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Tag: Finance

  • Credit Card spending jumps in August

    Credit Card spending jumps in August

    Retail card spending improved after a relatively flat five-month period, rising 1.1 percent over the month of August, to a total spend of $7.3 billion.

    Data from Stats NZ shows spending rose across five of the six retail industries when compared to the prior month.

    Hardware, furniture, and appliance retailing rose 1.7 percent over the month, up $22 million, while consumables (including grocery and liquor) rose 0.8 percent, up $16 million.

    Spending in hospitality rose 1.5 percent, an increase of $16 million, while apparel grew 4.5 percent ($13 million) and vehicle spending rose 4.4 percent ($7.8 million).

    The only industry that saw decreased spending was in fuel, which fell 1.4 percent – a decrease of $8.5 million.

    “Card spending in retail industries bounced back after a quiet period in the previous five months,” Stats NZ retail statistics manager Sue Chapman said.

    Overall sales were flat in July and June, fell 0.3 percent in May, rose 0.3 percent in April, and fell 0.2 percent in March.

    August’s result is the largest jump in spending that has been seen since the start of the year, when spending rose from -2.2 percent in December to 2.2 percent up in January.

    Over the month of August, Kiwi cardholders made 150 million transactions across all industries and averaged $49 per transaction.

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  • Standard Chartered Not Ruling Out Singapore Digital Bank

    Standard Chartered Not Ruling Out Singapore Digital Bank

    The bank is keeping its options open about applying for a digital bank license in Singapore, and will likely follow steps it has taken in Taiwan and Hong Kong in partnering with non-bank firms, if it were to apply.

    Standard Chartered has not ruled out participating in Singapore’s upcoming digital banking regime, a spokesperson for the bank told «The Business Times.»

    «Our experience in these markets will serve us well as we continue to explore the best digital model for our clients in Singapore,» the spokesperson said.

    The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in June announced that it will issue up to five digital bank licenses, comprising up to two digital full bank licenses, reserved for locally-owned entities, and up to three digital wholesale bank licenses. Applications are being accepted until the end of the year, with successful license recipients to be announced in mid-2020 and the rollout of operations by mid-2021.

    Standard Chartered is among four foreign banks that have a large retail presence on the island. However, it can only apply for a digital wholesale bank license, which is open to foreign entities. Alternatively, it can look for a Singapore partner to set up a fully digital bank.

    SC Digital, the bank’s joint venture with telecoms company PCCW, Hong Kong Telecom (HKT), and Chinese travel services provider Ctrip is among eight entities that have received a virtual bank license in Hong Kong.

    Standard Chartered said it would offer travel, entertainment and telecoms products and services on its virtual banking platform, and integrate virtual banking into the services offered by its partners and leverage their customer bases to grow its reach.

    The bank also took a 5-percent stake in Line Bank, an upcoming digital bank linked to the Link messaging app, which received a virtual banking license in Taiwan in July.

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  • Wirecard Expands Partnership With Mizuho Bank

    Wirecard Expands Partnership With Mizuho Bank

    Wirecard is expanding its partnership with Mizuho Bank. The scope includes a significant geographic extension, a collaboration on new payout products, and joint digital payment solutions.

    Wirecard, a global innovation leader for digital financial technology, and Mizuho Bank announced that they are collaborating in more geographies within Asia-Pacific, including Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. Globally, the collaboration will also extend to Europe and the United States.

    To complement Mizuho Bank’s service offering, a corporate payout solution is also being planned. With Wirecard, we will develop our corporate product offering and further digitalize our services on an international scale. We are excited to continue working together with Wirecard and develop our partnership, said Kaoru Mochizuki, head of Transaction Banking Asia Oceania, Mizuho Bank.

    Overall, Wirecard will support Mizuho Bank with innovative and fully digital solutions, aimed especially at banking clients in the food and beverage, retail and hospitality industries.

    Wirecard has been collaborating with Mizuho Bank since 2018. The fintech firm provides card acquiring and issuing services for Mizuho Bank corporate clients in the Asian region. Mizuho Bank is part of Mizuho Financial Group, one of the largest financial institutions in the world present in 38 countries and regions, and holds $1.8 trillion in total assets (as of March 31, 2019).

    Since 2018, Mizuho Bank has leveraged on Wirecard’s wide range of payment acceptance and issuing solutions for their Asian corporate client base, and we are proud to expand this cooperation on a global scale,» added Laura McCracken, global EVP Financial Institutions & Fintech, Wirecard.

     

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  • DBS Issues $180 Million Sustainability-Linked Loan

    DBS Issues $180 Million Sustainability-Linked Loan

    DBS has issued a S$250 million ($180 million) three-year loan to real estate group City Developments Limited with interest rate discounts linked to the firm’s sustainability-related performance.

    The loan will be used for general working capital and corporate funding focused on improving CDL’s property quality, performance and method of building.

    Interest rate discounts can be achieved by CDL when it achieves mutually agreed on sustainability-related performance targets including innovations that contribute to the United Nations «Sustainable Development Goals» as determined by an independently appointed expert panel. CDL must also remain listed on at least one «leading global sustainability index.»

    The CDL loan is part of DBS’s ongoing efforts to promote the UN SDGs with this loan aiming to tackle three of the goals: industry, innovation and infrastructure; sustainable cities and communities; and climate action. Elsewhere, DBS has poured S$6.9 billion ($5 billion) into diverse sustainable financing in the last two years to more resource-efficient firms and green industries such as green real estate development and renewable energy.

    DBS and CDL’s move is aligned with ongoing efforts by Singapore’s government to promote sustainability, including in green property development.

    The green financing initiative is a commendable effort given the increasing need to build more environmentally friendly buildings and infrastructure to mitigate the impact of climate change, said Tai Lee Siang, executive director of BuildSG at the Building and Construction Authority.

    In addition to DBS’s loan requirements, CDL itself also pledged commitment to sustainability by achieving «an average of two innovations or new technology adoptions» per year by 2030.

  • StanChart Inks Fintech Tie-Up

    StanChart Inks Fintech Tie-Up

    Digitalization in trade finance continues to gain momentum in Asia with Standard Chartered adding another industry milestone, partnering with tech firm Traydstream to leverage their trade document matching service capabilities.

    In order to help clients shift away from conventionally manual and time-consuming data matching processes, Standard Chartered’s partnership will leverage Traydstream’s platform populated by data and artificial intelligence-based matching tools. The solution aims to prevent trade financing cycle delays and potential impact to working capital needs – an issue made all the more important in the region due to an ongoing trade war.

    Standard Chartered will first offer the document matching service to clients in Singapore before rolling it out to its key trade export markets globally.

    According to Standard Chartered’s global head of documentary trade product management, Samuel Mathew, its decision to partner with Traydstream was due to the tech firm’s platform capabilities and fit with its emerging markets footprint.

    This strategic agreement further builds on the Bank’s export capabilities by allowing our clients to reduce discrepancies in their trade documents with Traydstream’s data and AI-based matching tools,» Mathew said.

    Standard Chartered’s efforts to leverage financial technology in trade finance are not limited to document matching. It is part of an eight-bank alliance that jointly developed «Voltron», a trade finance platform, on which HSBC – one of the developers – recently executed its first yuan-denominated blockchain-based transaction.

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  • Australian dollar back up

    Australian dollar back up

    The Australian dollar rebounded overnight and is buying 67.69 US cents Wednesday, up from 67.25 US cents on Tuesday.

    Yesterday, the local currency neared its decade low before rebounding. The Aussie dollar dipped to close to a recent 10-year low on weak retail sales figures.

    The Aussie dollar dipped as low as 66.88 US cents after the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced that retail spending fell by an unexpected 0.1 percent in July.

    But it later rebounded from that level – not far from a 10 and a half year low set of 66.77 cents set on August 7 – when the Reserve Bank of Australia announced in the afternoon that it would not to cut the cash rate for another month.

    It was buying 67.24 US cents at 1700 AEST, from 67.31 US cents on Monday.

    One Australian dollar buys 71.41 Japanese yen, from 71.46 yen ; 61.45 euro cents, from 61.28 cents ; 56.10 British pence, from 55.32 pence and 106.87 NZ cents, from 106.74 cents.

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  • DBS To Launch Retail Access To Robo-Based ETF Portfolios

    DBS To Launch Retail Access To Robo-Based ETF Portfolios

    DBS’ retail clients will gain access to its robo-platform «digiPortfolio» by year-end which will generate ETF portfolios designed by its wealth management arm.

    Retail investors will have access to portfolios constructed using exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the end of the third quarter, the bank said in a release on Monday.

    The bank will launch two portfolios made of Singapore and UK-listed ETFs, allowing retail customers to tap the investment expertise of the bank’s wealth management team.

    Technology has helped us to avail some services to our retail clients that in the past was almost impossible to do so at affordable rates, said Jeremy Soo, DBS head of consumer banking group for Singapore, at a media briefing on Monday.

    DBS digiPortfolio was first launched in March this year with two portfolios offered only to DBS Treasures clients, who have assets under management of S$350,000 and above. In contrast, the new Asia portfolio is available to customers with no prior investment experience.

    The Asia Portfolio, which requires a minimum investment sum of S$1,000, offers Singapore Exchange (SGX)-listed ETFs, the first of such portfolio for the bank. It provides the investor with exposure to Singapore, China, and India. For investors seeking global diversification, they can opt for the Global Portfolio, which offers UK-listed ETFs for a minimum investment sum of S$1,000.

  • Hong Kong Loosens Fintech Lending

    Hong Kong Loosens Fintech Lending

    The Hong Kong Monetary Authority amended its credit risk management guidelines to encourage greater application of analytic tools when providing loans, in yet another move to further fintech development in the financial hub.

    As part of the HKMA’s Banking Made Easy Initiative, lenders are now allowed to further expand personal lending based on credit analytics tools, like big data analysis, to assess and approve applications. The guideline was issued in May 2018 and initially limited such types of lending but will now liberalize the market.

    Several AIs (authorized institutions) have since rolled out new retail credit products following the guidelines and the business has been operating smoothly, said HKMA’s executive director of banking supervision, Raymond Chan, in a note.

    In view of this latest development, the HKMA considers that it is no longer necessary to set an across-the-board limit applicable to all AIs on such lending (i.e. 10% of an AI’s capital base). Instead, the HKMA expects AIs intending to develop this business to set a limit of their own, which should be commensurate with their risk appetite and risk management capability.

    Fintech continues to grow as new regulatory and market developments are picking up momentum in the region.

    As a leading financial center, Hong Kong is undoubtedly competing for market share. For example, the «Banking Made Easy Initiative» was issued last year and involved a dedicated task force to help the industry “minimize regulatory frictions” in digital banking including remote onboarding, online finance and wealth management.

    Rival hub, Singapore, is also making inroads into the space with the regulators officially taking digital banking applications last week as hopefuls vie for one of the five licenses.

  • Maybank Kim Eng To Launch Trading Capabilities for Southeast Asia

    Maybank Kim Eng To Launch Trading Capabilities for Southeast Asia

    Maybank Kim Eng, Maybank’s investment banking arm, announces its selection of Australian-headquartered fintech firm, Iress, as the software provider for online trading and market data.

    Iress’ ViewPoint will be rolled out progressively to Maybank Kim Eng’s clients in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The expanded agreement with Iress will enable Maybank Kim Eng clients to research and trade on the multi-asset, multi-currency online interface.

    After the successful implementation of Iress’ Pro and market data software, we’re pleased to now be offering ViewPoint to our growing customer base to share the benefits of their state-of-the-art tools and capabilities,» said Jeffrey Goh, managing director, and regional head of brokerage, Maybank Kim Eng.

    ASX-listed Iress has been providing financial software to clients in Asia since 2010 and to Maybank Kim Eng since 2015.

    Prior to ViewPoint, Maybank Kim Eng had already implemented Iress’ aforementioned  «Pro» which provides real-time market data and in-depth analysis across 200 global markets from which trade orders can be made directly to the «Iress Order System».

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  • Maybank Considering Digital Banking License

    Maybank Considering Digital Banking License

    Maybank Singapore is considering to apply for one of the five digital banking licenses to be unveiled in Singapore. The final decision depends on having a value proposition.

    Maybank Singapore is in talks with its head office in Malaysia on the matter, and the bank’s decision lies in coming up with a new value proposition, said Alvin Lee, Head of Community Financial Services Singapore and Group Wealth Management, Maybank.

    The bank is open to all options are on the table, whether to go solo through the existing Internet-only bank framework, or to apply for the digital full-bank license, or the digital wholesale bank license with a partner. «We are definitely in internal discussions on whether we should be in or out,» said Lee, who was quoted.

    As Maybank’s current license already allows it to establish a digital bank, other factors such as finding the right partner to complement its strengths and weaknesses could be pivotal.

    «We can be the ‘fin’ and we look for a ‘tech’ partner – or something like that,» Lee said, adding that such partnership would require the bank to work with a regional player and not just one that operates solely in Singapore.

    Space Is Heating Up

    The digital full-bank license will allow it to provide a wide range of financial services and take deposits from retail customers, while the digital wholesale bank license will allow it to serve SMEs and other non-retail segments.

    With applications due to open by the end of this week, various non-bank players have signaled interest. They include tech unicorn Grab, fintech firm iFast Corporation, peer-to-peer lender Validus Capital, e-wallet player Liquid Group, and gaming firm Razer. Meanwhile, OCBC is in talks with Singtel on applying for a digital banking license.

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  • HSBC Offers Fee Cuts, Rebates to Support Hong Kong SMEs

    HSBC Offers Fee Cuts, Rebates to Support Hong Kong SMEs

    HSBC has announced a range of measures intended to help struggling businesses cope with challenges from the China-U.S. trade war and the anti-government protests in Hong Kong.

    As the Hong Kong economy is facing its worst crisis in a decade, HSBC has become the first bank to take action to help its small and medium enterprise customers by offering fee cuts and rebates.

    The bank and its subsidiary Hang Seng Bank are offering an interest rebate of up to HK$20,000 ($2,550) to SMEs that take out loans under SME Financing Guarantee Scheme and the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme for repayments made between March and August.

    At the same time, the bank is extending until June 30, 2022 its subsidy of up to HK$50,000 that is given to SMEs to pay for the fee for the government to back the loan. From September 2 until the end of the year, merchants will also enjoy lower fees for B2B transfers using HSBC’s PayMe platform as the bank has revised its fee to 0.75 percent, down from 1.5 percent.

    Protests Affecting Business

    Months of anti-government protests across Hong Kong have disrupted business and traffic, and caused a drop in tourist numbers to the special administrative territory and paralyzed shopping areas.

    According to HSBC, SMEs account for over 98 percent of local enterprises and around 45 percent of total employment. We have spent time listening to our customers and have heard their voices at this difficult time, Terence Chiu, the bank’s head of commercial banking for Hong Kong, was quoted by “SCMP” as saying.

    Countries including Singapore and the U.S. have issued advisories to defer non-essential travel to Hong Kong.

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  • Chinese shoppers can now use Alipay at the Mall of Asia

    Chinese shoppers can now use Alipay at the Mall of Asia

    Chinese consumers can now use Alipay at the Mall of Asia stores  thanks to a joint venture between Ant Financial Services and SM.

    Technology to allow retailers to accept Alipay has been installed at almost half the mall’s stores already, with the rest to follow within three to six months.

    Opening the way for Chinese to use Alipay at the Mall of Asia is aimed at attracting more tourists to the mall – as well as the increasing locally based Chinese population.

    “SM Mall of Asia is a must-visit shopping destination among tourists who enjoy the wide array of shopping and dining offerings and unique amenities,” said Cherry Huang, GM, cross-border business for South and Southeast Asia at Alipay.

    “We are happy to partner with SM Mall of Asia to deploy Alipay acceptance points in the mall for shoppers who are looking for the best of retail and lifestyle offerings and the same seamless shopping experiences that they enjoy at home. At the same time, we are very excited to help merchants in SM Mall of Asia connect with tourists before they’ve even arrived in the Philippines through our platform’s marketing capabilities.”

    Since Alipay entered the Philippines in 2017, the number of Alipay acceptance points has grown exponentially across retail, hospitality and entertainment attractions. Aside from Manila, Alipay acceptance points are available in six provinces frequented by Chinese tourists, including Cebu, Davao, Palawan and Boracay.

    According to the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry, international tourist arrivals to the Philippines rose by 7.7 per cent to 7.1 million visitors last year. China contributed 1.255 million of them, a growth rate of 30 per cent year on year.

    More than 3.12 million Chinese citizens have taken up residence in the Philippines since January 2016.

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  • UOB Opens Hanoi Branch

    UOB Opens Hanoi Branch

    The bank’s first branch outside Ho Chi Minh City comes a year after the incorporation of UOB (Vietnam), the bank’s Vietnam subsidiary.

    United Overseas Bank (UOB) has announced the opening of its first branch in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, marking the bank’s first foray out of Ho Chi Minh City, where it has operated a representative office since 1993.

    Our new branch reflects our continued confidence in the country as we seek to serve more customers in both the northern and southern parts of Vietnam. It will enable us to connect customers to the opportunities that Vietnam offers and to support Vietnamese companies in seizing opportunities across ASEAN and further afield, Wee Ee Cheong, UOB deputy chairman and chief executive, said about the milestone in a press statement.

    UOB (Vietnam) CEO Harry Loh noted the significance of Hanoi as an important gateway for the country’s fast-growing northern cities.

    UOB was the first Singapore bank to open a branch in Vietnam in 1995. In 2017, UOB received a foreign-owned subsidiary bank (FOSB) licence from State Bank of Vietnam, which enabled it to extend its branch network beyond Ho Chin Minh City and to offer its products and financial solutions to businesses and consumers located in other cities.

    The bank said the new branch reflects UOB’s commitment to providing its financial services and solutions to more customers across the country.

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  • PayPal-Backed Digital Lenders Raise $110 Million

    PayPal-Backed Digital Lenders Raise $110 Million

    PayPal-backed digital lender Tala has raised another $110 million to enter the Indian market, increasing the firm’s total estimated value to more than $750 million.

    The five-year old California-headquartered startup specializes in digital lending, building credit profiles based on customer texts, call logs, merchant transaction, app usage and other behavioral data through an Android app. Loans can then be approved within minutes and the firm has lent over $1 billion to more than 4 million customers, up from $300 million and 1.3 million customers last year.

    The firm has raised over $215 million, according to a media report, and the latest round’s funds will be used to enter the India market. Prior to the launch, the firm conducted a 12-month pilot program to research the market and also set up a tech hub in Banglore.

    In addition to India, a portion of the funds will be used to expand to existing markets including East Africa, Mexico, and the Philippines and also build new solutions. Moving forward, Tala is also eyeing other markets in South Asia and Latin America.

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  • Swiss Fintechs to Showcase Expertise at Singapore Fintech Festival

    Swiss Fintechs to Showcase Expertise at Singapore Fintech Festival

    Switzerland Global Enterprise and the Swiss Business Hub ASEAN announced that they will showcase the best of the country’s fintech ecosystem and expertise under its Swiss Pavilion in the upcoming Singapore FinTech Festival 2019.

    Returning for the third year, the Swiss Pavilion will host close to 30 companies involved in cutting-edge innovation in financial services technologies that encompass regulation technology, blockchain solutions, Big Data and analytics, algorithm trading and cybersecurity among others. The Swiss Pavilion, one of the larger national pavilions taking part at the Singapore festival, will present opportunities for co-innovation, collaborations, partnerships, and deal-making.

    The Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) is pleased to showcase the Swiss ecosystem of top financial institutions and leading Fintech players at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2019.  As one of the Top 10 Financial Centres of the world, Switzerland offers the ideal combination of dense and diverse ecosystem in the fintech space, a regulator addressing the needs of the industry and a great pool of talents to create new solutions for the future, said Patrik Wermelinger, Member of the Executive Committee of Switzerland Global Enterprise.

    Besides demonstrating the expertise of Swiss companies to international audiences, the other goal of the Swiss Pavillion is to enable Swiss fintechs to use Singapore as a hub to grow in the Southeast Asia (ASEAN) region, Wermelinger added.

    Interest from Swiss fintech enterprises in Singapore has been growing rapidly. Over the past few years, we have seen escalating interest from Swiss fintech companies to spread their winds into ASEAN using Singapore as a hub.  There is potential for more Swiss-Singapore exchanges and it is my wish to see more of such collaborations.  Together, we can explore more markets and help the financial institutions grow rapidly, said H.E. Fabrice Filliez, Switzerland’s Ambassador to Singapore.

    Switzerland is home to over 1,000 fintech companies, deeply active in Investment Management, Payment solutions, Banking infrastructure and Deposit & Lending. Their interest to a greater presence in Singapore arises from the republic’s fintech cooperation framework and agreements with ASEAN, China, India, Japan, and South Korea.

    Singapore’s annual FinTech Festival is organized by MAS, in partnership with The Association of Banks in Singapore, and in collaboration with SingEx Holdings. The 4th edition of the Singapore FinTech Festival will attract a global array of speakers and exhibitors.

    The upcoming event will carry four major underlying themes that are driving the financial ecosystem: Sustainability and Climate Finance; Future of Finance; Exponential Technologies and FinTech and Beyond.

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