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Tag: FinTech

  • Switzerland and Singapore to Teamup on Fintech

    Switzerland and Singapore to Teamup on Fintech

    Switzerland and Singapore, the often called Switzerland of Asia, are looking towards financial sector digitalization. A conference slated for June in Zurich seeks to do just that.

    The Point Zero Forum» intends to bring public sector leaders together with top private sector counterparts in businesses and finance, from June 21 to 23 in Zurich, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF) announced on Monday.

    The event will feature a high-caliber lineup, including Swiss Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer and Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who will open the event. The President of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), Thomas Jordan , and UBS Group CEO Ralph Hamers, will also be in attendance, according to the program from the website.

    The directors of the respective financial supervisory authorities, Ravi Menon from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Urban Angehrn from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) will also join the conference.

    Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who also serves as Coordinating Minister for Economic Policy,  sums up the need for such an endeavor.

    Digital technology has enormous potential to change the world for the better, especially through finance. To unleash the potential, we need to seek new ways of working together, address key global challenges in partnership, and seize the new opportunities.

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  • Slyp raises $25 million in Series A fundraising

    Slyp raises $25 million in Series A fundraising

    Digital receipts fintech Slyp has closed a $25 million Series A with the backing of Australia’s big four banks, and plans to use the fresh cash to launch new products and features on its platform.

    The oversubscribed funding round was supported by new investors such as advisory and investments firm Sayers Group, alongside additional investment from the nation’s largest banks.

    While NAB was the first bank to integrate the fintech’s software, Slyp is now working with other financial institutions, as well as buy-now-pay-later providers to get its tech in the hands of millions more Australians.

    “We’re delighted to officially announce our Series A. Thanks to the growing and unwavering support of our investors and partners, Slyp is on track to make Smart Receipts available to half of all Australians by the end of this year,” co-founder Paul Weingarth said.

    “The funds raised will be invested directly into our unique technology that enables Slyp to deliver the most seamless, intuitive, and sustainable proof of purchase in the world, while building new products to improve the entire purchase experience.

    “This year, we will be laser-focused on expanding our presence within the in-store retail and hospitality ecosystem, working closely with Australia’s retail network and leading banks to switch off the paper receipt and transform the customer checkout experience, for good.”

    Founded in 2017 by former PayPal executives Paul Weingarth and Spiro Rokos, alongside former ANZ group data officer Mike Boyd, the fintech delivers ‘smart receipts’ inside of banking apps, cutting out the need for paper in a transaction altogether.

    More than 880 stores and venues are now using the platform, including Chemist Warehouse, Mitre 10, JD Sports, Harris Farm and Hunter St Hospitality and Pacific Concepts.

    Slyp is also looking to expand beyond smart receipts by introducing a product that will allow customers to link their loyalty cards to their payment cards, which will be released later this year.

    Since launching smart receipts in late-2020, 1.2 million have been sent to a customer’s NAB app or via SMS in the last 12 months.

    “Creating seamless digital experiences for our customers is a key investment focus for NAB Ventures and Slyp Smart Receipts has been a perfect fit. The economy is becoming increasingly digitised and Slyp’s technology is creating a more convenient and sustainable experience for our customers,” NAB Ventures managing director Todd Forest said.

    “We’re proud to be an inaugural investor since 2018 and it’s been great to watch the company grow.

    “Since becoming the first major bank to integrate the Slyp solution into our mobile banking just over a year ago, the feedback from NAB customers has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s been really pleasing to see more and more partners sign-up to Slyp and it made the decision to reinvest our next natural move.”

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  • Fintech Rapyd Expands APAC Footprint

    Fintech Rapyd Expands APAC Footprint

    The fintech-as-a-service provider is expanding Greater China coverage and offering company incorporation, business accounts, credit cards, and payments services from a single platform.

    Rapyd has acquired Hong Kong-based Neat, a cross-border trade enabling platform for SMBs and startups, the fintech said a statement on Wednesday.

    Neat’s services, capabilities, and licenses will be integrated into Rapyd’s platform to enable a global trade solution optimized for SMBs, entrepreneurs, and growing young companies, according to a statement, which did not disclose the terms of the deal.

    As SMBs need to go digital and globalize at an even faster rate due to the pandemic, together Neat and Rapyd can help businesses everywhere sell their goods and services in new markets with less complexity, flatten FX fees, to unlock revenue and growth potential that would otherwise be inaccessible to them,» Joel Yarbrough, managing director of Rapyd Ventures and vice president of Asia Pacific, said about the acquisition.

    Rapyd bundles a range of digital payments-related services for businesses, including funds collection, funds payouts, currency transfers, ID verification and card issuing, and brings together over 900 payment methods in over 100 countries. Rapyd’s investors include Stripe, General Catalyst, Oak HC/FT, Coatue, Tiger Global, Durable Capital, Target Global, Fidelity Management and Research Company, Altimeter Capital, BlackRock Funds and Tal Capital.

  • Fintech Funding in Asean Reaches Record High

    Fintech Funding in Asean Reaches Record High

    The region’s fintech firms brought in $3.5 billion in funding in the first nine months of 2021 – up more than three times compared to the whole of 2020.

    The rebound in fintech funding was driven by 167 deals including 13 mega-rounds, which accounted for $2 billion of the total funding, said in the FinTech in ASEAN 2021 report, published by UOB, PwC Singapore, and the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) this week.

    The largest share of funds was channeled into late-stage fintech firms from the payments sector. Predictably, the pandemic was the main catalyst for the resurgence in fintech funding, as accelerating digital adoption across the region prompted a rise in digital payments and a shift towards digital channels within the financial services sector.

    According to the report, the strong interest in late-stage fintech firms signals a shift in the strategy of investors as they take a more cautious and risk-averse approach of backing mature firms that are seen as standing a higher chance of emerging stronger from the pandemic.

    Singapore-based fintech firms continued to attract the strongest funding in Asean, securing 49 percent of the total 167 deals, amounting to $1.6 billion in funding. This includes six mega-rounds worth $972 million in total. Indonesia retained its second position, with $904 million in funding (26 percent), followed by Vietnam at $375 million (11 percent) as a result of two mega-rounds.

    Singapore, in particular, has seen the most robust funding, supported by a growing number of fintech looking to set up their headquarters here due to the strong regulatory support, opportunities for regional collaboration, and a flourishing startup-focused investor ecosystem, Shadab Taiyabi, president at SFA, said in a statement.

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  • Cebu Pacific Enhances Payment Method Features with CellPoint Digital’s Payment Orchestration Platform

    Cebu Pacific Enhances Payment Method Features with CellPoint Digital’s Payment Orchestration Platform

    CellPoint Digital, a fintech leader in payment orchestration, today announces the next leg of its partnership with Cebu Pacific, the largest airline in the Philippines.

    Cebu Pacific is one of the most successful low-cost airlines in the world, having flown over 22 million passengers to over 60 destinations in 2019, with 70% of these bookings being made directly via the carrier’s digital channels.

    Following the successful implementation of CellPoint Digital’s cutting-edge Payment Orchestration Platform, Velocity, across all of Cebu Pacific’s digital channels last year, the airline has now implemented new alternative payment methods to provide more flexible options to their customer’s payment experience. Thanks to the PSP/acquirer agnostic Velocity platform, Cebu Pacific customers will now have access to the following popular payment methods: GCash, GrabPay and PayMaya.

    The new alternative payment methods boast wide-ranging end-user benefits, including enabling split payments between travel fund vouchers and cash, and converting local currencies in real-time. For the airline itself, providing more payment methods should increase revenues, and by optimizing card payment processing across multiple acquirers, they will be able to do real-time transaction monitoring – by market, and by payment method – all delivered conveniently in one place.

    The intelligent routing module already dynamically optimizes the routing of each transaction made via a bespoke network of acquiring banks, thereby maximizing acceptance rates and lowering transaction costs.

    Candice Iyog, Vice-president for Marketing and Customer Experience at Cebu Pacific added: “Our partnership with CellPoint Digital continues to go from strength to strength. As the world begins to open back up and consumers are more used to using flexible digital payment methods than ever before, we’re proud to be able to offer our customers a frictionless customer experience at the checkout by giving them the payment methods they most want to use.”

    Commenting on the announcement Kristian Gjerding, CEO of CellPoint Digital commented: “We’re delighted to announce this evolution in our partnership with Cebu Pacific. Airlines have, by necessity, some of the most complex payment ecosystems of modern merchants, and an equally diverse customer base to match. By utilising our comprehensive payment orchestration platform and having access to a large payments ecosystem, we have simplified the payment process for Cebu while bolstering its offering with popular alternative payment methods for its customers.”

    The news comes as the APAC airline sector gears up to take off again following the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 77% of APAC airline customers ready to travel as soon as restrictions fully ease. Via its access to CellPoint Digital’s growing ecosystem, Cebu Pacific is ready to maximise the payments journey for APAC travellers with payment methods covering over 40 local and global cards, and over 350 alternative payment methods.

    The future is promising for the partnership as the two companies work towards introducing more new features such as stored cards and other popular APMs, while also empowering Cebu’s B2B offering with more payment capabilities.

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  • Billionaire Alibaba founder Jack Ma reappears in Hong Kong

    Billionaire Alibaba founder Jack Ma reappears in Hong Kong

    Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma, largely out of public view since a regulatory clampdown started on his business empire late last year, is currently in Hong Kong and has met business associates in recent days.

    The Chinese billionaire has been keeping a low profile since delivering a speech in October last year in Shanghai criticizing China’s financial regulators. That triggered a chain of events that resulted in the shelving of his Ant Group’s mega IPO.

    While Ma made a limited number of public appearances in mainland China after that, as speculation swirled about his whereabouts, one of the sources said the visit marked his first trip to the Asian financial hub since last October.

    Alibaba did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside of its regular business hours. Comments from Ma typically come via the company.

    Ma, once China’s most famous and outspoken entrepreneur, met at least “a few” business associates over meals last week, said the people.

    Ma, who is mostly based in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, where his business empire is headquartered, owns at least one luxury house in the former British colony that also houses some of his companies’ offshore business operations.

    The former English teacher disappeared from public view for three months before surfacing in January, speaking to a group of teachers by video. That eased concern about his unusual absence from the limelight and sent Alibaba shares surging.

    In May, Ma made a rare visit to Alibaba’s Hangzhou campus during the firm’s annual “Ali Day” staff and family event, company sources have said.

    On Sept. 1, photographs of Ma visiting several agricultural greenhouses in the eastern Zhejiang province, home to both Alibaba and its fintech affiliate Ant, went viral on Chinese social media.

    The next day, Alibaba said it would invest 100 billion yuan ($15.5 billion) by 2025 in support of “common prosperity”, becoming the latest corporate giant to pledge support for the wealth-sharing initiative driven by President Xi Jinping.

    Alibaba and its tech rivals have been the target of a wide-ranging regulatory crackdown on issues ranging from monopolistic behavior to consumer rights. The e-commerce behemoth was fined a record $2.75 billion in April over monopoly violations.

    Earlier this year, regulators also imposed a sweeping restructuring on Ant, whose botched $37 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong and on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR Market would have been the world’s largest.

  • China’s Fintech Crackdown Not Over Yet

    China’s Fintech Crackdown Not Over Yet

    The governor of the country’s central bank said it would be taking more steps to curb monopolistic behavior among internet platform companies and strengthen consumer privacy and data security.

    We will continue to cooperate with anti-monopoly authorities to curb monopolies and actively deal with algorithm discrimination and other new forms of anti-competition behavior, Yi Gang, governor of the People’s Bank of China, said on Thursday.

    Yi added that the country would be strengthening the regulation of the payments sector and require all financial services companies to be licensed, Yi said at a Bank for International Settlements conference.

    According to the governor, financial businesses must be licensed to operate, firewalls must be set up between different parts of the business to prevent cross-sector risks, and the direct link between non-banks and banking information services must be cut.

    China’s once-flourishing fintech industry has been hit by a wave of regulation. State authorities forced Jack Ma’s Ant Group to cancel its much-awaited initial public offering last fall, and peer-to-peer lending, once booming in in the country, is now virtually nonexistent.

    The crackdown has also extended to the wider tech industry, with tightened restrictions in numerous areas such as payment links to financial products, collection of customer data, credit scoring services and overseas listings.

    In recent months, authorities have also introduced new rules to regulate the online gaming, after-school classes, and entertainment sectors.

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  • Philippines’ Union Bank Opens Fintech HQ in Singapore

    Philippines’ Union Bank Opens Fintech HQ in Singapore

    Union Bank’s fintech subsidiary UBX is expanding its operations in Singapore as it eyes growth in Asia.

    UBX, the financial technology venture studio and fund of Union Bank, hopes its Singapore headquarters will be a bridge for startups to enter the Philippine market, according to an announcement on Tuesday.

    Operations will be led by Singapore country head Cryus Cruz, who joined UBX five months ago after over three years at Tokio Marine Insurance Group, where he was regional manager of digital strategy and its innovation lab. He also brings experience from stints at Chubb, Axa, AIG and J.P. Morgan.

    UBX cited the wealth of start-ups and deep fintech talent pool as among the reasons why it is launching in the city-state. It also noted the rapid rise of fintech in financial transactions, and the «significant growth» UBX ventures are experiencing, fueled by the coronavirus pandemic.

    UBX has strategically set up an office here to contribute to, and benefit from the established ecosystem. This will not only expand our network, it’ll also help us learn from different companies in the country, Cruz said.

    UBX previously partnered with the Monetary Authority of Singapore in its Business Sans Borders (BSB) project.

  • Fintech Startup Aspire Sets Sights on Southeast Asia’s Digital Economy

    Fintech Startup Aspire Sets Sights on Southeast Asia’s Digital Economy

    The Singapore-based neobank has raised a $158 million led by renown VCs and fintech founders.

    Aspire is looking to double down on existing markets, while building the foundations to serve growing business clients across the whole South East Asia region, the firm said in an announcement on Monday.

    The oversubscribed funding round consisted of $58 million in equity and $100 million in debt. It was led by an undisclosed global growth equity firm, together with DST Global Partners, CE Innovation Fund, B Capital Partners and global hedge fund Fasanara Capital. Existing investors including Hummingbird Ventures, Mass Mutual Ventures, Picus Capital, and AFG, as well as a number of individual investors also participated.

    The company also operates in in Indonesia and Vietnam and is laying the groundwork for expansion into other Southeast Asian markets.

    Founded in 2018, Aspire provides an all-in-one finance operating system, which incorporates accounting, payroll, invoice management, FX, credit solutions, and banking. It serves more than 10,000 business accounts, which transact a total of around $2 billion annually, doubling in five months from May.

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  • Singapore-Based Fintech Thunes Makes Strategic Appointments

    Singapore-Based Fintech Thunes Makes Strategic Appointments

    The fintech startup has made a pair of executive hires to support its global growth strategy. Thunes has appointed Irina Chuchkina as chief marketing officer and Babul Balakrishnan as head of customer care, who will both be based in Singapore, the global cross-border payments firm said on Tuesday.

    Fintech marketing leader Chuchkina, who is also an Executive Committee Member in the Singapore Fintech Association, brings over 15 years of experience in the payments and technology space in Europe and Asia, including at Rapyd, Grab and Visa. She will lead Thunes’ global marketing strategy.

    Balakrishnan has over two decades of experience across various industries with a focus on customer service and customer experience. He joins from telco StarHub, where he was AVP of customer experience operations. He will work with the various business units to elevate customer care into customer experience across Thunes’ partner network.

    The appointments follow the announcement of Thunes’ acquisition of Europe payments platform Limonetik, to complement its cross-border payments solutions. The company has also made several other strategic hires the last 12 months to support its expansion plans.

    Launched in 2016, Thunes is headquartered in Singapore and operates regional offices in London, Shanghai, New York, Dubai, and Nairobi. In September 2020, it raised $60 million in a Series B funding round led by Africa-focused Helios Investment Partners.

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  • Fintech Finder to Pursue Regional Growth Opportunities

    Fintech Finder to Pursue Regional Growth Opportunities

    The company, which purchased Singapore-based financial comparison platform GoBear earlier this year, has appointed a chief growth officer, who will play a critical role in its global expansion.

    Australia-headquartered Finder has appointed strategic business executive Jinnee Lim to the role of chief growth officer – Southeast Asia, effective immediately, the fintech announced on Tuesday.

    Lim brings over 15 years of experience in corporate strategy, business development, and strategic transformation. She was previously chief strategy officer at GoBear, and was involved in the sale of its marketplace assets to Finder. She has also held several regional positions at UBS, most recently as Asia Pacific head of client programs and segments, and at Boston Consulting Group.

    In her new role, Lim will work closely with Finder’s global executive team to identify and pursue new growth opportunities in the region. Her immediate focus will be ramping up Finder’s key capabilities in content creation, marketing, and partnerships, the announcement said.

    Finder finalized its purchase of the GoBear brand across seven markets: Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, in April this year. The deal comprised trademark and digital assets including domains, website content, and social channels but did not include operations and staff.

    Finder currently has offices in Australia, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Poland, and the Philippines, and plans to open an office in Singapore in the near future.

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  • Fintechs Challenge Traditional FIs in Malaysia Digital Bank Race

    Fintechs Challenge Traditional FIs in Malaysia Digital Bank Race

    A crowded field of contenders are vying for the five licenses on offer by Bank Negara Malaysia. The race for digital banking licenses digital banking license is heating up, with more than a dozen applications involving over 50 companies submitted before the closing date on Wednesday.

    With the exception of a few players, most of the digital banking aspirants have not publicized their aspirations. However, a Grab-Singtel joint venture and Singapore-based investment solutions firm iFAST Corporation confirmed their applications on Thursday.

    The notification on the grant of the license will be made by the first quarter of 2020, Bank Negara Malaysia said.

    Among the contenders are also Malaysian conglomerate Sunway, which teamed up with Tencent-backed Chinese firm Linklogis and Bangkok Bank. Likely applications also include e-commerce giant Sea Group, gaming company Razer Fintech and telco Axiata, which previously expressed an interest in the license.

    At least five banks — CIMB Group Holdings, Affin Bank, Hong Leong Bank, AMMB Holdings and Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia — had signaled their interest in pursuing a digital banking licence in Malaysia.

    AirAsia’s fintech unit BigPay also announced its bid for a license on Thursday. The company is partnering with Malaysian Industrial Development Finance – a unit of the country’s largest asset manager Permodalan Nasional – and Singapore-based private equity firm Ikhlas Capital.

    BigPay was launched in 2018 by AirAsia as an e-wallet, hoping to leverage the low-cost carrier’s dominance in regional air travel in Southeast Asia.

    BigPay Bank will allow us to execute deeper on our mission to build a connected financial future for Malaysian consumers and entrepreneurs, Salim Dhanani, CEO and founder of BigPay, said in the announcement.

  • Malaysia’s AirAsia applies for digital banking license

    Malaysia’s AirAsia applies for digital banking license

    Malaysian budget airline AirAsia Group Bhd said on Thursday its fintech unit has bid for a digital banking license in the country as part of a consortium.

    BigPay, the unit, has partnered with Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Berhad – a unit of the country’s largest asset manager Permodalan Nasional Bhd – and private equity firm Ikhlas Capital.

    Singapore-based Ikhlas was founded by Nazir Razak, the former chairman of CIMB Group Holdings.

    The consortium also includes a foreign conglomerate with fintech expertise, AirAsia said in a statement.

    Citing sources, Reuters reported earlier on Thursday that AirAsia and its partners were among the bidders for up to five digital banking licences that the Malaysian central bank has said it will issue by early 2022.

    Other bidders include a joint venture between ride-hailing-to-fintech group Grab and Singtel, telecoms operator Axiata and a consortium backed by Chinese tech firm Tencent.

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  • Fintech startup gets $2 mln seed funding from global investors

    Fintech startup gets $2 mln seed funding from global investors

    Vietnamese fintech startup Infina has raised $2 million in seed funding from five global venture capitalists.

    The investors are Japan’s Saison Capital, Indonesia’s Venturra Discovery, Singapore’s 1982 Ventures, the U.S.’s 500 Startups, and Korea’s Nextrans.

    Some Google and Netflix executives are also taking part in this round.

    The startup has developed an investment app called Infina that enables users to make term deposits, invest in certificates of deposit and exchange traded funds. Most users are between the ages of 25 to 40 and looking for alternatives to investing in long-term asset classes like real estate.

    The seed funding will be used to increase the number of users and diversify the investment portfolio, and hire experts to analyze customers’ risk preferences.

    It plans to expand into other countries in future, but for the time being is focused on the Vietnamese market.

    The company said that around 500,000 securities trading accounts were opened in the first five months of 2021, a 20 percent year-on-year increase, according to the Vietnam Securities Depository.

    This along with Vietnam’s high Internet penetration rate, which was at around 70 percent as of January, and the fact that more than three-fourths of Internet users have used online financial services before, enable apps like Infina to gain traction.

    Infina was launched in January 2021 by James Vuong, who used to be an engineer in the U.S.’s Silicon Valley before returning to Vietnam to serve as vice president of investment at Vietnam’s first venture capital fund IDG Ventures.

    Vuong said many Internet users began using digital services, including for investments, with the interest rate cuts by the central bank to help businesses cope with Covid-19 prompting many investors to look for alternatives with higher returns than bank deposits.

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  • Singapore Fintech Association Launches Networking Club

    Singapore Fintech Association Launches Networking Club

    The initiative aims to foster deeper social engagements among local fintech professionals and corporates and enhance the vibrancy of the industry ecosystem.

    Members of Singapore’s fintech community can look forward to more industry networking, upskilling opportunities, and lifestyle privileges with the launch of the SG Fintech Club by the Singapore Fintech Association and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

    Among its programs are talent matchmaking sessions, industry expert mentorship programs, and masterclasses organized by SFA. The Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) and J.P. Morgan have also been brought on board to curate skills and career development events, the announcement said.

    The rapid shift towards digital acceleration and increasing competition in the ecosystem has made it more urgent for fintech professionals to stay relevant, connected and competitive, Damien Pang, MAS deputy chief fintech officer, said in the announcement.

    He said he hopes the club will help build a tight-knit community of talents, facilitate more collaboration within the industry and bring more value to the fintech ecosystem.

    The lineup of events for the next month is already packed, and includes fireside chats with fintech founders, strategy sessions, and masterclasses. Find out more at https://club.singaporefintech.org.