Author: Fintech News Singapore

Across Asia-Pacific (APAC), regulators are opening up their markets to new entrants that promise to transform the traditional banking model. By leveraging digital platforms and cutting-edge technologies, virtual banks aim to offer more affordable and convenient banking services, and reach the unbanked and traditional underserved markets. But as virtual banks are poised to transform the banking sector, their arrival is also introducing new risks related to cybersecurity and identity fraud, according to a new report by Jumio, an online payments and identity verification company. Cybersecurity risks and fraud on the rise In a report titled How eKYC is Streamlining Digital…

Today, Standard Chartered launched its “Banking as a Service” solution, nexus. Through nexus, digital platforms and ecosystems like e-commerce, social media or ride hailing companies, will be able to offer loans, credit cards and savings accounts co-created with the bank to their customers under their own brand name. This follows a trend of banks turning to banking-as-a-service as they push for a platform strategy. Industry observers have pointed out that in order to be competitive in 2020, the platform business model has become imperative for banks and financial institutions alike. Standard Chartered is starting off with a major e-commerce platform…

PropertyGuru, an online property marketplace announced today its expansion into home finance with PropertyGuru Finance. In their media statement to proptech firm said its goal is to PropertyGuru aims to help Singaporeans save money and experience a smoother journey in financing their home. PropertyGuru Finance claims that this platform will offer the best mortgage rates, digital tools that will help property buyers make smart financing decisions, and independent, personalised advisory for better long-term benefits. Announcing the launch, Bjorn Sprengers, Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Fintech, said, “Over the years, we have learnt that the excitement of finding one’s dream home,…

Wirecard is entering into a payments partnership with Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading super app, that will see Wirecard process transactions made via the GrabPay e-wallet, starting with the Malaysian, the Philippines and the Singapore markets. Through this partnership, Wirecard will process card transactions for GrabPay via its digital financial commerce platform and will extend GrabPay to more merchants to expand the acceptance of the mobile payment method. “We are proud to partner with Grab, a Southeast Asian icon,” commented Georg von Waldenfels, Executive Vice President Group Business Development at Wirecard. “Together, we aim to continue disrupting the payment, tech and…

In what was another record-breaking year, investments in the UK tech sector soared to £10.1bn ($13.2 billion) in 2019, according to latest industry figures – a £3.1bn increase on 2018’s very strong figures and the highest level in UK history. Research prepared for the Digital Economy Council by Tech Nation and Dealroom.co shows that between January and December, UK companies secured a third of the £30.4bn raised during the year in Europe. UK tech sector growth outstrips US and China The number of rapidly growing UK tech companies soared as venture capital investment increased by 44%. Growth in VC investment exceeded 40%…

FWD Group (“FWD”)  announced the appointment of Khor Kee Eng as CEO of FWD Singapore, subject to regulatory approval. Kee will helm the development of FWD Singapore to strengthen the Group’s position as a digital insurer. Kee will report to the Board of Directors for FWD Singapore. He succeeds previous FWD Singapore CEO Abhishek Bhatia, who will transition to a new Group role as Chief Officer of New Business Models at FWD to focus on growing the digital direct-to-consumer business across the company as well as enhancing the structuring and execution of FWD’s digital partnerships and investments. Rob Schimek, FWD…

ICC has launched the Digital Trade Standards Initiative (DSI) – a collaborative cross-industry effort to enable the standardisation of digital trade. The ICC Digital Trade Standards Initiative (DSI) will build on work done by various like-minded initiatives, many of which aim to digitise trade, notably through the development of open trade and technology standards to promote interoperability. The ICC DSI will promote greater economic inclusion through the development of open trade standards. This will facilitate technical interoperability among the variety of blockchain-based networks and technology platforms that have entered the trade space over the past two years. “Universal standards will…

EMQ, a global financial settlement network, today announced that it is augmenting its footprint across Southeast Asia with direct connectivity to Singapore’s Fast and Secure Transfers (FAST) network and extensive bank coverage across Malaysia. This will provide global businesses with enhanced coverage for the growing digital payments ecosystem in the region. “As the digital transformation journey continues in Southeast Asia, enterprises today are increasingly international in scale to capitalize on the cross-border business opportunities. It is fuelling the explosive growth in digital payments, which is expected to exceed $1 trillion by 20251. Hence, the ability to make and receive cross-border…

Zurich Singapore has crowned Symbo the winner of the Zurich Innovation Championship 2020 – Singapore Round. Symbo’s winning pitch revolves around a digital insurance pilot for the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) segment. The pilot features a full technology-stack solution to streamline the insurance lifecycle from end-to-end. SMEs will enjoy a seamless digital experience from customer onboarding to claims. Mr. Reginald Peacock, CEO of Zurich Singapore, said: “As a global organization with more than a century behind us, innovation is a big part of Zurich Group’s strategy in evolving – delivering better products, services and customer care. We are excited…

FXC Intelligence, a financial data company, has released its selection of the world’s top 100 cross-border payments companies for 2020. According to an Accenture report, the overall value of cross-border payments reached US$23.6 trillion in 2018, and is projected to grow to US$24.8 trillion in 2019. Cross-border payments are expected to rise by 5.6% per year, driven both by retail (C2C, C2B, B2C) and corporate payments. For the list, FXC Intelligence focused on companies with a certain scale, an established customer base, and which are not startups. These companies also either have cross-border payments as their primary activity or have…

Oriente, the technology and data science company creating opportunity through financial access for Southeast Asia, announced today that it has secured a US$20 million debt funding facility from Silverhorn Group, a leading Hong Kong-based multi-asset investment firm. The facility, which can increase up to US$50 million, will be used to grow Oriente’s loan book and extend the reach of its fPay Later solutions to millions consumers and micro-enterprises in the Philippines. This new funding helps accelerate Oriente’s commitment to expand financial access  through its fintech platform in the Philippines (www.cashalo.com), that has grown over 20% MoM since its launch. In…

Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB), one of Vietnam’s leading commercial banks, has announced it will adopt Mambu’s cloud-native banking platform as its key technology solution to help the business undergo a radical digital transformation. MSB plans to launch Vietnam’s first digital bank by the end of 2020. Mambu’s composable banking platform will underpin MSB’s move to digital as the business aims to be the first to market with a cloud-based bank offering in the region. Mambu’s pure SaaS technology will be a critical tool to enable flexibility as MSB seeks to better understand customer needs and provide superior…

In 2020 and onward, an increasing portion of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Southeast Asia will turn to non-traditional financial sources for their financial needs. These sources of funding will need to be available “on-demand” to enable entrepreneurs to respond to opportunities and threats that quickly arise, according to a new study by GrabFinance, in partnership with Bloomberg. In a new survey-based study, titled SMEs in a New Decade, New Economy, GrabFinance and Bloomberg Media share findings from a research that sought to understand and capture the views and aspirations of 600 respondents from MSMEs in Singapore, Malaysia,…

Investment in Australia’s fintech sector smashed previous records in 2019, jumping to US$1.913bn spurred by the acquisition of Property Exchange (PEXA) and the US$280 investment in neobank Judo, according to the Pulse of Fintech H2’2019, a bi-annual report on global and regional fintech investment trends published by KPMG. The report tracks venture capital, private equity and mergers & acquisitions across global fintech markets and shows that Australia bucked the global investment trend, which saw 2019 fall just shy of 2018’s record with US$135.7bn invested across 2,693 deals. Notable venture capital deals in Australia included neobank Athena’s US$43.4 mil Series C…

Onchain Custodian (ONC), the Sequoia-backed digital assets custody service provider headquartered in Singapore, has just released the next version of its SAFE™ platform, integrating cryptography services on an infrastructure securely hosted by IBM. The digital asset custody SAFE™ platform complements its cold storage offering with a wallet management service underpinned by the IBM Cloud™ Hyper Protect Crypto Services. IBM Cloud™ Hyper Protect Crypto Services allows for secure key generation and protection of key by taking advantage of the industry’s first and only FIPS 140-2 Level 4 1 certified Hardware Security Module (HSM) available in the cloud, which means that it’s…

OCBC announced today that they have enabled instant car loan approvals, according to their statement, when customers apply for a car loan with OCBC, they can now get it approved within 60 seconds. This service is made possible by a digital solution that leverages the national data repository – MyInfo – and OCBC Bank’s proprietary real-time KYC and credit assessment system to simplify a process that traditionally take a few working days. A total of 11 authorised car distributors, which together account for the majority of car purchases in Singapore, will use the new car loan approval process by March…

In its Open Banking APAC report, released earlier this month, the EPAA provides an overview of developments in the region and shares findings from a survey of industry participants and experts from APAC. Unlike the regulator-led approach in the European Union (EU), the approaches to open banking in Asia-Pacific (APAC) have been more diverse with development and adoption varying greatly between countries across the region, according to a new report by the Emerging Payments Association Asia (EPAA), an pan-Asian payments association. According to the report, like in the rest of the world, open banking has arrived in APAC but in…

In Asia, consumers’ tech-savviness, the rise of fintech, and advances in technology are requiring banks to reinvent themselves, according to a new report by McKinsey. In a paper titled Future of Asia Banking: How Asia is reinvesting banking for the digital age, McKinsey explores the current status of Asia’s banking industry and shares recommendations for banks in the digital age. Asia’s changing banking landscape According to the paper, Asia has been the world’s largest regional banking market for a decade, but is now preparing for consolidation with revenue growth already slowing and margins thinning. In addition to these headwinds,…

In a new report released by S&P Global Market Intelligence earlier this month, the financial information services provider says that for both new digital banks and incumbent banks, affiliation with technology platforms serving large pools of consumers and small businesses “could be key to [their] future.” For branchless digital banks, partnering with e-commerce companies could be “the quickest way to gain scale” because these platforms are already linked to many consumers and merchants. The prospect is especially attractive for digital banks in Southeast Asia where e-commerce sales in the region’s six largest economies are projected to grow to US$79.29 billion…

Regulators from Thailand and Cambodia announced earlier the launch of an interoperable payment QR code between the two countries. Cambodian tourists visiting Thailand will now be able to use the mobile payment app to scan QR codes in Thailand, whereas Thai tourists should expect to be able to scan QR codes in Cambodia by the third quarter of 2020. Commenting on the collaboration Dr. Veerathai Santiprabhob, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, said: “The development of interoperable infrastructure which connects payment systems of Cambodia and Thailand will benefit our people of both countries by allowing them to make cross-border payments…