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Tag: FinTech

  • Fintech Lightnet Partners Swiss Crypto Bank

    Fintech Lightnet Partners Swiss Crypto Bank

    The Singapore joint venture will serve both retail and institutional investors from the globe with a more transparent and secure settlement solution.

    Bangkok-based fintech Lightnet’s partnership with SEBA will strengthen its remittance settlement capabilities and provide a seamless, secure and accessible bridge between digital and traditional assets, as it sets its sights on the region’s remittance market.

    Under the memorandum of understanding signed by both parties, SEBA will serve as the banking counterparty for the Lightnet Group, enabling settlements, correspondences and remittances in both fiat and digital currencies, an announcement on Tuesday said. Zug-based SEBA will also act as an alternative settlement banking network, account and custodian as well as the settlement bank for money transfer operators (MTOs) in digital currencies.

    Asia is a promising market not only because of its size but especially because of the affinity of the people towards digital services and digital assets, Matthew Alexander, head of asset tokenization of Seba Bank, said about the partnership.

    Lightnet said it will use a blockchain financial protocol developed by Velo Labs, a decentralized credit and settlement network in Asia, to transform remittance services for the millions of unbanked migrant workers across Southeast Asia, which is currently characterized by high transaction fees, fragmentation and unreliable payment routes.

    The company said it also plans to introduce multi-currency virtual accounts to address the inefficiencies of global trade finance.

    Lightnet was co-founded in 2018 by Chatchaval Jiaravanon – a family member of the Charoen Pokphand group in Thailand – and tech entrepreneur and former investment banker Tridbodi Arunanondchai. Earlier this year, the startup raised $31.2 million in a Series A funding round led by UOB Venture Management, the private equity unit of UOB Bank.

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  • Mastercard to Support Scottish Fintech’s APAC Expansion

    Mastercard to Support Scottish Fintech’s APAC Expansion

    Mastercard has announced an expanded strategic partnership with Eedenbull to cover the Asia Pacific as the Scottish fintech eyes a slice of the region’s business-to-business payments market.

    Building on its partnership in Europe, Eedenbull will leverage Mastercard’s advisory experience, commercial solutions, and network of customers and partners as it rolls out its new commercial cards platform to banks in the region, the announcement on Tuesday said.

    Based in Norway, Scotland, and Singapore, EedenBull is a technology-agnostic innovation company built by banking, payment, and technology professionals. It operates a spend management platform to digitize the slow and costly processing of checks and cash.

    «While payment products and services are now more user-friendly, product management is growing more complex and requires access to specialists in marketing, revenue management, IT, legal, regulatory, and many other areas,» Nicki Bull Bisgaard, CEO EedenBull, said in the statement.

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  • Australian Wealth Fintech Eyes Growth

    Australian Wealth Fintech Eyes Growth

    Picture Wealth has completed a A$12 million equity and debt funding round, at it sets its sights on reinventing the country’s financial advisory and superannuation landscape.

    The fast-growing company has completed late-seed funding round and acquired 100 percent of financial services licensee NEO Financial Solutions (NFS) for an undisclosed sum, it announced on Friday on its blog.

    With the acquisition, NFS managing director Mark Edman will become chief operating officer, and give the group a combined footprint of 94 advisers and $2 billion in funds under advice.

    We felt acquiring NFS with its robust compliance protocols was the way forward so that we could offer advisers and their clients a new home amidst very turbulent market conditions, said Pettit in the statement.

    Picture Wealth was co-founded in 2018 by chairman Neal Cross, who was previously DBS Bank’s innovation chief, and CEO David Pettit, a private wealth entrepreneur, aiming to use technology to empower people to understand and manage their finances.

    The hybrid wealth manager brings together digital automation and licensed, human financial advisers to provide users with personalized actions and insights based on their financial profile. It highlights gaps and opportunities to grow their wealth, and helps users with the changes required for them to reach their targets. It also has an adviser side, which allows the needs and expectations of clients to be met through structured servicing protocols and bespoke financial advice.

    It now has revenues of A$20m, A$2 billion of funds under advice and over 40,000 clients.

    As others are running out of the industry, we are running in…We have the technology, the business model and the people behind us to make a significant dent in the wealth industry in Australia, Cross said in an interview.

    Australia’s wealth management industry was shaken up with the Hayne royal commission into misconduct, leading the big four banks to exit the sector.

  • Regional Fintech Startups Open HQ in Singapore

    Regional Fintech Startups Open HQ in Singapore

    Ayannah and Equity Capital Advisors will merge their businesses in India, the Philippines and Indonesia to form Ayannah Global, headquartered in Singapore.

    Philippines-based digital financial services provider Ayannah and India-based payments company Electronic Cash and Payment Solutions (ECAPS) have announced a merger to support their goal of providing affordable and accessible digital financial services to the growing middle class in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

    The new entity will serve over 10 million customers through mobile apps and a growing network of over 60,000 retail touchpoints, Ayannah Global announced on Tuesday. The company caters to underbanked customers in the two regions using a suite of fintech solutions through agent networks for remittances, payments, insurance and loans.

    The group currently operates a rapidly growing remittance and payment business in India and the Philippines, and recently launched Kaya, a digital marketplace connecting middle-class customers and SME entrepreneurs with banks, lenders and insurers in the Philippines and will launch versions in India, Indonesia and Vietnam later this year.

    The company also appointed veteran banker Ray Ferguson as chairman of the Ayannah Global board. Ferguson has over 30 years of banking experience across five continents and has held senior roles in Standard Chartered Bank, including as CEO in Taiwan, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, the Americas and Singapore.

    He was also group chief banking officer at Arab Banking Corporation in Bahrain. Ferguson is based in Singapore, where he also chairs digital life insurer Singapore Life. He is also the founding partner of Caber Partners, a Singapore-based fund manager and advisory firm that focuses exclusively on the intersection of finance and technology.

    Ayannah’s new Singapore headquarters will support the company’s expansion plans, talent acquisition, and strategic partnership, the announcement said. It is also targeting $30 million to $50 million in its series B funding round to support its growth ambitions in new markets.

    Widespread smartphone usage across our target markets provides a ripe landscape for a financial inclusion revolution, while the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the demand for at-your-fingertips financial services, Praveen Suri, Ayannah Global co-chief executive officer, said.

    The firm is backed by venture capital firms Wavemaker Partners, Golden Gate Ventures, and 500 StartUps, as well as several large family offices across Asia.

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  • Fintech Startup GoBear Adds Digital Lending via Acquisition

    Fintech Startup GoBear Adds Digital Lending via Acquisition

    Financial product comparison platform GoBear acquired AsiaKredit in a bid cover Asia’s alluring unbanked segment.

    Singapore-based AsiaKredit was acquired at an undisclosed amount following an announcement by GoBear in May last year that it raised around $80 million to date from two Dutch companies – asset manager Aegon and VC firm Wallis Participaties.

    AsiaKredit provides financial products to the underserved in the Philippines with a mobile app – pera247 – that boasts over 1 million loan applications. GoBear will look to leverage AsiaKredit’s risk management and automation capabilities in data-driven underwriting and collections to establish «end-to-end lending».

    Credit access to consumers is due for increased importance in 2020 developing countries faced significant growth slowdowns, the firm said.

    The fintech promise for the unbanked is to provide and manage sound lending to those that aren’t linked to the formal banking system – a market Bain & Company estimates has 296 million people in Southeast Asia alone. The region is home to most of GoBear’s businesses which have operations in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

    Through its latest acquisition, GoBear will look to provide connect consumers to its over 100-strong banking network which includes the likes of HSBC, Standard Chartered and Citi.

    The establishment of industry-leading lending business is a critical component of GoBear’s strategy to support our banking partners in providing loans to the many underserved consumers in Asia,» reiterated GoBear CEO Adrian Chng.

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  • Fintech Helps Boost Hong Kong’s Tech Hub Ranking

    Fintech Helps Boost Hong Kong’s Tech Hub Ranking

    Financial technology, alongside other developments, helped boost Hong Kong’s ranking as a tech innovation hub to tenth place worldwide in the latest KPMG survey.

    Hong Kong’s ranking improved from 12th place last year, according to the KPMG report which surveyed 800 global leaders from the tech industry from 12 countries, including 110 respondents from China. In addition to fintech, the outlook is bright for development in artificial intelligence, biotech, and smart cities especially due to opportunities to leverage synergies from closer integration with the mainland such as the Greater Bay Area strategy.

    The Hong Kong government is supporting and promoting an entrepreneur ecosystem, as well as leveraging the city’s mature international financial system and advanced logistics sector to drive a real difference, said Irene Chu, KPMG China’s partner and head of new economy & life sciences in Hong Kong, in a release.

    Although China is home to four top 20 tech hubs including Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the country’s overall rating dropped. The country was ranked second by 13 percent of respondents, down from 17 percent last year and tied with India.

    In contrast, the 28 percent of respondents placed the U.S. in the top rank, up from 23 percent last year. And in order for China to close this gap moving forward, it must now spend more resources on its own domestic innovation ecosystem due to the current American policy stance on technology and intellectual property.

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  • Standard Chartered Hires Fintech Leader

    Standard Chartered Hires Fintech Leader

    The bank is bringing on board a fintech evangelist, who will focus on strengthening data analytics and channel capabilities at its transaction banking business.

    Standard Chartered has announced that fintech leader Kahina Van Dyke has joined its Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking division (CCIB) team in Singapore as global head, digital channels, and client data analytics. Her career in financial services spans more than two decades, during which she focused on the access and delivery of financial services worldwide.

    She previously spent just under two years at blockchain payments company Ripple, where she was senior vice president of business and corporate development. She also held executive roles at Facebook, MasterCard, and Citi.

    She moves to Singapore for her new role and reports to CCIB chief executive Simon Cooper. She will also be a part of the CCIB management team, the statement said.

    The move signals the bank’s continued commitment to building its digital capabilities as fintech players continue to encroach on its turf, especially in Asia. In January Standard Chartered announced the appointment of Rene Keller as a chief information officer, CCIB.

    Projects to boost its tech capabilities include a mobile token rolled out for corporate clients in more than 38 markets; the joining of the Enterprise Etherium Alliance to develop blockchain research and application in banking; and a new venture with five other banks to address unmet financing demand from the early stages of supply chains.

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  • Fintech Software Provider Opens APAC HQ in Singapore

    Fintech Software Provider Opens APAC HQ in Singapore

    The firm is opening a regional center to be closer to clients and strengthen its footprint in Asia Pacific on the back of rising demand for fintech services.

    Digital software provider Backbase is expanding to Asia Pacific with the opening of its regional headquarters in Singapore, the company announced in a statement on Tuesday.

    The Netherlands-based firm provides customized digital tools for SME banking, corporate banking, retail banking and wealth management, and counts global banks including Citibank, HSBC, Barclays, and Goldman Sachs as its clients. In the announcement, the firm said the APAC office will give the Backbase «access to specialized workers, shared innovation, and proximity to related professional services in the fintech industry.»

    CEO Jouk Pleiter said Backbase currently has 12 «very strategic» customers in the region, and is recruiting and onboarding digital talent for digital transformation projects across the region.

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  • Shanghai Seeks Fintech Hub Status in Five Years

    Shanghai Seeks Fintech Hub Status in Five Years

    The Shanghai government announced a series of policies to motivate firms and talent while formally challenging the similar ambitions of nearby Hangzhou.

    Shanghai’s municipal government is taking an admittedly expedited path, according to a report citing a statement, to becoming a fintech center and will accelerate this development through a series of incentives including a tax cut on related tech firms to 15 percent (from 25 percent) and attractive housing and medical benefits to lure talent.

    Ant Financial, Hangzhou’s homegrown fintech pioneer, also announced yesterday that it would host a fintech conference to support Shanghai’s efforts with expectations to draw up to 30,000 global attendees. The «INCLUSION» conference held in late April will cover themes such as the global digital economy, digital finance, innovative technology, commerce and cities, and sustainability.

    Shanghai’s plans parallel that of Hangzhou’s which is also aiming to be a major hub in the field. In May last year, its local government delivered a plan in to transform the city into a global fintech center by 2030 while leveraging the sector to provide 120 billion yuan ($17.4 billion) in added value to the economy by 2022.

  • Fintech Firm Partners Alipay for Remittances

    Fintech Firm Partners Alipay for Remittances

    Tranglo will facilitate cross-border remittances to users of Alipay, who will be able to receive quick and secure money transfers within the app. Southeast Asian Fintech company Tranglo is partnering payment and lifestyle giant Alipay on cross-border remittances, the firm announced on Thursday on its blog.

    Tranglo said the service enables more inclusive money transfers across borders to a range of customers and hopes the service will be able to benefit Asian migrant workers, who frequently send money back home. The company already has a number of partnerships with local partners.

    Tranglo called it a significant milestone, noting Alipay’s user base of more than 1.2 billion customers globally, together with its local e-wallet partners.

    Founded in Malaysia in 2008, Tranglo operates a cross-border payment hub that provides smart services for mobile airtime top-ups, as well as foreign remittance and business payments.

    The firm’s remittance service works in 21 currencies and has 1,300 payout partners. As of 2019, it has processed $4.66 billion in transfers, according to its website. The company has offices in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, U.A.E., London and Jakarta.

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  • UOB Invests in Thai Fintech

    UOB Invests in Thai Fintech

    The funds will be invested into the Stellar Network, the blockchain technology underlying Lightnet’s platform, as well as to build a «next-generation financial mobility network.»

    Bangkok-based fintech Lightnet has raised $31.2 million in a Series A funding round led by UOB Venture Management, the private equity unit of UOB, the firm announced in a statement on Friday.

    Other backers include Seven Bank, Uni-President Asset Holdings, HashKey Capital, Hopeshine Ventures, Signum Capital, Du Capital and Hanwha Investment and Securities.

    According to its website, the company aims to disrupt the global remittance market by using smart contracts and distributed ledgers to replace the SWIFT system and underground banking. It is currently focusing on the millions of unbanked migrant workers in Southeast Asia, which rely on costly, slow, and fragmented services for cross-border remittances.

    Lightnet was co-founded by Chatchaval Jiaravanon – a family member of the Charoen Pokphand Group in Thailand – and tech entrepreneur and former investment banker Tridbodi Arunanondchai.

    «We project that within three years, Lightnet will facilitate over $50 billion worth of annual transactions through our industry-leading partner network,» Arunanondchai said.

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  • Singapore Fintech Eyes Middle East

    Singapore Fintech Eyes Middle East

    The acquiring business in Dubai is one of the first initiatives the firm has in the pipeline for the Middle East.

    MoovPay has entered into a global’s exclusive partnership with China’s UnionPay International (UPI) for cross-border cashless payment services in the Middle East, the firm announced in a press release on Wednesday.

    As part of the agreement, businesses in the Arab world will be able to use UPI’s range of payment methods, which are commonly used in China, to make payments through MoovPay’s online payment solutions.

    «Our Dubai office will serve as a bridge between the Middle East and Asia Pacific, as well as a springboard for expansion into Europe, helping European merchants tap into both the Middle East and Chinese markets, particularly in e-commerce and mobile applications,» Moovpay CEO Ryan Gwee said about the firm’s ambitions in the region.

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  • China Starts Fintech Regulation Pilot Program

    China Starts Fintech Regulation Pilot Program

    The program is part of the country’s efforts to create a more prudent and inclusive supervisory framework for the fintech sector.

    The People’s Bank of China is working with Beijing Municipality on a pilot program that will see it experiment with various oversight tools and regulatory guidelines in the fintech sector, the central bank announced in a statement.

    The pilot, which will explore fintech innovation regulatory tools «consistent with China’s realities and connected to international standards» will test flexible management procedures to make fintech regulation «more professional, unified and effective» and help financial institutions leverage technology to raise the quality and efficiency of financial services, the statement said.

    Last month, Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, said the introduction of new standards is urgently needed to fill shortcomings in key areas, with a particular focus on data security.

    Under a fintech development plan released by the central bank in August, China aims to build a framework for fintech development by 2021. The calls for control of cyber risks and protection of financial information in the application of fintech.

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  • Vietnam second among ASEAN members in attracting fintech funding

    Vietnam second among ASEAN members in attracting fintech funding

    Vietnam’s fintech firms secured $410 million, or 36 percent of the global capital pouring into Southeast Asia between January and September, behind Singapore.

    The country’s share of regional venture capital funding devoted to fintech soared from just 0.4 percent in 2018, according to a report prepared by the United Overseas Bank (UOB), PwC and the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA).

    Singapore remained the top destination for regional fintech investment, with 51 percent, down from 53 percent in 2018, with Indonesia in third place with 12 percent, down from 37 percent last year.

    ASEAN Fintech Funding 2019PercentageSingaporeVietnamIndonesiaOthersSource: Tracxn

    By the end of the third quarter this year, ASEAN had received $1.14 billion in funding for fintech firms, up sharply from $35 million in 2014, the report said.

    The surge in investments in Vietnam this year is attributable to two large deals, both in digital payments. In July, digital payment firm VNpay received $300 million in investment from Japanese multinational conglomerate SoftBank and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC.

    And in January, e-payment app MOMO Pay landed $100 million from investors led by American private equity firm Warburg Pincus in its Series C funding round. The two deals accounted for 98 percent of Vietnam’s total fintech funding in the first nine months.

    In terms of the number of funding deals in 2019, Vietnam came third in ASEAN at 8 percent of total deals, up from 2 percent in 2018, behind Singapore and Indonesia with 51 percent and 28 percent respectively.

  • Singapore Fintech SaaS Raises $3 Million for Expansion

    Singapore Fintech SaaS Raises $3 Million for Expansion

    The AI-backed platform hopes to expand to the U.K. and Hong Kong and has already started testing in those markets.

    Osome, a Singapore-based business services firm that aims to digitize traditional corporate management processes, has secured $3 million in funding led by Target Global, with participation from Phystech Venture and AdFirst, the company announced on its blog on Tuesday.

    The raise follows $2 million secured in December 2018 for product development and market testing in Australia and Hong Kong. It was also led by Target Global, a venture capital firm based in Berlin, Germany, with 700 million euros in assets under management.

    Osome is led by Singapore-based serial entrepreneur Victor Lysenko, who has two exits as CEO and founder: Russian neobank Rocketbank and Groupon Russia.

    The firm uses a cloud-based platform to help business owners and entrepreneurs with legal compliance and tasks such as payroll, accounting, taxation, company formation, and filing reports.

    Launched in 2018, the firm has already amassed 2,300 customers in Singapore. It now has its eyes on other global financial centers.

    «The company’s exponential growth in Singapore both in terms of revenue and customer base validates the business model and represents a solid ground for further growth both inside and outside of the region,» said Phystech Ventures partner Olga Maslikhova.

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