TenX, Paycent and Omise are the three winners of the 2017 Florin Asia Innovation Awards, an event aimed at recognizing the region’s most promising talents, and honoring great initiatives and proven solutions in the payments space. The winners were announced last week at the GlobalPaymentSummit in Singapore, and competed against seven other startups including peer-to-peer marketplace for international money transfer Cashaa, mobile banking app Brankas, and Go-Jek’s mobile payment platform Go-Pay. TenX was honored as the Gold Winner. The Singapore-based startup is building a cryptocurrency payment platform that consists of a wallet, physical debit card, bank account, ATM access, and…
Author: Fintech News Singapore
Author
Read More
So, you may have heard Bitcoin passed the $5000 mark this weekend: $BTC officially over $5000 on @coindesk #Bitcoin5000 #Crypto pic.twitter.com/BeMwfikWCC — Ross 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@12ossT) September 2, 2017 And it got the Twittersphere very excited: We’re about to hit $5000 $btc $crypto pic.twitter.com/URcX1fcWAX — Higo (@CryptoHigo) September 2, 2017 $BTC Approaching $5000 pic.twitter.com/LkYm2cZrRn — Goatronica🐐 (@Goatronica) September 2, 2017 $BTC passed $5000 now are we going to see a pullback and back to trading or is it still bullish? RT$LSK $LTC $ETH $NEO $XRP $IOTA $RISE pic.twitter.com/5Kcl90GCHQ — FallenCryptoAngel (@CryptoFallen) September 2, 2017 1 of coin = 5000 of…
Fintechnews.PH picks every Friday for you the top 5 Fintech Philippines News of the week: Here we go: Blockchain technology can make better governments, plus thoughts on financial inclusion from SCI CEO John Bailon of Satoshi Citadel Industries (SCI) talks to us about how blockchain technology is faring in the Philippines. (Read more) 1,000 Startups in the PHP Eyed in 2018 THE Philippine startup community targets to reach a total of 1,000 startups next year. (Read more) Latest Blockchain Fundings in Southeast Asia Blockchain startups have raised about US$358 million in venture capital in 2017 so far,…
Every week, we bring you the best IOT news from Asia and around the world. This week, Voice First technology is impacting the FinTech industry and the debate over AI continues… In General: The U.S. government should be making better use of the internet of things – venturebeat.com Why businesses need to take advantage of Big Data, IoT and AI now – itproportal.com We Need to Save the Internet from the Internet of Things – binaryloom.com Platforms instead of products: the new normal –iotcentral.io IoT will rip apart (and then rebuild) the jobs market – binaryloom.com Machine Learning: Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies,…
Blockchain startups have raised about US$358 million in venture capital in 2017 so far, with much of this sum going towards North American and European startups. Meanwhile, initial coin offerings (ICOs) raised nearly four times more, or about US$1.3 billion. ICOs have become a popular way for startups in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space to raise money. ICOs are similar to crowdfunding and allows users to buy a stake in a startup. In return, investors receive an amount of digital token or cryptocurrency that’s equivalent to shares in the firm. In Southeast Asia, startups that have conducted successful ICOs in…
Grab announced the launch of a new data-focused pilot programme with Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Financial Services Corporation, and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co., Ltd. The project aims to use data analysis to enable Grab to offer its driver partners across the region improved access to connected car services that will improve their experience on the Grab platform. As part of the initiative, Grab will share data on driving patterns from 100 Toyota cars in Grab’s fleet, captured by Toyota’s data-transmission driving recorder, TransLog. Toyota’s team will then analyse the data set and, based on this analysis, offer recommendations on how…
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Asia Pacific and global think tank FGRT (Fung Global Retail & Technology) are collaborating on a series of educational conferences and panels in the region, culminating with ULI’s Asia Pacific Summit in June 2018. The partnership is part of a wide-ranging initiative to showcase the future of retail real estate, encourage greater integration of technology in shopping centers and provide a platform where industry professionals can learn and share about retail and technology. The initiative will arrange open forums in Hong Kong, and with the same topics repeated with different panelists in other cities in…
Despite the several initiatives introduced to encourage fintech development, New Zealand is still falling behind other countries such as the UK, the US and China in the support it provides to boost the sector, according to industry observers and experts. New Zealand took several early steps to support fintech, including passing a tailored regulatory regime for equity crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. But experts believe that New Zealand needs a clear strategy and policy direction from the government to keep pace with international developments. “The New Zealand government needs to take a more strategic…
OCBC Bank has launched a mobile keyboard that allows customers to make peer-to-peer payments without having to exit their current mobile applications. The OCBC Keyboard can be used within any mobile app or browser – for instance, within Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram or Chrome – to send money instantly to anyone with a bank account in Singapore, including those who have not yet registered for PayNow. The payment rides on the OCBC Pay Anyone e-payment service and can be done using just the recipient’s mobile number. The OCBC Keyboard follows on the heels of OCBC Bank’s launch of e-payments integrated with Apple’s Siri…
The National Environment Agency (NEA), Housing & Development Board (HDB), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) have jointly issued a Request for Information (RFI) for electronic payment (e-payment) solutions to support micro-payments. Mainly at hawker centres, HDB coffee shops, and shops in the heartlands. This is in line with the national drive towards an electronic payments society in Singapore, as part of the Smart Nation vision. Smart Nation is not about the technology per se but leveraging technology to improve lives. With most Singaporeans frequenting hawker centres and HDB shops on a regular…
Fintechnews.PH picks every Friday for you the top 5 Fintech Philippines News of the week: Here we go: Fintech In The Philippines: What The Banks Are Doing? Fintech companies, which are playing an increasingly important role in the Philippines’ financial services landscape, are to complement the products and services offered by banks, opening up growth areas to lenders to expand market reach. (Read more) BSP is Closely Studying Financial Technology Sector The central bank is comfortable – for now – on how they monitor and assess the growth of Fintech or financial technology companies in the Philippines and…
Despite Vietnam’s high smartphone and mobile Internet penetration rates, consumer adoption of fintech solutions remains low with cash-payment habit being hard to change. “Vietnamese, including the unbanked, have already used their mobile for many activities in their everyday life, but not yet so much financial activities,” Nam Tran, co-founder of CEO of mobile payments startup Moca, told Fintechnews.sg. “The remaining challenges to realizing the potentials [of mobile for financial inclusion] are less about technologies, but more about understanding market dynamics and driving adoption.” Tran’s company Moca has developed a solution for mainstream retail payments that enables mobile payments from all…
On 21st August, Vietnam Prime Minister has signed the Plan to fully legalize digital assets and cryptocurrencies. According to the Plan, the Ministry of Justice and the State Bank of Vietnam are in charge of reviewing the current legal status of digital assets and cryptocurrencies; considering the US, EU and Japan approach in order to apply to Vietnam situation with appropriate regulation and conviction before August 2018. The Ministry of Finance takes responsibility to build taxation regulation before June 2019. And the Ministry of Public Security is ordered to make plan to prevent, investigate and prosecute criminal offenses in digital…
With healthcare spending at 1.5 percent of Singapore’s gross domestic product a year, , disruptive healthcare startups are shaping the industry. They are also procuring funds from some of the biggest names in venture capital. Just six months ago, Singapore’s CXA Group secured US$25 billion in Series B funding led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group and government funded EDBI, the corporate investment fund of the Economic Development Board. Founded by Rosaline Koo, a veteran of Singapore’s insurance scene, CXA is upping the game on corporate insurance. Instead of the typical employee benefits package, which includes the usual…
Fintech Vietnam Meetup is back with another newsletter, July/August 2017 edition. With the fast pace of the recent developments in Fintech, there are a lot of local and international news that we would like to share with you today. A big thank you to all who turned up at our recent Fintech Vietnam Meetup featuring “ICO, Ethereum, what is it, is it a hype? And how to identify Coin Scams”. We had to close RSVP early due to the overwhelming interest. We hope that everyone went back with new learnings and friends. For those who couldn’t make it, do not fret as we have exciting Meetups…
Australia’s fintech sector has come a long way. In just a few years, the nation has seen its fintech industry mushroom and emerge as a globally recognized hub. Fintech is hot topic in Australia. A report by Startup Muster suggests that the sector is currently the most prevalent industry for Australian startups, with 15.9% of national startups operating in the space. Fintech is also among the top areas investors are looking to support, with 56.2% of investors looking at the industry. In 2016, investment in Australian fintech companies reached a record of US$656 million across 25 deals, more than tripling…
R3’s director of research Antony Lewis believes banks using blockchain for data sharing require stronger privacy regulations and guidelines. As the author of the paper Blockchains and Laws, written in collaboration with Baker McKenzie, the Singapore-based Lewis said in his blog post that banks need their technology to conform to certain standards – resilience, security and so on. “The banks (not the technology) get penalised if they can’t demonstrate high standards with technology they choose to deploy,” “But blockchains and distributed ledgers share data, and often business is conducted across borders. And many countries have data protection laws specifying that…
Fintech companies, which are playing an increasingly important role in the Philippines’ financial services landscape, are to complement the products and services offered by banks, opening up growth areas to lenders to expand market reach. At the BankTech Asia Manila event last year, bankers were unanimous to say that banks and fintech companies had everything to gain by collaborating with one another. “Things have changed around us,” Malik Khan Kotadia, the former senior vice president of Global Banking Group, now a fintech mentor and author, told the audience during a presentation. “Banking environment has been changing too. We see banks…
In December 2016, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) issued regulations on financial technology firms (Fintech) firms that run Peer-to-Peer(P2P) lending businesses. The regulations were issued in response to the rapid growth of Fintech start-ups in Indonesia, where the number of Fintech start-ups tripled from about 51 companies to 135 companies within the last quarter of 2016. The objective of the regulation, POJK No. 77/2016, aims to support the growth of Information Technology-Based Lending Services (LPMUBTI) or Fintech Peer-to-Peer Lending platforms to service micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to various areas in Indonesia. Supporting Local Businesses As many MSMEs lack…
The fintech ecosystem in India has evolved significantly since its emergence. Fueled by initiatives from the government to boost innovation in financial services, the sector is expected to further grow in the years to come, according to a new report by PwC and Startupbootcamp Fintech Mumbai. Despite a significant pullback in incoming global investments in the fintech space, the India opportunity remains promising. In particular, regulatory support, financial inclusion and demand for the digitalization of services will likely boost investment in the area going forward. At the same time, the adoption of emerging technologies in the financial services industry is…