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Category: Finance

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Finance news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Xiaomi Launches Online Lending in India

    Xiaomi Launches Online Lending in India

    Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi expands its footprint in India – its largest overseas market – with the launch of online lending services.

    The firm will connect users with financiers, offering quick access to loans of up to 100,000 rupees ($1,400), Xiaomi’s India head Manu Jain said, according to a report. The online lending solution, «Mi Credit» rely on a partnership with five finance and fintech firms to audit the creditworthiness of customers and disburse loans.

    Xiaomi first entered India’s financial sector in March with «Mi Pay» which enables bill payments and money transferals. The latest online lending launch marks another move to further expand in the market.

    For now, India definitely is our biggest market outside China, not only in credit but pretty much in everything else, said Feng Hong, Xiaomi co-founder, and senior vice president. «We need to focus ourselves to make it really successful. We need to bring in more partners, bring more products, bring more users to make it really scale up. That’s our focus for the next 12 months

    Xiaomi’s financial unit in Indonesia shut down in 2018 and a report said it was due to its banking partner’s decision to pull out over concerns about invasive data collection practices. Documents unveiled tracking of a wide array of activities and disclaimers which require users to agree to share a myriad of personal data including message and browser history.

    During its launch, Xiaomi’s India head assured the public that data protection would be robust though the country has yet to establish law on the matter.

    We have strong data protection agreements with each of our partners that they cannot use this data for any other purpose, apart from giving loans to users, Jain said, adding that data would be 100 percent encrypted.

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  • Maybank Extends Avaloq Partnership

    Maybank Extends Avaloq Partnership

    The Swiss banking software company will help the bank to create a better customer experience for its affluent clients with performance calculation and a suite of wealth products and services.

    Avaloq has won more business in Southeast Asia, with Maybank Group opting to use its suite of banking services to serve Maybank Premier clients in Singapore, the firm announced in a statement on Wednesday.

    Maybank has been using the Avaloq platform for its Singapore-based private banking division since March 2016, but this extends the relationship to include the bank’s affluent clients and will help deliver investment product features to them while upgrading the risk management and oversight of client portfolios, the statement said.

    The implementation successfully went live on 25 November.

    Having a strong backend platform is integral to building positive customer experience for our wealth management clients,» said Lim Kok Boon, head of Maybank Premier, Maybank Singapore.

    He said such technological upgrading is «vital to maintaining an advanced and digitally proficient wealth management suite to increase [Maybank’s] competitive edge.»

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  • Hong Kong-Thailand Digital Currency Underway

    Hong Kong-Thailand Digital Currency Underway

    The central banks of Hong Kong and Thailand are working to launch a digital currency to facilitate cross-border trade.

    Following a signed agreement to bolster financial technology collaboration, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) will jointly launch a digital currency to enhance cross-border trade, valued at $19.6 billion in 2018.

    HKMA’a cross-border payment platform leverages blockchain and the «depositary receipt corridor network» to enable companies in both markets to settle wholesale payments with one another directly, as opposed to the current conventional method of using multiple intermediaries that often cause delays.

    The roll-out will include a two-tier digital token with one focused on the issuance of tokens to Hong Kong banks participating in the pilot program (called «Project LionRock-Inthanon»); and another for banks to distribute to their corporate customers to settle wholesale payments with other banks or companies, according to an SCMP report.

    HKMA is currently working with HSBC and ZhongAn Technologies International while BOT is working with HSBC, Standard Chartered, and a handful of local lenders such as Kasikorn Bank and Krungthai Bank to further research and develop the project. More details on a proof-of-concept study are expected to be unveiled in the first quarter of 2020.

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  • Grab Launches Physical Cards to Complement E-Wallets

    Grab Launches Physical Cards to Complement E-Wallets

    The move brings greater financial inclusion while promising greater security, an expanded rewards ecosystem and Grab payments integration.

    Grab has announced it is rolling out the GrabPay Card to users of its super app and e-wallet, the firm announced in a statement on Thursday. Part of the firm’s ongoing collaboration with Mastercard, a digital version of the GrabPay Card is available to users in Singapore from 5 December, with physical cards to be issued in the first half of 2020, the statement said.

    The move is a significant one as it allows users, even the unbanked, to transact at anywhere in the world that accepts Mastercard payments, whether online or offline while extending Mastercard’s reach across Southeast Asia.

    The GrabPay Card «represents an important step for GrabPay in becoming a truly Asean wallet,» GrabPay managing director Huey Tyng Ooi said.

    As the card is numberless, it promises greater security. There will also be options for additional benefits, including mobile protection insurance, e-commerce protection, and flight delay passes.

    Physical cards will be first issued in the Philippines in Q1/2020, with the rest of Southeast Asia to follow.

     

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  • Deutsche Bank Hires Tech Duo in India

    Deutsche Bank Hires Tech Duo in India

    Deutsche Bank hires a duo in India focused on overseeing and enhancing the bank’s technology, data and innovation capabilities.

    Dilip Khandelwal joins as the bank’s managing director and head of technology centers. In his Pune-based role, he will oversee the bank’s tech centers globally to create «one, consistent strategy». In addition, Khandelwal was also named as the bank’s APAC head of technology, data and innovation as well as chief information officer for human resources, legal and communications.

    The bank also appointed Gil Perez as managing director and head of strategy and innovation. According to an announcement, Perez will oversee innovation strategy, thought leadership and technology innovation partnerships to match the bank’s needs with relevant third party tech solutions.

    Khandelwal and Perez both join from software provider SAP where they’ve had experience with undergoing various forms of tech transformation. Khandelwal led a large scale transformation to accelerate client adoption of cloud services at SAP while Perez spent 8 years with former employer where he guided enterprise companies with their respective digital transformation journeys.

    The opportunity to transform technology at a global company like Deutsche Bank is a unique challenge for talented and ambitious technologists, said Bernd Leukert, head of technology, data and innovation at Deutsche Bank.

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  • HSBC Brings Clients to Borneo

    HSBC Brings Clients to Borneo

    HSBC Jade invited clients to a trip traditionally reserved for senior staff and private banking clients to promote climate change awareness.

    The HSBC Sustainability Expedition was based in Malaysian Borneo where clients ventured into the Danum Valley’s rainforest encountering various animals including orangutans, Borneo pygmy elephants, flying squirrels and gibbons. The expedition was done in partnership with Earthwatch Institute and joined by science from the Royal Soci<ty South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP).

    High net worth individuals in Asia are showing increased interest in sustainable living and incorporating ESG factors when investing, said Toby Chan, group head of Jade and Top Tier, HSBC retail banking and wealth management.

    We created the Sustainability Expedition for Jade to improve our clients’ knowledge of climate change and deepen understanding of sustainability through hands-on scientific research and expert conversations.

    The bank invited HSBC Jade clients from mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore to engage in a myriad of activities including habitat assessment; the gathering of evidence on plant and animal life; and the planting of 80 Dipterocarp trees, a species prevalent in Borneo. In addition, the bank educated clients on sustainable investing and its role in transitioning to a low carbon economy.

    Five days in Danum Valley allow you to be really immersed in the whole ecosystem, the greenery, taking in what is living on earth, and how we should save our planet, said one Singapore client, according to the bank’s release.

    I will remember these particular actions on sustainability that I can do in my own ability – for example, decision making in terms of vendor purchasing, renovations, and any other matters where I’m responsible.

  • Central bank cuts compulsory reserve interest rates

    Central bank cuts compulsory reserve interest rates

    The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) announced Monday it has lowered the interest rates on compulsory reserves at banks by 0.4 percentage points.

    The new compulsory reserve interest rate has been reduced to 0.8 percent per annum for dong deposits, down from 1.2 percent prior. This change came into effect on Sunday.

    A compulsory reserve is a minimum amount calculated on the ratio of total deposits that credit institutions must deposit with the SBV to ensure solvency and reduce risks in savings activities. In Vietnam, this ratio is 3 percent.

    The SBV will continue not paying any interest on dong deposits from banks that exceed the minimum 3 percent requirement.

    But all deposits by the Vietnam Development Bank (VDB) and Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP), both state-owned banks; People’s Credit Funds and microfinance institutions will receive the 0.8 percent interest.

    Conversely, for foreign currency deposits with the SBV, no interest is paid on minimum reserves, but anything in excess is now subject to 0.05 percent interest per annum, which has been slashed from 0.5 percent, according to the central bank statement.

    The reduction of compulsory reserve interest rates to 0.8 per year will not have a significant impact on the profits of banks by the end of the year because the required reserve ratio is currently at a low 3 percent, Dr. Can Van Luc, chief economist at BIDV, Vietnam’s biggest state-owned bank, told the local press.

    Banks also do not maintain reserves at the SBV higher than the minimum requirement, as it would be a waste of resources because investing or lending this money would bring more returns, he added.

    The reduction in compulsory reserve interest rates is most likely a move by the SBV to reduce the burden on the state budget because interest payments are taken from there. “But like the impact on profits of commercial banks, the savings will not amount to much,” Dr. Luc said.

    Last month, the SBV also lowered the interest rate cap on 6-month dong deposits from 5.5 percent to 5 percent, prompting many banks in the sector to cut deposit rates across various terms.

  • UOB Acquires Vietnam Asset Manager

    UOB Acquires Vietnam Asset Manager

    UOB Asset Management will acquire VAM Vietnam Fund Management Joint Stock Company, pending regulatory approval.

    UOB Asset Management has agreed to initially acquire 1.13 million ordinary shares from VAM Vietnam Fund Management Joint Stock Company from individual Nguyen Xuan Minh. The deal for the firm’s 24.53 percent shareholding is valued at VND113,680 million ($4.9 million), according to a report.After regulators approve the deal, another 3.47 million ordinary shares, or 75.47 percent of issued share capital, will be acquired by UOB Asset Management making VAM Vietnam Fund Management Joint Stock Company its subsidiary
    RegionalizationAccording to a release, the acquisition considered various factors including capital, net asset value and asset under management of VAM. The acquisition is also expected to further strengthen UOB Asset Management’s presence in Asia, in line with its regionalization plans. As of October 31 this year, VAM’s net asset value was around VND26 billion ($1.1 million) and it had assets under management of approximately VND114 billion ($4.9 million).
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  • Cyberattack-Prone Banks Risk Over Half of Profits in Singapore

    Cyberattack-Prone Banks Risk Over Half of Profits in Singapore

    Banks that lack measures to withstand cyberattacks risk up to 65 percent of their quarterly profits, according to a recent stress test study by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

    Direct and indirect impact from cyberattacks against banks is estimated to cause losses of 35-65 percent and 20-50 percent of quarterly profits, respectively. According to the study, profit declines are attributable to reputational impact, funds were stolen, legal charges and marketing expenses.

    The stress tests revealed likely vulnerabilities from theft and disruption-related cyberattacks. Examples of theft-related attacks include hacking of ATMs to dispense cash and bank payment systems. Disruption-related impact includes denial-of-service (DoS) attacks to prevent access to the internet and mobile banking apps or disruption to internal payment processing systems. Damage or corruption of client data was also cited as another example of a cyberattack.

    The aforementioned figures reflect costs without contingency measures and when included, risks are significantly improved with banks expected to lose quarterly profits of 20-35 percent and 12-25 percent from direct and indirect impact, respectively. In order to reduce risks from cyberattacks, banks have adopted multiplied layers of security controls to protect data and funds; added DoS mitigation measures such as clean pipe services; and backed up critical data regularly.

    In-house measures aside, it is also heeding greater attention to third-party service providers. Periodic audits are made to verify the ongoing effectiveness of existing security and business continuity measures are in place for a switch to an alternative provider or to in-house operations in the event of a disruption.

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  • Myanmar Opens Doors to Foreign Insurers

    Myanmar Opens Doors to Foreign Insurers

    In a significant move towards financial liberalization, the country issued its first-ever licenses to five foreign fully owned life insurers. It also awarded licenses to six joint ventures to operate in the country.

    Myanmar’s Financial Regulatory Department has issued full licenses to Prudential, Dai-ichi Life, AIA, Chubb and Manulife to issue life insurance policies through fully-owned subsidiaries in the country, «The Myanmar Times» reported on Thursday.

    The five firms were granted provisional licenses in April.

    With a fast-growing middle class and an urbanized and tech-savvy population, the domestic insurance market is a lucrative one. The country currently has one of the lowest insurance rates globally with only 4 percent of the population having any cover, but could be worth some $2.66 billion in 10 years, the report said, citing data by local insurer IKBZ Insurance.

    A total of six licenses were also awarded to joint ventures between foreign and local firms.

    Licenses were granted to three life insurance JVs: Capital Life Insurance and Taiyo Life Insurance; Citizen Business Insurance and Thai Life Insurance; and Grand Guardian Life Insurance and Nippon Life Insurance.

    Licenses were granted to three non-life insurance JVs: AYA Myanmar General Insurance and Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance; Grand Guardian General Insurance and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance; and IKBZ Insurance and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance.

     

  • Finantix Expands to Australia

    Finantix Expands to Australia

    Finantix, a global provider of trusted technology to the wealth management, insurance, and banking industries, opened an office in Sydney to further support its expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.

    The Sydney-based office will be run by Martin McCabe who joins Finantix as sales country manager for Australia and Todd Yarrow, senior business development executive for Australia, according to a media release on Friday.

    Australia’s sophisticated financial services sector and ideal position as a key hub for the Asia-Pacific region makes Australia a very attractive market, the firm further said. In addition, the wealth management sector has identified automation as an opportunity to do more with less as a response to rising expectations by Australian consumers, Damien Piper, APAC director at Finantix, said.

    This means that the potential for technology to assist with the remediation of the underlying pain points remains largely unrealized, representing an important growth opportunity for us, he added.

    Martin McCabe has over 20 years of experience in financial technology sales, starting his career at Lloyds of London, before moving to Australia 16 years ago. Since his move, he has worked with IBM servicing the big four banks, was a client director at DST and most recently was with FIS where he was responsible for significantly growing the policy admin/wealth platform business across Asia-Pacific.

    Todd Yarrow brings extensive business development experience to the firm, having previously held a similar role at Iress where he worked with clients in the wealth management and stockbroking markets. He is passionate about introducing next-generation software solutions to the Australian financial services market and is keen to share the benefits of the Finantix portfolio offering with clients to deliver technology solutions across their prospect base.

  • HSBC Grants Extra Day Off in Hong Kong

    HSBC Grants Extra Day Off in Hong Kong

    Due to «unprecedented circumstances» British lender, HSBC is giving its Hong Kong employees an extra day off in 2020. The bank employs about 21,000 people in the city.

    In a gesture of encouragement as six months of continuing street protests have roiled the financial hub, British bank HSBC is giving its Hong Kong employees an extra day off next year. The decision was announced in an internal memo on Monday by Diana Cesar, the bank’s local chief executive. The memo was confirmed by a bank spokeswoman.

    Thanks to your perseverance and dedication, HSBC has been able to sustain our operation and stand by our customers in these unprecedented circumstances, Cesar said in the memo. HSBC employs about 21,000 people in the city and makes around 90 percent of its profit in Asia.

  • China’s Crypto Crackdown Hits Five Exchanges

    China’s Crypto Crackdown Hits Five Exchanges

    China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies has led at least five local exchanges to halt servicing of domestic users or their whole operations altogether.

    Last week, Chinese exchange operators Bitsoda and Akdex announced that it would cease its operations. Btuex and Idax said they would close domestic operations and focus on overseas users. Biss said it had halted ops while it cooperates in investigations with local authorities.

    The exchanges account for the five known exchanges that have suspended or shut down their operations. Other players that are believed to be affected include Binance and Tron whose Webio accounts have reportedly been suspended.

    Weeks after Beijing declared support for blockchain technology, the market has been rushing to capitalize on perceived opportunities from digital currencies. This subsequently led regulators in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing to ramp up efforts to probe or shut down exchanges.

    Concurrently, China is readying to realize part of its blockchain ambitions with the launch of its own central bank-backed digital currency. It is already making accelerated efforts to ready the regulatory grounds for the launch including the introduction of new standards in 17 areas of emerging technologies which include not only blockchain but also cloud services and artificial intelligence.

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  • HSBC Private Bank Makes Key Appointments

    HSBC Private Bank Makes Key Appointments

    The bank has made two appointments that support its growth ambitions in Asia Pacific. HSBC Private Bank has appointed Jackie Mau as regional head of UHNW, Asia Pacific and Abdel Ben Tkhayet as head of investment services and product solutions (ISPS), Asia Pacific, the firm announced in a press release on Thursday.

    Mau was most recently co-head of ISPS, Asia Pacific for HSBC Private Banking. He joined HSBC in 2003 and has held senior client-facing roles across Investment Banking and Private Banking in both Hong Kong and Thailand.

    In his new role, Mau will be responsible for leading UHNW business in Asia, ensuring that coverage and propositions for clients with sophisticated wealth needs are met. He will report to Asia Pacific head of private banking Siew Meng Tan.

    Ben Tkhayet will be responsible for leading the products and investment counselor teams in Asia and will continue to develop products and investment solutions for clients in the region, the announcement said.

    He joined HSBC in 1997 and has held senior roles in the Private Bank and Global Banking and Markets divisions. He was most recently the private bank’s head of FICC and Equities, Asia Pacific. Ben Tkhayet will continue to report to chief investment officer Stuart Parkinson and to Asia Pacific head of private banking Tan.

    Since renewing our strategic focus on the UHNW segment, clients are already seeing the benefits of a new coverage model, new solutions specialists and segment management teams, and an enhanced product set for sophisticated needs, Tan said.

    HSBC said it is hiring for 700 roles over five years to the end of 2022 and investing $100 million in digital and technology over 2019 and 2020 to grow its Asian private banking business.

    In September, it announced a slew of appointments to strengthen the bank’s investment counseling coverage for Taiwan and mainland China.

  • CITIC Launches Robo-Advisor in Hong Kong

    CITIC Launches Robo-Advisor in Hong Kong

    China CITI Bank International launches its robo-advisory offering in Hong Kong which was co-developed with fintech firm Quantifeed.

    The new goals-based advisory offering, «Robo 360» is a goal-based advisory service made available through CITIC’s mobile banking app, «inMotion». Investors will be able to access 8-20 portfolios with a minimum investment amount as low as $100 and fees of just 1 percent. The portfolios are constructed with up to eight funds each by leveraging smart analytics and quantitative research capabilities.

    The launch makes CITIC the first bank in Hong Kong to offer a goals-based robo-investment advisory solution.

    We believe this will revolutionize wealth management in Hong Kong by ensuring that professionally managed investment products, previously only available to a limited wealth segment, are now available to retail customers, said Alex Ypsilanti, CEO, and co-founder of Quantifeed.

    Quantifeed has successfully developed scalable and highly customizable digital wealth and robo-advisory solutions for banks, brokers, insurers and wealth planners across Asia.

    These include DBS’s ‘digiPortfolio’ platform in Singapore, Cathay United Bank’s ‘CathayRobo’ service in Taiwan and Everbright Sun Hung Kai’s ‘EBSHK Direct AI-Portfolio Investing’ system in Hong Kong. The firm has a strong footprint in the region, with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sydney, and has recently expanded its services into Japan.