Author: Fintech News Singapore

The past few years have seen the introduction of the fintech sandbox from regulators around the globe. Singapore introduced its version of the fintech  sandbox in June 2016, and since then there were more than 30 application from fintech startups to test their innovation. Since the launch, we’ve seen one applicant graduate from the regulatory sandbox. In August 2017, PolicyPal was the first to graduate from the sandbox. The company is a digital insurance broker that enables customers to manage and purchase their insurance policies through its app. The graduation from the sandbox means that PolicyPal is now a licensed…

As one of the earlier observers of the Fintech Singapore space, the speed in which is has grown is simply breathtaking. In a short span of these few years the regulators, investors and fintech community have jointly worked together towards creating a very vibrant landscape for the Singapore’s Fintech ecosystem. As we approach the end of 2017, it seems like a good opportunity to see how far we’ve come as an ecosystem. We’ve compiled and mapped the “Singapore Fintech Map” consisting of homegrown Singaporean fintech companies and overseas players currently operating in Singapore. We’ve also created maps for Malaysia, Philippines,…

Lithuania is set to boost innovation for financial technology (“FinTech”) companies as Britain’s upcoming exit from the European Union (“EU”) intensifies the race for alternative trading hubs in the region. The Bank of Lithuania has shaped a new regulatory framework for overseas businesses in its local fintech sector. Incentives include a rapid licensing regime – developed for tech firms to trade in the tightly regulated EU market – that processes e-money licence applications within three months, thrice as quickly as other European countries. This makes it the easiest jurisdiction in which to apply for such licences. Asian businesses are eyeing…

Organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), in partnership with The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) and in collaboration with SingEx Holdings, the second edition of the Singapore FinTech Festival kicked off today. The week-long event promises to provide a platform for connection, collaboration and co-creation for the FinTech community around the world. More than 25,000 participants from over 100 countries will be attending this year’s Singapore Fintech Festival. A new feature this year is the Investor Summit or “Deal Day”, which will provide an opportunity for Singapore-based FinTech start-ups to access funding from a variety of local…

Twenty innovative and market-ready solutions to solve problem statements collected from the financial services industry. The Singapore Fintech Festival features 20 finalists from 4 focus areas: Financial Inclusion, Customer Facing, RegTech and General FINANCIAL INCLUSION CUSTOMER FACING ERNIT AID:Tech Alternative Circle Moxtra Confirmu PayKey ftcash Smartfolios MyCash Online SnapCheck REGTECH GENERAL Kyckr APIAX Dathena Lingua Custodia Solus Connect Mercurien Trunomi Prive Services VoxSmart SQREEM Catch their 5-minute pitches on Thursday, November 16, 9:30AM – 12:30PM at Festival Stage, Singapore EXPO Featuring an Esteemed Panel of Judges Featured image via http://www.fintechfestival.sg/hackcelerator/

Singapore Fintech Festival returns this year to bring together fintech players, policy makers, financial industry leaders, venture capitalists, investors, tech entrepreneurs and academics for a week-long event dedicated to fintech and digital finance. The second edition of the Singapore Fintech Festival, organized by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in partnership with the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) and in collaboration with SingEx Holdings, will be held in the city-state from November 13 to 17, 2017, and will build on the success of the inaugural festival in November 2016 which drew more than 13,000 participants from across 60 countries.…

Fintechnews.PH picks every Friday for you the top 5 Fintech Philippines News of the week: Here we go: BSP launches payments system PESONet The central bank launched on Wednesday its electronic fund transfer (EFT) payments system which would enable individuals to digitally transfer funds to any bank in the network within the same banking day. (Read more) Philippines poised for shift to cashless payments A young population and a fast-growing economy will help the Philippines shift to cashless transactions, a digital payment service provider said Friday.(Read more) Philippine banks face tougher cyber rules The Central…

In 2016, countries in Southeast Asia began significantly exploring the potential of the Internet-of-Things (IoT). While most have just started with the technology or tested out components, countries such as Singapore have taken a leading position, setting up dedicated innovation labs and rolling out pilot projects. Singapore’s Smart Nation The IoT refers to Internet-connected physical devices, objects, vehicles, buildings and other items, which are able to collect and exchange data using embedded sensors. These stand-alone Internet-connected items create a network in which they can “communicate” to one another, and which users can monitor and/or control from a remote location. For…

Brookings Institution has released a new report ranking global cities in terms of their public safety innovations at Huawei Asia Pacific Innovation Day 2017 validating the Singapore Safe City Initiative that was launched in 2014. The report examines the ways digital technology, mobile networks, and integrated solutions help authorities in 17 global cities manage public safety and law enforcement. The report cites Singapore emerged as the safest city of the 17 cities it studied. The report reveals that there are considerable variations in safe city innovation from city-to-city, based on implementation progress and adoption of best practices. Singapore, Copenhagen, London…

Every week, we bring you the most important IoT news from Asia and around the world. This week, Stephen Hawking has joined in with the AI warnings and everyone is listening: Stephen Hawking Sounds the Alarm on Artificial Intelligence – fortune.com Stephen Hawking Isn’t Sure Whether Artificial Intelligence Will End Poverty or Kill Us All – yahoo.com Hawking tries hard — and fails — to be optimistic about AI – cnet.com In General: Looking At IoT And Connected Products Across Three Dimensions – digitalistmag.com IoT and the Cheerfully Oblivious Customer – itcronicles.com  AI and Robotics: Artificial Intelligence vs Machine Learning vs Deep Learning |…

Fintech Vietnam Meetup is back with the October 2017 newsletter with all you need to know about Fintech in Vietnam. Last edition, we shared the news of how foreign competitors like Samsung and Alipay are entering the e-payments market. Now with Tencent also seemingly in the fray, local startups will have a tough time fending off fierce competition. A research found that Vietnamese customers have the lowest trust in e-commerce sites in Asia. Will this foray of competitors help to change that? For daily updates you can follow our Facebook Page, join our Facebook Group and Meetup community or follow us on Twitter.  Make sure to also check out our Top Fintech Southeast Asia News!…

Brunei is the latest country in Southeast Asia to join the fintech race. Like most of its neighbors, the Southeast Asian nation is looking to develop its fintech sector, leveraging its highly-skilled workforce and expertise in Islamic finance. The launch of a fintech regulatory sandbox earlier this year demonstrated the country’s commitment to advance financial innovation and digital finance. The Monetary Authority of Brunei Darussalam Darussalam (AMBD), the country’s central bank, said in March that the move was aimed at encouraging fintech development while ensuring the stability of the Brunei’s financial industry. The sandbox allows startups and firms to experiment…

The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing exponentially in value and size, and while the industry is still nascent in Asia, the growth potential is meteoric. IoT uptake in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is expected to grow extensively. From 3.1 billion connected devices in 2015, APAC is set to boast 8.6 billion connected devices by 2020, bringing Asia’s IoT market opportunity to US$583 billion, according to IDC. The organization expects to see APAC to be “the frontline for IoT” in four years or less. Several events and conferences are set to take place in Asia in the months to come.…

The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing exponentially in value and size, and while the industry is still nascent in Asia, the growth potential is meteoric. IoT uptake in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is expected to grow extensively. From 3.1 billion connected devices in 2015, APAC is set to boast 8.6 billion connected devices by 2020, bringing Asia’s IoT market opportunity to US$583 billion, according to IDC. The organization expects to see APAC to be “the frontline for IoT” in four years or less. Several events and conferences are set to take place in Asia in the months to come. Here’s our…

Fintechnews.PH picks every Friday for you the top 5 Fintech Philippines News of the week: Here we go: 25% of Filipinos Shift to Digital Payments The Philippines is well on its way to be a cashless nation, with 25 percent of consumers have indicated that traditional (physical credit card, bank transfer/Internet banking, cheque, etc.) and new payment methods are now their primary payment, survey said. (Read more) Jack Ma: Filipino-Chinese Community to Invest, Turn PH into a Cashless Society Chinese business magnate Jack Ma urged the Philippines to convert to a “cashless society,” saying that an old economy…

Every week, we bring you the freshest, and most important, IoT News from Asia and around the world. This week, a robot has been making headlines after *she* was given citizenship in Saudi Arabia. An AI professor explains: three concerns about granting citizenship to robot Sophia – theconversation.com World’s First Robotics Citizen Trolls Elon Musk At Press Conference – nerdist.com Robots Aren’t as Smart as You Think – technologyreview.com AI and Robotics: We’re All Getting Played by Sophia the Robot – fortune.com Artificial intelligence is learning to read your mind—and display what it sees – sciencemag.org Artificial intelligence is changing the face of plastic surgery – venturebeat.com…

A study published by Bank Negara Malaysia in September explores the implications of a Bank Negara Malaysia cryptocurrency or as the report calls it; a central bank backed digital currency. A central bank digital currency (CBDC), if introduced, is unlikely to replace cash transactions any time soon. Instead, it should be a complement to cash and bank deposit. According to the study, the key innovation with CBDC is the ability for individuals and firms to hold direct accounts with the central banks and to transact directly with one another using the digital currency as a legal tender. “This has…

Singapore’s annual Fintech Festival is coming back on November 13, 2017 for a week long event dedicated to financial innovation and digital finance. Organized by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in partnership with the Association of Banks in Singapore and SingEx, the event is set to cover all aspects of fintech and feature some of the world’s leading tech entrepreneurs, senior executives from top financial institutions, policymakers and government agencies. This year again as part of the Fintech Festival, the Global Fintech Hackcelerator is looking for the most innovative startups from across the globe to address problem statements contributed by…

Banking and investment services CIOs are increasingly convinced that their old business models and existing value propositions will not be sustainable in the future, according to a survey from Gartner, Inc. Gartner’s 2018 CIO Agenda Survey gathered data from 3,160 CIO respondents in 98 countries and across major industries, including 354 banking and investment services CIOs. “Digital transformation and its related technologies such as APIs are more important for banking than for other industries,” said Pete Redshaw, Managing Vice President at Gartner. “Banks and other banking and investment services organizations clearly recognize that the status quo is not sustainable, and they must disrupt themselves before…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released the industry transformation map (ITM) for financial services, which outlined growth strategies by business lines, programmes for upgrading skills, and an agenda for continuous innovation and technology adoption. 2   Speaking at the launch of the ITM, Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) and MAS Board Member, described MAS’ vision for Singapore to be a leading global financial centre in Asia – one that connects global markets, supports Asia’s development, and serves Singapore’s economy. The ITM was drawn up by MAS in close consultation with the financial industry and…