Author: Fintech News Singapore

Start-ups are now able to open an OCBC business banking account in Singapore immediately after incorporation, rather than having to wait one day. This is made possible by an API between the bank and global information services provider Experian. Once a business is incorporated, OCBC Bank can, through Experian, validate the start-up’s business profile issued by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). This announcement follows their previous initiative to enable serial entrepreneurs to apply for loans with OCBC before even incorporating. Said Ms Christie Chu, Head of Emerging Business and Commercial Banking Cash, OCBC Bank, “Banks play a key…

Singapore-based BondEvalue today announced that it has been approved to enter the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Sandbox Express to launch a blockchain-based bond exchange. The platform will offer a unique proposition to reduce the minimum investment amount of bonds to US$1,000 via BondbloX. Currently, bonds are predominantly traded over-the-counter (on the phone), which makes bond prices opaque and the process inefficient. BondEvalue uses a permissioned blockchain that allows bonds to be traded electronically, like stocks. By moving bond trading to an electronic exchange, prices become transparent and trade settlement becomes instantaneous. This is a huge improvement from the traditional…

Singapore is one of the world’s largest financial markets, a position it has earned thanks to its business-friendly environment, excellent government support, easy regulation and access to specialist knowledge. And with technology rapidly changing the financial services landscape, it comes with little surprise that Singapore has been putting a lot of effort in turning itself into a top fintech hub. And it is safe to say that the city state has succeeded in doing so. Today, Singapore is home to the largest fintech startup ecosystem across Southeast Asia, recording some 490 fintech startups. Not only has it birthed some of…

Among the findings of a recent report, Fulfilling its Promise – The Future of Southeast Asia’s Digital Financial Services Industry, from Bain & Company, Google and Temasek, it shows that Southeast Asia represents one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing regions; however, around 75 percent of consumers in the region are currently underbanked or unbanked, with limited access to financial services. Digital financial services offer accessibility to this potential consumer base, given the region’s high smartphone penetration and engagement, facilitating greater customer adoption of embedded financial services. The report includes data from consumer and merchant surveys, corroborated with expert interviews…

Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending is a booming sector in Indonesia’s rapidly growing fintech industry, representing 43% of the country’s fintech companies, according to a paper by the Asian Development Bank Institute released earlier this month. In December 2018, disbursement of credit through P2P lending platforms reached IDR 22.67 trillion (US$1.62 million), a 645% year-on-year increase. These funds originated from 101 local P2P platforms that registered with the Financial Services Authority of Indonesia (OJK). Since then, the sector has continued growing, reaching IDR 41 trillion (US$2.92 billion) in May 2019, a 44% rise from January 2019. Indonesia’s healthy P2P lending sector has…

Singapore has long established itself as the leading fintech hub in South East Asia, of late it also increasingly becoming a hotbed for blockchain innovation. The city-state is home a healthy blockchain ecosystem comprising numerous players tackling areas ranging from asset tokenization, trading, and custody, to insurance, digital identity, and mobility. This is according to a new landscape map produced by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), together with Tribe Accelerator, which features notable local blockchain companies and initiatives leading the development of blockchain in Singapore. Singapore Blockchain Landscape Map The map, which categorizes blockchain startups and projects into…

London based fintech Revolut officially announced the launch of its services in Singapore today. As early as last year the company has been stating that they “are launching soon” in Singapore. Fintech News Singapore anticipated in an earlier report that Revolut’s services will be made available by 2019. According to their press release, Revolut has already secured 30,000 customers in Singapore. Singaporeans will be able to enjoy the full suite Revolut’s services which includes the ability to spend overseas in over 150 currencies at real exchange rate, remittance, budget tracking, small change investing, peer to peer payments and bill splitting.…

Singtel will expand its VIA mobile payment alliance to include OCBC Bank, the first Singapore bank to join the alliance and the second regionally, after Thailand’s KASIKORNBANK. By the first quarter of 2020, OCBC Bank customers will be able to go cashless when they travel to Thailand or Japan. The parties claim that OCBC customers will be able to make QR code payments at more than 1.7 million merchant partners on VIA’s network using the OCBC Pay Anyone app. Mr Arthur Lang, CEO of Singtel’s International Group, said, “We’re delighted to partner OCBC and welcome its OCBC Pay Anyone…

The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) announced today that the value of PayNow transactions per month has crossed the S$1 billion mark for three consecutive months since July. This significant milestone, highlights the growing ubiquity of PayNow for payment transactions among individuals and businesses. Current use cases for PayNow include utilities bill payments, tuition fee payments and insurance payouts. As consumers and businesses grow more accustomed to the real-time payment service, more compelling use cases are likely to develop and spur further growth in usage. PayNow Corporate, which was launched in August 2018 to enable businesses to pay and…

Banque Pour Le Commerce Exterieur Lao Public (BCEL), one of the biggest state-owned commercial banks in Laos, has partnered with Hong Kong mobile payments services provider Wallyt to allow Lao merchants to accept mobile payments through WeChat Pay and Alipay. Through the partnership, business customers of BCEL will be able to accept mobile payments through Chinese mobile wallets WeChat Pay and Alipay. Meanwhile, Chinese tourists will be able to pay conveniently using one of these two popular mobile payments platforms at over 10,000 merchants in Laos, including supermarkets, shopping malls, hotels and tourist attractions. Chinese visitors, which make up about…

Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission issued a statement prohibiting another batch of 13 online lending operators from further engaging in lending activities. The regulator issued an immediate cease and desist to the owners and operators from promoting and facilitating unauthorised lending activities. Under Philippines regulations, a lending company must be granted approval from the SEC to operate, and anyone found in violation of the law may face a fine ranging from 10,000 pesos (566 USD) to 50,000 pesos (2614 USD) or imprisonment of six months to 10 years or both. Authorities further found that online lending operators have gained access…

In the rapidly evolving world of fintech and digital finance, it has become imperative for professionals in the space to keep up with the latest trends. For that, a horde of events and gatherings are being organized every year around the world to help entrepreneurs, investors, corporates, academia and policymakers learn about the newest technologies and developments. The end of the year is coming up, and with that, the annual Singapore Fintech Festival, the largest fintech event in the world, as well the Hong Kong Fintech Week. But besides these two major, highly anticipated fintech gatherings, many others will also…

The market for investing is changing rapidly and incumbents are struggling to satisfy the needs and expectations of younger generations of investors, according to a report by tech market intelligence firm CB Insights. By 2030, Millennials are expected to hold five times as much wealth as they do today, controlling as much as US$20 trillion of assets globally. Their parents, the baby boomers, are set to pass down another US$30 trillion by 2050 in North America alone. Yet, when it comes to investing, Millennials and younger generations investors have expectations that differ greatly from their predecessors’ and traditional financial institutions…

UK-Based money transfer service TransferWise has confirmed that it will not be pursuing a digital banking license in Singapore. Venkatesth Saha, Head of Asia Pacific and Middle East expansion said in an interview (paywall) that they only have one focus — cross-border payments. Instead of expanding into different verticals like mortgage and lending, he expressed that there are still many problems within the FX and cross-border payments space they can solve. In line with that, TransferWise announced the launch of a Mastercard enabled multi-currency card. Dubbed as the “Borderless Account” it allows for individuals to hold, convert and send money…

Southeast Asia’s Internet economy is booming, driven by the ubiquity of mobile phones, rising Internet penetration and a growing middle class, according to a new report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company. In the e-Conomy SEA Report 2019, released earlier this month, the companies say that the region’s Internet economy has hit a new milestone, reaching US$100 billion for the first time this year, corresponding to a 39% increase from 2018. The sector is on track to hit US$300 billion in 2025, the report says. The research, which explores the most significant industry trends observed in 2019 and analyzes…

Two recent studies have found Singapore to be the world’s most prepared city for the age of artificial intelligence (AI), and the global leader in terms of smart city effort. The first research, conducted by the Oliver Wyman Forum, ranks 105 international cities in terms of their preparedness for the technological and digital disruption that will be spurred by AI. The index ranks cities on four key criteria: the quality of a city’s plan (Vision); a city’s ability to execute on forward-looking plans (Activation); the extent and quality of talent, education, and infrastructure (Asset Base); and how the interplay of…

Singapore, a global transportation, commerce and financial hub, is a dynamic business events destination that hosts some of the world’s largest conventions and business events. Consistently, the city state has been ranked as one for the top meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) destinations in the world. If you are planning on going to a business event in Singapore, here are ten hotels that should suit your needs: Studio M Hotel 3 Nanson Road Studio M Hotel is located in the heart of Singapore, minutes from Robertson Walk and close to Chinatown Heritage Center. The hotel features 360 air-conditioned…

The annual Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF), the world’s largest fintech gathering, is coming back in November for a week-long event that’s set to bring to together tens of thousands of participants representing top global financial institutions, fintech unicorns, policy makers, investors, and academia to explore the latest trends in the digital finance world. Organized by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in partnership with the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) and in collaboration with SingEx Holdings, this year’s SFF will take place from November 11 to 15, 2019, and will merge with the Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology…

One of Asia’s largest fintech events the Hong Kong Fintech Week is returning from November 4 to 8. This year’s program will cover key themes including artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, fintech in China, Greater Bay Area collaboration, and virtual banking. It is expected to attract over thousands of executives, entrepreneurs, investors and regulators from China, Asia and across the world to discuss some of the industry’s biggest trends and challenges. This year’s Hong Kong week will feature over 200 speakers representing the likes of TransferWise, Kabbage, Credit Karma, Tencent, Lufax, and Ping An, as well as investors, policymakers and academics, over…

Fintech-as-a-Service platform Rapyd obtained a Remittance licence by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The remittance licence will enable Rapyd’s corporate customers to extend remittance capabilities to their users, allowing them to send and receive money to and from over 100 countries internationally. Historically, companies wanting to deliver either traditional personal cross-border remittances or innovative solutions, such as payments to freelancers, marketplace payments, or B2B settlements, have had to build their own remittance infrastructure by signing individual bilateral agreements in the recipient countries, or rely purely on banking infrastructure to provide bank-to-bank money transfers. Rapyd’s Fintech-as-a-service platform is uniquely built…