Economic Possibilities of Blockchain Technology” – Keynote Address by Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore, at Global Blockchain Business Conference in Vizagcity on 9 October 2017: I am delighted to be here in Andhra Pradesh – the land of the Tiruppati temple, Carnatic music, Kuchipudi dance, and of course, the charming sea town of Vishakapatnam. I am grateful to Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for his kind invitation to speak at this conference Andhra Pradesh and Singapore share in common a modern outlook. We both believe in the value of innovation for economic growth and harnessing the power of…
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Local fashion and lifestyle conglomerate iFashion Group launches MegaX , a new digital token for shoppers. With electronic payments provider MC Payment as technology partner, MGX holders can make immediate purchases from partnering brands online or at brick-and-mortar stores. Supporting this partnership, MC Payment will provide its electronic wallet technology to facilitate payment transactions. A 2016 Accenture report expects millennials in Asia to collectively possess USD6 trillion in disposable income by 2020. As mobile-first consumers drive an increasingly demanding market for products, MegaX enables retailers, regardless of scale, to develop omnichannel payment capability in the strive to deliver a seamless…
We were in Phnom Penh to attend Inspire Asean 2017. This is the 2nd edition featuring leaders and start-ups in the fintech space around the region and of course, Cambodia. Here are some highlights of the event. We went there to finish our Fintech Cambodia Startup Report and to connect with the local community [View the story “Inspire Asean ’17” on Storify]
Every week, we bring you the best IoT news from Asia and around the world. This week, Zuckerberg is in trouble for “exploiting Puerto Rico” to promote VR… Zuckerberg says he wants about 13 percent of the world to use virtual reality Mark Zuckerberg ‘Toured’ Puerto Rico With Facebook’s Virtual Reality. Critics Knocked It as a PR Stunt Zuckerberg ‘Exploited Disaster’ With Puerto Rico Virtual Reality Stunt In General: 25 women in robotics you need to know about – robohub.org Dell outlines IoT strategy, plans to spend $1 billion on R&D over three years – zdnet.com 73% of Executives Are…
The Aon Centre for Innovation and Analytics (ACIA) is celebrating its 5 Year Anniversary and is reinforcing its commitment to drive innovation for its clients through the use of data and analytics to further support business growth. Established in 2012 as the cornerstone of Aon plc’s (NYSE:AON) global investment in analytics, the ACIA gives clients new insights by leveraging data across Aon. Launched in Singapore with six employees, the ACIA has now increased its workforce in Singapore to over 100 across a broad range of skills and disciplines including PhDs in actuarial, risk modelling, financial analysis and data science.…
IDC Financial Insights today unveiled a list of 10 fast growing fintechs in Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) as part of the broader FinTech 101 list for Asia/Pacific. “IDC’s FinTech Fast 101” refers to the fast-growing fintech players in Asia/Pacific based on extensive on-ground analysis of the dominant fintech players within the region. 10 Fast Growing Fintechs in ANZ Afterpay Touch Group Afterpay Touch is at an exciting junction. In June 2017, Afterpay and Touchcorp came together to leverage each other’s strengths and elevate our customer offering, taking it to a new level. We now exist under 2 key…
Fintech Startup Report Philippines 2017 released. The fintech ecosystem in the Philippines has been growing rapidly in recent years fueled by the promise that financial innovation will improve financial inclusion. Despite the potential, adoption of fintech solutions has remained low. There are currently 60 players in the Philippines’ fintech startup scene. Mobile payments and wallets, and alternative finance, are the most crowded segments with 26 and 17 startups respectively. Mobile payments and wallets, and alternative finance, are the most crowded segments with 26 and 17 startups respectively. In particular, solutions that provide funding in a fast and convenient manner such…
IDC Financial Insights today unveiled a list of 10 fast growing fintechs in India as part of the broader IDC FinTech 101 list for Asia/Pacific. IDC’s “FinTech Fast 101” refers to the fast-growing fintech players in Asia/Pacific based on extensive on-ground analysis of the dominant fintech players within the region. 10 Fast Growing Fintechs in India BankBazaar BankBazaar is the world’s first neutral online marketplace that helps people compare and choose financial products such as loans, insurance, credit cards, fixed deposits, saving accounts, mutual funds etc., – over a highly secure, user friendly, and intuitive platform. Capital Float Capital Float…
Fintechnews.PH picks every Friday for you the top 5 Fintech Philippines News of the week: Here we go: What role does the Philippines play in helping international startups? Outsourcing business processes to the Philippines has kept the dream alive for many startup founders and small business owners. (Read more) Introducing the company that uses your digital footprint to calculate credit ratings The growth of fintech may have taken some by surprise in Southeast Asia, a region were 264 million people – just under half of its population – do not have bank accounts. (Read more) Why SEA…
Kickstarter campaign creators should take note: The community does not view claims of product novelty and product usefulness as congruent. While the total amount pledged is boosted when a product is said to be useful (or alternatively, novel), claiming that it is both reduces the total amount pledged by 26 percent. That’s according to a recent big-data analysis of 50,310 Kickstarter projects, led by researchers from the Singapore Management University, HEC Paris, the University of Technology Sydney and INSEAD. “Prior research has shown that products that are novel and useful typically succeed in the marketplace,” said study co-author Amitava Chattopadhyay, Professor…
Fintech has the potential to dramatically improve financial inclusion, according to a report by the Brookings Institution, an American research group. Incumbents, new entrants, government agencies and policymakers must collaborate in order to harness the full potential of fintech. The Brookings Financial and Digital Inclusion Project Report, which has been released every year since 2014, aims to provide policymakers, private sector entities, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and the public with information that can help improve financial inclusion in their respective countries and beyond. The report valuates access to and usage of affordable financial services by underserved people across 26 geographically,…
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) announced today that the consortium which they are leading has successfully developed software prototypes of three different models for decentralised inter-bank payment and settlements with liquidity savings mechanisms. The project, conducted together with 11 financial institutions and five technology companies1, is the Phase 2 of Project Ubin2, which explores the use of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), commonly known as blockchain technology, for clearing and settlement of payments and securities. The three software models developed are amongst the first in the world to implement decentralised netting of…
Every week, we bring you the latest developments and conversations in IoT and technology from Asia and around the world. This week, our tech giants are forging ahead with AI while most of America fear a robotic takeover, and an ethics committee has been created to protect Artificial Intelligence. More than 70% of US fears robots taking over our lives, survey finds A World Leader in AI Just Established an Ethics Committee for Artificial Intelligence Oh, and check out how the film industry is using AI to help with post production… EPICOLOR Uses Artificial Intelligence to Grade Your Footage Automatically…
Question: To ask the Minister for Finance (a) how prevalent is the use of cryptocurrency in Singapore; and (b) what measures will MAS introduce to regulate Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament: Answer by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of MAS: We are familiar with money, i.e., notes and coins, as a medium of exchange – an intermediary instrument use to facilitate transactions. I make a TV, sell it for money, and then use it to buy a pair of shoes. Money becomes a medium of exchange because all of…
OCBC Bank continues to break new ground in its drive to make banking simple, fast and convenient for its business customers. In its latest industry-leading innovation in Asia, its SME customers will be able to initiate funds transfers to business associates’ OCBC Bank accounts and make account balance enquiries using Siri, Apple’s voice-controlled personal assistant. These features will be available from 9 October 2017 to SME customers using iPhones running on Apple’s iOS 11 mobile operating system. Over 120,000 Singapore registered users of OCBC Bank’s internet business banking portal, Velocity@ocbc, stand to benefit. This use of voice recognition technology will…
Fintech Vietnam Meetup is back with the September 2017 newsletter. All you need to know about Fintech in Vietnam. In this edition, we talk about how Vietnamese startups and entrepreneurs from both the blockchain and non-blockchain space are embracing ICOs to raise funds, but the first Vietnam ICO failed. Please also read the Crypto Wild West article, which is a summary of my last meetup presentation. Samsung and Alipay are now also here! In case local Vietnamese Mobile Payment Startups will not start to collaborate they will loose ground against new foreign competitors. For daily updates, you can follow our Facebook Page, join our Facebook Group and Meetup community or follow us on Twitter. Our meetup group now has over 1000…
Singapore Airlines and Grab announced a partnership to provide customers with more seamless travel experiences. SIA and Grab will integrate their mobile apps to offer enhanced convenience to customers when travelling to the airport in six countries across Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. This marks the coming together of the world’s most awarded airline and Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing and payments platform. Starting today, SIA customers can book Grab rides through the SingaporeAir mobile app. Customers using the app will see an option to book a Grab ride to the airport seven days before…
OCBC Bank, HSBC and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), together with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), has become the first consortium in South East Asia to successfully complete a proof-of-concept for a Know Your Customer (KYC) blockchain. This development raises the possibility of using blockchain technology to make one of the most complex and highly-regulated of financial processes more efficient and secured, thereby combating anti-money laundering (AML) and the financing of terrorism (CFT). Currently, KYC is conducted individually by banks, requiring customers to provide the same information to different institutions. It is a manual and paper-based process that can…
NICE claims that, with the implementation of NICE Real-Time Authentication, Permata Bank is the first domestic bank in Indonesia to introduce voice biometrics as part of its customer authentication protocol. NICE Real-Time Authentication (RTA), together with its process automation solution, will allow the financial institution to conduct secure and seamless voice authentication, improving customer service. Permata Bank is a veteran NICE customer, already benefiting from its Quality and Workforce Management solutions, as well as real-time back office applications. More recently, the bank sought new ways to improve fraud prevention and increase the efficiency of its contact center, turning to NICE…
Pundi X, a blockchain startup that aims to make cryptocurrencies an enabler of ubiquitous cashless payment environments across South East Asia, has unveiled the Pundi X POS (Point of Sale) smart device to enable shops, cafes and convenience stores to sell cryptocurrency to a broad cross section of general consumers who would otherwise have little or no access to cryptocurrency. Pundi X POS device installed in retail outlets will enable consumers to quickly and easily buy or sell cryptocurrency using fiat money (Dollars, Rupiah, Baht etc.), bank card, mobile wallet or Pundi X Pass. The purchased cryptocurrency can be stored…