Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) a leading provider of cyber-security solutions globally, today announced that its security researchers have discovered HomeHack – a vulnerability that exposed millions of users of LG SmartThinQ® smart home devices to the risk of unauthorized remote control of their SmartThinkQ home appliances. The vulnerabilities in the LG SmartThinkQ mobile app and cloud application enabled the Check Point research team to remotely login to SmartThinQ cloud application, take over the user’s legitimate LG account, and gain control of the vacuum cleaner and its integral video camera. Once in control of a specific user’s LG…
Author: Fintech News Singapore
Author
Read More
Voice-powered artificial intelligence (AI) for the home has become a big business for Amazon and its technology rivals Google, Apple, Samsung and Microsoft, which have all put hordes of researchers and business specialists to work, trying to build easy-to-use devices that we can talk with. Alexa is the name of Amazon’s artificial intelligence (AI) system designed to engage with human speech and first used in the Amazon Echo and the Amazon Echo Dot devices. The intelligent personal assistant is capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic, and other…
Hitachi Vantara, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501), today released its key business and technology trends for Asia Pacific in 2018. These trends are jointly predicted by Hubert Yoshida, chief technology officer, and Russell Skingsley, chief technology officer Asia Pacific. The adoption of Internet of Things (commonly referred to as IoT) platforms will dominate enterprise IT strategies in 2018, alongside a number of other areas. Yoshida and Skingsley have identified ten key trends for the Asia Pacific technology market in 2018. #1: IT will adopt IoT platforms to facilitate the application of IoT solutions image via Pixabay IoT solutions…
The two biggest productivity drains for Singapore’s small business owners are chasing overdue invoices and being paid late, according to new research from Xero, the global leader in online accounting software. Small businesses spend an average 25 days each year, or 5 workweeks, chasing overdue invoices — more time than they spend on any other single task. Xero’s research identifies key obstacles to growth and highlights the importance of finding solutions for the island’s small businesses, which the government calls “the heart of Singapore’s economy.” Late payments affect nearly every small business in Singapore, with nine out of 10 saying they…
The financial services industry in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region has seen an increase in fintech adoption fueled by the rapid adoption of technology, supportive regulatory regimes and the large population of financially underserved individuals and businesses, according to a report. The State of Fintech in ASEAN report, produced by the United Overseas Bank (UOB) in collaboration with EY provides an overview of the fintech industry in ASEAN and explores the opportunities and challenges that remain in the region. Fintech, a global phenomenon The global fintech industry attracted more than US$24 billion in investment in 2016…
Fintechnews.PH picks every Friday for you the top 5 Fintech Philippines News of the week: Here we go: Fintech for Financial Inclusion The Philippines and the rest of Asean comprise one of the world’s fastest-growing regions but many Filipinos still struggle to reap the benefits. (Read more) Fintech Rise depends on PH Internet: EastWest CEO MANILA – Financial technology solutions are “inevitable” but will not take off in the Philippines unless internet speeds improve, EastWest Bank CEO Antonio Moncupa said Friday. (Read more) PH urged to adopt Digital Payments to Realize its Cashless Journey INDUSTRY players and…
Intitial Coin Offerings or more popularly known as ICOs has seen tremendous growth and is increasingly seeing mainstream adoption by startups as a method to raise fund. In the last year year alone we’ve witnessed more than 200 ICOs with over $3.3 billion USD raised. A study conducted by FunderBeam has indicated that Singapore is the 3rd largest ICO hub in the world, and the leading hub in Asia. We’ve observer notable deals in recent times, among which, is TenX who raised 80$ million USD through its PAY tokens. In our previous article we’ve also spoken about notable ICO in 2016…
Southeast Asia is the world’s fastest-growing region in terms of Internet users. The region’s Internet economy is expected to be worth US$200 billion by 2025 with the biggest portion going toward e-commerce. Investors are also excited about fintech, which promises to bring financial services to Southeast Asia’s unbanked. Southeast Asian startups like Fastacash, Lenddo, TradeHero and Ayannah have raised millions in funding and gained international recognition. But there are also lesser-known fintech ventures that are worth keeping an eye on. Claim Di (Thailand) Bangkok-based Claim Di has developed a mobile application for facilitating communication and claims between drivers and…
DBS Bank’s managing director and chief innovation officer (CIO) Neal Cross has joined Australian fintech startup PictureWealth as co-founder, a startup in which he also is an investor. Cross is known as one of the top innovation thought leaders across the planet and was named last year the world’s most disruptive CIO/chief technology officer (CTO). Now he is involved in PictureWealth, a young fintech startup from Australia providing a personal wealth management platform. PictureWealth allows users to aggregate information such as bank accounts, expenses, cryptocurrencies and assets to build a snapshot of overall financial position. The snapshot has been dubbed…
Fintechnews.PH picks every Friday for you the top 5 Fintech Philippines News of the week: Here we go: WeChat Pay launches in Philippines with Asia United Bank MANILA – Asia United Bank said Wednesday it launched WeChat Pay in the Philippines, which will allow mobile payments from Chinese tourists. (Read more) Philippine Regulators Eye New Rules for Bitcoin Exchanges and ICOs Regulators in the Philippines are considering new rules for cryptocurrency exchanges and initial coin offerings (ICOs). (Read more) Creeping into our consciousness: Cryptocurrency in the Philippines Cryptocurrency in the Philippines is starting to be…
Robo-advisors are all the rage in the wealth management industry as banks and financial institutions around the world are looking to respond to the industry’s rapid adoption of technology, changing consumer expectations and the disruptive potential of new entrants. Even PayPal is hopping on the robo-advisor bandwagon, announcing on Monday that it has linked its platform to Acorns, a micro investing service, enabling PayPal users to make contributions to Acorns via their accounts and keep track of investments via the PayPal app. The new features rolled out to select US PayPal customers this week and will be available to all…
Singapore is a hotbed for fintech innovation. The establishment of world-class fintech hubs like 80RR, the support from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and the city’s developed financial infrastructure, have offered the right environment for fintech startups to thrive and positioned the country well to compete with other global fintech hubs such as London and Hong Kong. With over 400 fintech ventures, Singapore is home to the lion’s share of fintechs in ASEAN, hosting two in five, or 39% of the region’s fintech ventures, according to the United Overseas Bank (UOB). Singapore’s finance disruptors Singapore’s fintech startups cover a…
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released a global research project commissioned by Telstra, a leading telecommunications and technology company, which assesses the confidence of business executives in their city’s environment and its conduciveness to supporting the digital ambitions of companies. It ranks Singapore 14th for overall business confidence. The ‘Connecting Commerce’ report includes the first ever Digital Cities Barometer – a ranking of 45 cities around the world across five key categories relevant to business performance: innovation and entrepreneurship; the financial environment; people and skills; development of new technologies; and ICT infrastructure. David Burns, Telstra’s Group Managing Director of…
MatchMove Pay (MMP) announced today, the formalization of its partnership in an official agreement with PT Kresna Graha Investama Tbk (KREN) and PT M Cash Integrasi Tbk (MCAS) in Indonesia. KREN and MCAS will each own 14.81% of the MMP Indonesian business through PT MatchMove Indonesia (MMI), its subsidiary. The partnership will enrich the MMP digital cash platform through KREN’s and MCAS’ reach and capability in the Indonesian digital economy. MMP intends to leverage MCAS digital distribution networks across the nation and KREN leadership in Indonesia digital ecosystems, to supplement its existing offerings and establish market leadership in Indonesian digital…
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched a second consultation on its proposed payments regulatory framework, known as the Payment Services Bill (the “Bill”). The Bill will streamline the regulation of payment services under a single legislation, expand the scope of regulated payment activities to include virtual currency services and other innovations, and calibrate regulation according to the risks posed by these activities. Last year, MAS had sought public feedback on the scope of the proposed payments regulatory framework. MAS has considered and responded to the feedback received. When the new Bill is enacted, payment firms will only need to…
The promise of a bottom in Singapore’s office market has caused its ranking as an investment market to soar from next-to-bottom last year to third in this year’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate® Asia Pacific 2018 report, a real estate forecast jointly published by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC. After two years of declining rents caused by a sluggish economy and a glut of supply, investors believe Singapore’s commercial and residential markets is near its bottom. Office rents in Singapore have firmed probably earlier than expected, while completion of the region’s biggest office deal in September 2017 has now galvanized the local…
The Payments Council has endorsed the specification for a common Singapore Quick Response Code (SG QR) that can accept electronic payments by both domestic and international payment schemes, e-wallets, and banks. The new SG QR was developed by an industry taskforce co-led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Infocomm Media Development Authority The first of its kind globally, the SG QR includes protocols customised for Singapore, building on the QR specifications of EMVCo, a consortium of international payment schemes EMVCo sets standards that are utilised internationally by banks, merchants, processors and vendors. The SG QR optimises the number…
MIT Technology Review announced the top 10 young Innovators under the age of 35 in the region. The 10 ‘Innovators Under 35’ are given tribute annually at MIT Technology Review’s EmTech Asia conference. The list recognises the development of new technology or the creative application of existing technologies to solve global problems in industries such as biomedicine, computing, communications, energy, materials, web, and transportation. EmTech Asia’s Disruptive Innovation Partner, SGInnovate, will once again host the ‘Innovators Under 35’ segment. Steve Leonard, Founding Chief Executive Officer says, “We are thrilled to be supporting IU35 for the second consecutive year. At SGInnovate, we…
Prudential has selected three fintech startups Kyckr, Moxtra and Sqreem for its inaugural cycle of the PRU Fintegrate Partnership programme. Each of the three startups will go on to work with Prudential mentors and business teams to develop a proof-of-concept for their proposed solutions. Kyckr, Moxtra, and Sqreem were chosen from a shortlist of six finalists based on their unique value proposition, alignment with Prudential’s strategy and business requirements, and their potential to deliver a pilot successfully. This year’s programme participants were challenged with addressing one of the 19 insurance-related problem statements selected by Prudential from Singapore’s 2017 Global Fintech…
Global GDP will be 14% higher in 2030 as a result of AI – the equivalent of an additional $15.7 trillion. This makes it the biggest commercial opportunity in today’s fast changing economy according to new research by PwC. Drawing on a detailed analysis of the business impact of AI Sizing the prize outlines the economies that are set to gain the most from AI. AI will contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy in 2030, more than the current output of China and India combined. Labour productivity improvements are expected to account for over half of all economic gains from AI…