Fintechs need fintechs. In order to embed a tech company within high functioning infrastructure, it’s going to be dependent on some other services. This is good news because it saves time, money and can increase the efficiency of operations and management; but what are some of the useful service providers available to fintechs in Singapore? This article will cover just a few that can be useful for almost any type of fintech startup. Papayaglobal.com (Payroll Service) If we look at Fintech start-ups with a global footprint it’s necessary to perform accounting and payroll tasks to stay on top of legislative…
Author: Fintech News Singapore
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Asia’s banking landscape is on the verge of a major transformation as regulators introduce new rules to open up the market and welcome new digital-only, challenger banks. The following list aims to provide a comprehensive overview of Asia’s challenger banks landscape. These companies are leveraging cutting-edge technologies to allow customers to open accounts in just minutes, manage their finances through a mobile app, and get loans easily and rapidly. The list excludes digital banks wholly-owned or operated by a traditional bank. These include UOB’s TMRW Bank from Thailand, digital banks by Malaysia’s Maybank and CIMB operating in countries such as…
In Asia Pacific (APAC), #blockchain was in the top five most used hashtags around banking this year, with respondents in Malaysia being more likely than those in other countries to vote it as the most transformative of 2020, according to a new research paper by Brandwatch, a digital consumer intelligence company. In a report titled Consumer Trends for 2020: APAC Edition, the company looks at social data and results of a survey of 8,000 people across the world to determine the major consumer trends to watch out for in 2020. According to the report, blockchain was amongst this year’s top…
50% of financial authorities in Southeast Asia have developed regtech initiatives, showcasing a wider trend among regulators across the region as these increasingly turn to technology to help them adapt to the changing financial services landscape, according to a new report by the University of Cambridge. Around the world, regulatory innovation has become increasingly common. In Southeast Asia, financial regulators have begun turning to technology to address the challenge of rapidly changing financial services markets, according to a new report titled The ASEAN Fintech Ecosystem Benchmarking Study jointly produced by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at Cambridge Judge Business…
Technology is transforming all aspects of the financial services industry including asset and wealth management industry. Over the past couple of years, new companies have entered the industry offering advice based on artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, micro-investment platforms, or trading solutions based on social networks. In Asia, the wealthtech industry remains underdeveloped when compared to markets such as the US and the UK, but the region is set to leapfrog its developed counterparts, fueled by its young, tech-savvy population, a rising middle class, as well as the ubiquity of mobile. 2019 is coming to an end and we…
The Southeast Asia Internet Economy Report 2019 by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company predicts that Indonesia’s digital economy will more than triple to US$133 billion in 2025, driven largely by increasing acceptance by its more than 260 million population. In the four years between 2015 and 2019, the number of internet users in the archipelago rose from 92 million to a whopping 150 million. By Kaspar Situmorang* Rather than becoming a victim of disruption, traditional banks in Indonesia must evolve digitally if they hope to continue to be a driver of the Indonesian economy. The opportunity here for banks…
Christmas is coming in just 8 days and for those who are still looking for what to offer their geeky friends and relatives, we’ve compiled six Internet-of-Things (IoT) gadgets and smart devices they’re probably yearning for this year. All of them cost less than a hundred bucks so you won’t have to break the bank. Wyze Cam Pan Price: US$29.99 Buy on Amazon Wyze Cam Pan is an affordable indoor security camera that comes with an array of features including mechanical pan and tilt, motion tracking, as well as local and free cloud storage. With its 110°/sec rotation speed,…
SEBA Bank, an integrated bank for digital and traditional assets and licensed by the Swiss supervisory authority FINMA, is now onboarding clients from Singapore alongside 9 other jurisdictions which includes Hong Kong, UK, Italy, Germany France, Austria, Portugal and Netherlands. Just last month, Fintech News Switzerland reported that SEBA Bank went live in Switzerland. SEBA Bank describes itself as an integrated bank focused on digital assets, working as a bridge between traditional finance and the world of digital assets. It offers a wide range of services in the area of asset management, trading, custody and financing. In the near future…
Ever since Hong Kong issued 8 virtual banking licenses earlier this year, regulators around Asia are clamoring to come up with their own framework to facilitate this new breed of banks. While Hong Kong has reinvigorated Asia’s interest in virtual banks, one of the earliest instances of virtual banks was actually formed in Japan in 1999. Sakura Bank (now known as Sumitomo Banking Corporation) led a consortium consisting of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Fujitsu Ltd. and NTT DoCoMo Inc to form Japan Net Bank. Though Japan Net Bank was among the first in this space, many of the aspirants from…
Comparison platform SingSaver.com.sg announced today that they have launched instant digital insurance comparison on its platform fresh off securing a brokerage license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The platform now offers a comprehensive range of insurance products across travel, home, and maid categories spanning over 100 policies by 12 leading providers. Insurance partners at launch include AXA, Allianz, FWD, HL Assurance, Ergo, MSIG, NTUC Income, Tokio Marine, Ergo, Sompo, Allied World, and Etiqa TIQ. The platform’s new license as an insurance broker is a key milestone for the business as it diversifies beyond credit cards and personal loans. SingSaver’s new…
In Singapore, the end-of-year deadline to apply for a digital banking license is coming up, and tech companies, banks and brokerages are racing to form partnerships to meet regulators’ stiff requirements. Singapore will be issuing up to two retail and three wholesale digital banking licenses in a move aimed at boosting competition and innovation in an industry dominated by traditional players such as DBS Group, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) and United Overseas Bank (UOB). The new digital banking licenses are intended to open up the sector to online-only challenger banks that can operate at lower costs and hence offer more…
The increasing risk of data breaches, coupled with customer demand for all-digital onboarding processes, rising mobile phone penetration, and security concerns among customers, is expected to propel future global growth of technology-based identification, especially in APAC, according to a report by Jumio, a provider of end-to-end ID and identity verification and authentication solutions. In a report titled “eKYC in APAC: How to Get it Right”, Jumio addresses the merits of adopting technology-based solutions for identification, as well as know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) procedures, particularly in APAC, where fraud is on the rise. According to the report, banks in…
REGTECH100 has released its latest list of the top 100 regtech companies, among which 5 regtechs from Asia. REGTECH100 is an annual list of 100 of the world’s most innovative regtech companies. The list recognizes the next-generation of solution providers shaping the future of the compliance, risk management and cybersecurity industries. 5 regtechs from Asia were named amongst the top 100 regtechs leaders in the regulatory industry needs to know about in 2020. Centenal Headquartered in Singapore, Centenal is a fintech company providing digital operation and compliance solution for wealth managers. The company’s vision is to help the wealth…
It’s undeniable that the introduction of mobile technologies has brought about radical innovation across industries, among those that are most impacted, is the personal finance space. Though the growth of finance apps has become a global phenomenon, it is Asia-Pacific that’s leading the trend, according to a new report by mobile measurement company Adjust and mobile data and analytics platform App Annie. In report titled The Mobile Finance Report 2019, the two companies explore the state of the finance apps market, highlighting key trends while diving into how APAC is leading the world in the field. Exponential Growth in…
MIT Technology Review has announced its annual list of Innovators Under 35 for the Asia Pacific Region. This acclaimed list honours innovators making great strides in their respective fields. Selected from a pool of 200 exceptional candidates, the 2020 list is double the usual number for the APAC region. “It’s part of our ethos that technology can, and should, be a force for good,” said Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau, CEO and publisher of MIT Technology Review. “We’re excited to be expanding our pool of talented young men and women, celebrating the impact they are making in this world.” “The 20 ‘Innovators…
MVLLABS Pte Ltd (“MVL”), the company behind TADA, a blockchain-based ride-hailing service that the company claims to be zero-commission, announced today a series A investment of US$5 million led by South Korean venture capital firm, SV Investment. Two of South Korea’s largest car parts manufacturers, Central and SIMWON Inc., also participated in this funding round. The financing will be used to fund MVL’s continued expansion within its existing markets and the development of the mobility ecosystem built on MVL’s blockchain protocol. The investment will enable MVL to capitalise on the growth of TADA, its zero-commission ride-hailing product, where drivers and…
Singapore-headquartered FinAccel, a fintech firm that enables Indonesian consumers to buy online and pay later under the brand Kredivo, has raised US$90 million in a Series C equity funding round to expand in Indonesia and the region. Since inception just over three years ago, FinAccel has evaluated more than three million applications, disbursed nearly 30 million loans and created one of the largest credit-based payment platforms for ecommerce in Indonesia. FinAccel plans to use the funds to double down on growth in the region, hire talent, and expand its range of financial services dedicated to creating a generation…
With the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies estimated to be more than US$200 billion, it’s evident to industry observers that the crypto industry has been rapidly on the rise in recent times. Inevitably, with the rise, comes bad actors who see it as an opportunity profit from it in unscrupulous ways. In the first half of 2019 alone, criminals and fraudsters netted approximately US$4.26 billion, up from US$1.7 billion in all of 2018, according to CipherTrace’s Q2 2019 Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering (AML) report. With cybercrimes and fraud rising alongside the industry, cybersecurity companies are eyeing to provide services to this…
Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS) and its Malaysia equivalent, PayNet, announced today the launch of a real-time cross border payments usage of NETS ATM cards in Malaysia and vice versa. In April 2019, the joint statement by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed and Mr Lee Hsien Loong at the 9th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat articulated the goal of enabling cross-border domestic debit card acceptance between Malaysia and Singapore. With the launch today, this goal is now a reality. Since November 2018, Singapore consumers have been able to use their NETS ATM cards in Johor Bahru, marking the first time that NETS ATM…
While virtual banking is not a completely new phenomenon, discussions about it has re-entered mainstream conversation ever since Hong Kong issued 8 virtual banking license in the second quarter of 2019. In light of the growing popularity of virtual banks, MAS has also recently issued a statement saying that they are currently studying whether or not they should also start dishing out their own virtual banking license. For those who are not already familiar with the concept virtual banks as the name implies, they are fully digital banks that provides financial services to consumers through their smartphones. The conventional argument…