P Global Market Intelligence. By teaming up with local partners to gain new customers, introducing innovative features and services, and streamlining the onboarding process, incumbent banks that have launched stand-alone digital outfits “are steadily acquiring an early-mover advantage,” the firm said. In Indonesia, Digibank by DBS Bank from Singapore has incorporated self-service banking solutions such as an…

Quona Capital, a venture firm focused on financial inclusion in emerging markets, today announced the final close of the Accion Quona Inclusion Fund. The Fund closed with $203 million in commitments from an array of leading investors including global asset managers and insurance companies, investment and commercial banks, as well as university endowments, foundations, family offices, and development finance institutions, significantly exceeding its $150 million target. Quona leverages a strategic relationship with Accion, a nonprofit financial inclusion pioneer, which is the Fund’s sponsor, general partner, and anchor investor. Quona focuses on scale-up stage financial technology companies that are expanding access…