Author: Fintech News Singapore

Hong Kong will be hosting its third annual Hong Kong Fintech Week from October 29 to November 02, 2018. Hong Kong Fintech Week 2018 is set to be the world’s first cross-border fintech event that spotlights the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Hong Kong Fintech Week 2018 will run from October 29 to November 01 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, before moving to Shenzhen on November 02. Regulators, investors, academics and more than 200 fintech founders will be among the 8,000 attendees set to come to the event. Hong Kong Fintech Week 2018 is presented by InvestHK…

If you live in Singapore, it’s an open secret that a lot of business happens over social media like WhatsApp or WeChat, rather than through official channels. They are often a more casual channel where one can more easily build rapport, and where business deals can be more easily greased along in a relaxed setting. Particularly in Southest Asian countries, even Forbes has noted that the ubiquity of chatting apps like Line, Wechat and Facebook Messenger in the region has helped it reign supreme in business deals—with these companies are actively working towards keeping things this way. Seeing this as an…

Credit Suisse is using the face of its global ambassador and tennis superstar Roger Federer to promote its Digital Private Banking, including the partnership with Singapore fintech company Canopy. Federer signed a 10-year deal with Credit Suisse in 2009 to be the bank’s global brand ambassador. The tennis star has been featured for general marketing of Credit Suisse’s Digital Private Banking platform in Asia, which since last year includes Canopy, an automated account aggregation platform and reporting solution. Credit Suisse signed a partnership deal with Canopy, formerly Mesitis, in early 2017 to provide the bank’s clients with access to the startup’s platform.…

In the last five years, Vietnam has witnessed the establishment of over 40 new fintech companies, such as online payment platforms Moca or MoMo, as well as the country’s first digital banking platform Timo, highlighting Vietnam’s nascent yet rapidly growing fintech industry. Experts have pointed out the huge potential of fintech in Vietnam, citing the country’s large population of unbanked, growing middle class, and high mobile and Internet penetration rates. To keep up with Vietnam’s burgeoning fintech industry, here are fintech influencers in Vietnam to follow closely: Nguyen Nguyen, CEO and Founder at Trusting Social Linkedin Nguyen Nguyen is…

Marking our country’s 50 years of diplomatic relationship with Russia, two MOU were signed at the Russian Singapore Business Forum. The forum was attended by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and MAS Chairman Tharman Shanmugaratnam alongside Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov. One of which is signed between The Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) and Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF) to strengthen the connection between Singapore and Russian startup ecosystems and drive global innovation through joint initiatives. Following that, Enterprise Singapore signed an MOU with the Russian Export Centre, Skolkovo Foundation and Sistema Asia Capital to encourage the expansion of Russian…

Distributed ledger technologies (DLT) are set to play a critical role in reducing the worldwide trade finance gap, lowering barriers and improving processes, according to a new study by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Bain & Company titled Trade Tech – A New Age for Trade and Supply Chain Finance. International trade and global value chains are critical for both the wealth of nations and the reduction of geopolitical tensions. Yet, archaic processes are posing a major obstacle for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and trade with emerging markets. Applying smart tools and technologies to transform paper-based documentation into…

Singapore has shown massive support for the Belt and Silk Road initiative by the more recently economically open Chinese government, which has impacted many industries in Singapore including fintech. And Singapore has been quite cosy with the Chinese government in making these goals happen. Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng made a three-day visit to Singapore starting from September 19, at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean. Both parties co-chaired the 14th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting, a forum between Singapore and China. Here’s what they agreed on: 1. Promote More Use of…

After setting up base in Singapore end of last year, Lu International, a Singapore-based subsidiary of China’s Lufax, launches their first product—a wealth management platform. Lufax was set up in 2011 by Ping An Insurance Group, a diversified holdings company mainly dealing in insurance, banking and financial services. While the parent company is known for its Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending business, Lu Global’s focus today is characterised as premium wealth management products, some which accept values lower than USD1,000 (SGD 1.4K). With varying entry barriers. At present, there are 15 products on the platform, comprising a mixture of open-ended and closed-ended funds.…

Singapore Fintech Festival 2018 is just two months away, and this year, the multi-day fintech event promises to be even bigger, better and jammed packed with even more exciting activities. In 2017, the Singapore Fintech Festival was attended by more than 30,000 participants from 100 countries including 160 global leaders from central banks and regulatory agencies, financial institutions, venture capital (VC) firms, and fintech companies speaking on 4 separate stages at the fintech conference. The 2018 edition of the Singapore Fintech Festival conference, from November 12 to 16, 2018, will see expanded themes, more breadth in dialogues and discussions, as…

Maybank Singapore teams ups with Malaysia-based fintech company Financio to offer customers invoices attached with dynamic QR Code that embeds the company’s UEN, payer name, invoice number and payment amount, using the Maybank PayNow system. The goal is to allow business owners to more easily utilise Singapore’s PayNow service for payment collections from their retail customers, in a bid to reduce human error and more convenient business bookeeping. Among the types of businesses that Maybank targets with this new QR code are private schools, tuition and enrichment centers, service subscriptions, insurance companies and all SMEs that serve end consumers. Maybank also sees…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued a warning about fraudulent websites soliciting bitcoin investments using fudged comments that they’ve attributed to MAS Chairman and Deputy Prime Minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Screenshots of the website depict fake articles that are circulated across social media, making false claims about Tharman investing “$1 billion for all Singapore residents” and urging readers to “use HIS method to become rich in just 7 days!”. The “article” has also stolen logos from BBC World News, Daily Mail, Tech in Asia, CNN and Straits Times to appear more legitimate. According to a MAS statement: “The website’s…

UiPath, an Enterprise Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software company, has closed its series C funding raising $225 million at a valuation of $3 billion. The round was co-led by existing investor CapitalG and new investor Sequoia Capital Accel, which led both UiPath Series A and B rounds also participated in this round. UiPath is likely to be the fastest growing enterprise software company in history. The company announced in early July that it had increased its annual recurring revenue from $1M to $100M – a feat which it believes no other enterprise subscription software business has accomplished in such a short time. UiPath counts more than 1,800…

This seems to be an exciting time to be in Singapore’s fintech. Between the Monetary Authority of Singapore unveiling its multi-nation open API, and the SGQR, the fintech scene in Singapore begins its evolution into its next phase. One of its key areas of focus for the central authority has been artificial intelligence, while the industry has been experimenting with how this sphere could merge with the now sexy blockchain technology. SGInnovate seems to echo these sentiments with their two latest announcements. Launching Blockchain Developer Study Programme with Kingsland University & Ngee Ann Polytechnic SGInnovate partners up with Kingsland University…

Jupiter Chain, a Singapore-based data exchange platform utilising blockchain, has partnered up with Deloitte to create a Southeast Asian data exchange platform. The platform would serve as a fully transparent avenue for businesses to monetise their data. The partnership, using Jupiter Chain’s blockchain solutions along with Deloitte’s technology and regulatory risk management services aims to improve business capabilities in the areas of technology, risk, governance, compliance and regulation. Both companies see this style of exchange as the next wave of data mining, in the wake of recent scandals involving unauthorized use of data and stricter regulations around the ownership and portability…

Singapore has aspirations towards becoming a fintech hub in the ASEAN region, and global eyes have been raptly observing the island nation’s progress. Singapore is said to be welcoming of outside talents if they have a good idea to elevate the local scene, and more recently has made a heavy push towards artificial intelligence and machine learning, which is in line with where the global fintech scene is headed. In gearing up towards their fintech status, Singapore’s fintech has seen two major moves almost concurrently: 1. MAS Finally Launches Their Universal QR Code Since the clutter of competing e-wallets filling up…

Leaders in blockchain technology are only three weeks away from assembling in Nusa Dua, Bali for Asia’s pre-eminent summit on blockchain technology promising to change traditional industries and forge new ones, in the same week as the annual meetings of IMF and World Bank also this year in Bali. This summit is being organized jointly by the Indonesian Blockchain Association (ABI) and XBlockchain. It will cover similar themes, such as international wealth transfers and financial inclusion to the IMF-WBG but it will be devoted to exploring real-world instances of the application of blockchain, which has been heralded with vast potential.…

DNV GL has launched a digital hub in Singapore as part of the transformation of the oil and gas, maritime and energy industries toward digitalization, including increased cyber security and smart infrastructure. The new Singapore hub is called Digital Consulting and Smart Cities, and will include three teams covering smart cities, cyber security, and digital development – including support for DNV GL’s open industry platform Veracity. The digital hub, part of DNV GL – Digital Solutions, is set up to work closely with local and regional authorities and industry players to improve the performance of assets and infrastructure and to increase…

The emergence of fintech has driven the introduction of new business models, including peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, a sector that’s grown in popularity around the world for its ability to fill the void left by traditional lenders. Alternative marketplace lending or P2P lending refers to a non-traditional form of lending money. It is in contrast with the traditional lending method, where the bank or other financial institution offer loans to individuals or small and medium businesses (SME). Instead, P2P operates through an online platform that matches lenders with borrowers, promising lenders higher returns than a savings account or other investments, and…

NEXT Future Transportation, the world’s only modular electric vehicle solutions provider, announced a groundbreaking automated logistics solution for Smart and Connected Cities: NEXT is proud to announce the introduction of its fully automated multiservice ‘online-to-offline’ (O2O) platform, including a modular vehicle solution and the supporting operating system required to bring an ecosystem of logistics services to market at scale. “To date, NEXT has entirely focused on creating innovative solutions for the municipal mass transportation market. Today NEXT enters the global USD $2.3 trillion e-commerce market, which is driving a rapid transformation of the traditional retail supply chain,” said Emmanuele Spera,…

Ambi Labs, the makers of a smart AI-enabled air-conditioner (AC) control, Ambi Climate, announces its newest feature: Multi-User Geolocation. Basically, the Multi-user Geolocation feature eliminates hassle and worries. Homeowners with Ambi Climate devices can now come home and automatically have the perfect AC settings. They can also go out without worrying about whether they or the next person who leaves the house will turn off the AC or not. Ambi Climate’s geolocation features allow automatic switching on and off one’s AC based on the location of the owner’s phone relative to the location of the device. With the correct set up of…