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Tag: Singapore

  • Singtel signs cross-promotion deal with GOJEK

    Singtel signs cross-promotion deal with GOJEK

    Singtel has inked a new partnership with ride hailing company GOJEK aimed at cross-marketing their offerings and providing perks to users and drivers.

    Under the agreement, Singtel will offer GOJEK drivers who subscribe to its Combo mobile plans data-free usage while using GOJEK, as well as a 20% discount on their subscription costs and a complementary caller ID service.

    Meanwhile new and existing customers of Singtel’s digital focused GOMO plan will receive ride hailing credits worth S$5 ($3.67), and all Singtel customers will be offered other ride hailing perks.

    “With this partnership with GOJEK, we are taking our business and customer relationships to the next level, beyond just providing traditional carriage and connectivity,” Singtel CEO consumer Singapore Yuen Kuan Moon said.

    “While our customers have come to expect reliable and comprehensive mobile coverage from us, they are always looking for more value and this we can extend in the form of perks and privileges that come from mutually-beneficial partnerships.”

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  • Singapore Banks’ FX Volumes Pushed Up

    Singapore Banks’ FX Volumes Pushed Up

    Singapore banks will enjoy increased FX volumes going forward as the country grows as a foreign exchange (FX hub), banking heads said.

    «Singapore is fast evolving into a natural hub for FX in Asia with the many initiatives to promote FX trading in the region, coupled with regulatory support to encourage key market participants to set up their pricing and matching engines in Singapore,» said Lim Wee Kian, DBS managing director, head of FX.

    «FX trading activities and volumes in Singapore have increased over the past few years due to several reasons including the strong economic growth of Asia and a larger share of global investment flows into the region,» said Jose Luis Yepez, Citi head of FX and local markets, Asia-Pacific, Singapore.

    Plus, there is significant growth in the wealth management industry in the region, added Yepez. Despite the slight decline in assets under management (AUM) from $1.69 trillion to $1.63 trillion last year, Asia’s private banks have enjoyed a 6.9 percent compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, according to data from the Asian Private Banker.

    Last year, DBS Bank reported that its consumer banking/ wealth management income rose 21 percent to S$ 5.65 billion from increases in all product categories, despite a dip in the segment’s income during the fourth quarter last year. In the FX spot space, Southeast Asia’s largest bank saw strong growth, with spot volumes for 2016, 2017 and 2018 growing by 20 percent, 28 percent and 45 percent, year-on-year,  respectively, said Lim.

    «Digitisation of DBS’ FX transactions was a key driver of the strong growth in FX volumes, which started from a lower base, coupled with the strong traction from all remittance corridors of our consumer banking group and wealth management business,»  said Lim.

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  • Singapore Airlines Partners With Payments Platform

    Singapore Airlines Partners With Payments Platform

    Singapore Airlines has partnered with an Amsterdam-listed payments provider to optimize its payment processes. Payments platform Adyen will improve the experience of booking tickets online or in-app for Singapore Airlines’ customers. The payment platform also helps its customers improve authorization rates, provide flexibility on fraud risk management and richer data insights.

    «For Singapore Airlines, best-in-class customer service begins with the booking,» said Warren Hayashi, President of Adyen, Asia-Pacific. «At Adyen, we have seen that payments data can be the jet fuel that powers global expansion for airlines.  Payments data remains a valuable resource for companies who seek to understand their customers better and improve revenue,» Hayashi added.

    The partnership will center on Adyen’s solutions to optimize Singapore Airlines’ payments process. This includes the use of Adyen’s direct credit card acquiring capabilities which eliminates the need to run payments across multiple third-party platforms, increasing the airline’s payment authorization rate by leveraging on their solutions.

    Amsterdam-listed Adyen provides a modern end-to-end infrastructure connecting directly to Visa, Mastercard, and consumers’ globally preferred payment methods. It has offices across the world, serving customers such as Facebook, Uber, Spotify, Cathay Pacific, Grab, Klook, Lorna Jane, Freelancer.com, Kogan.com and Showpo.

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  • UBS Signs for New Office Lease in Singapore

    UBS Signs for New Office Lease in Singapore

    UBS will move to 9 Penang Road, where the firm will take up all eight floors of office space at the redeveloped Park Mall building.

    UBS Singapore has signed a lease to take up all the office space of the redeveloped Park Mall building at 9 Penang Road, developer SingHaiyi Group and its joint venture (JV) partners Suntec Reit and Haiyi Holdings announced on Wednesday in a press release.

    The firm, which was mulling over a move to consolidate its One Raffles Quay and Suntec City offices in Singapore, will occupy 381,000 square feet of office space across two towers and eight floors at the development, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year. UBS will relocate there in the second half of 2020.

    The 10-storey grade A office building located at the gateway to the Orchard Road shopping belt and close to the Civic District and CBD will house the firm’s 4,000 Singapore employees, as well as its UBS University, which provides training and development programmes for employees across the region.

    «The move will allow us to bring employees currently working at One Raffles Quay and Suntec City under one roof to enhance collaboration, as well as offer new capacity for future growth in Asia Pacific,» August Hatecke, country head of UBS Singapore, said in the press release.

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  • Tiger Street Lab expands brand from beer to fashion and more

    Tiger Street Lab expands brand from beer to fashion and more

    Tiger creates experiential space. Tiger Beer has unveiled Tiger Street Lab at Singapore’s Jewel Changi – billed as the brand’s first global experiential concept store.

    Tiger Street Lab expands the brand beyond beverages into food, fashion and design, in an ‘open-air’ space overlooking the world’s tallest indoor waterfall at the heart of the new shopping centre.

    “As a brand born and brewed in Singapore, we are excited to debut the Tiger Street Lab concept at Jewel, which we believe is set to become the next Singapore icon,” said Faye Wee, marketing director at Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore.

    “Jewel will be a place where Singapore meets the world and the world will meet Singapore, and we are proud to be one of the local brands that will fly Singapore’s flag high. With Tiger Street Lab, we have created an experience that represents Singapore that locals can be proud of on an international stage, leaving it up to Singapore talents to decide what that should look like,” she said.

    The Tiger Street Lab menu was created in collaboration with local music and F&B group, Timbre and Zi Char mainstay, Keng Eng Kee (KEK) Seafood.

    In addition to the beer and food, visitors can get creative at Tiger Street Lab.

    Featuring interactive touchscreens powered by digital print innovation, customers can select a series of unconventional designs exclusive to Tiger Street Lab to personalise their own beer bottle labels. The customisation station is equipped with on-the-spot printing, enabling visitors to make their picks an instant reality.

    The overall experience will be complemented by contemporary local designs featuring the iconic tiger motif. Recruited via Tiger Beer’s Roar Collective platform, emerging local artists Cyntherea Tan, Esther Goh, Chris Chai, and creative studio Tell Your Children, created artwork to provide an inspirational ambience at the Tiger Street Lab.

    Tiger Street Lab is open daily from 9am to 3am.

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  • Bossini Singapore opens new store concept at Jewel Changi

    Bossini Singapore opens new store concept at Jewel Changi

    Bossini Singapore opened a new store concept at Jewel Changi today. The fashion retailer says shoppers can look forward to an enhanced visual and shopping experience in the new store.

    The interior is fitted out with materials that resemble nature while walls are fitted with LED TV screens and an interactive Lego panel for further engagement.

    The entrance is designed with three-dimensional LED lights for an inviting shop-front.

    The store will carry athleisure wear, windbreakers, jogger pants and quick-dry tops and regularly changing collaborative capsules. Past such collaborations include Disney characters featuring on an extensive and fun range of t-shirts, jackets, dresses and bottoms for both adults and kids.

    Local souvenirs for tourists are also in the pipeline.

    Bossini Singapore opens new store concept at Jewel Changi

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  • Starbucks opens its largest store in Singapore

    Starbucks opens its largest store in Singapore

    Starbucks Singapore has opened its largest store yet.

    Operating in Jewel Changi, the two-storey flagship store will serve a mix of quality coffee experiences and localised offerings.

    Upon entry, visitors are greeted by a layered wooden storefront, inspired by the textures of coffee-farm landscapes. At the front and centre of the store stands a sprawling coffee bar shaped like a coffee bean. It is designed with cross-sectional honeycomb patterns carved on the wooden material for added texture.

    “Our Starbucks Jewel flagship store brings to life our vision for the Starbucks brand in Singapore – with the depth of our coffee expertise, our strength in store design and experience, and our pipeline of meaningful product innovations to elevate the customer experience – this is the epitome of our coffee leadership in Singapore,” said Starbucks Singapore GM Patrick Kwok.

    Beyond the exclusive local menu at the flagship, the space pays tribute to the whole coffee journey in the duplex’s lush indoor landscaping, polished interiors and artisanal woodwork. The bar features the VA388 Black Eagle Espresso Machine – a familiar sight at the World Barista Championships – which allows the barista full control over the consistency and precision in every aspect of a coffee, from bean ratio to brewing time and water temperature.

    To reinforce the local touch to the menu, Starbucks Singapore has also partnered with homegrown ice-cream parlour Udders. Dessert fans can take their pick from a series of coffees paired with ice cream, including a classic affogato.

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  • Kipling opens Two New Stores in Singapore

    Kipling opens Two New Stores in Singapore

    Kipling Singapore is opening two concept stores this month – one at the new Jewel Changi shopping centre, the other at Ion Orchard. The openings come as the Belgian accessories brand refreshes its logo and shifts direction towards what it describes as “closer to its origins, one that is cool, gender inclusive, and authentic to Kipling’s roots”. In a statement, Kipling Singapore says refreshed bag designs will appeal to a larger target group – “millennials of both genders”.

    Both new stores feature product zones with an ‘icon wall’ showing off Kipling’s most popular products and the Jewel Changi store includes a space displaying bags for travellers.

    The Ion Orchard store features a ‘Make It Personal’ corner, where shoppers can customise their bags by adding charms, straps, key rings and stencils.

    The Jewel Changi Kipling store opened last week, while the one at Ion Orchard will open on Friday (April 26).

    Paying tribute to Kipling’s history, monkey elements will feature in all new stores globally, including a monkey mural painted in collaboration with local artists from each city.

    “The monkey murals capture and tell their stories as a bridge between the city and customers,” said a Kipling Singapore spokesperson.

    In Singapore, the brand collaborated with local artist and illustrator Tiffany Lovage for its mural at Jewel Changi Airport, and with popular local Singaporean art collective Tell Your Children at Ion Orchard.

    Headquartered in Antwerp, Kipling is owned by US-listed VF Corporation, whose other brands include Eastpak, Jansport, Napapijri, Reef, Vans, The North Face, Lee, Wrangler, 7 For All Mankind and Timberland.

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  • A&W Singapore makes a Huge Comeback

    A&W Singapore makes a Huge Comeback

    American fast food chain A&W Singapore is making a comeback this week at Jewel Changi.

    The chain made its original debut in the city back in 1966 with an outlet at Dunearn Road, burt closed all five outlets in 2003, exiting the market.

    After the Jewel Changi return, a second outlet will be opened by June, and a third next year, however the locations have yet to be revealed.

    “After opening here, we wanted to be able to scale [at] such a speed it would ease the crowd at the first outlet,” said Kelvin Tan, A&W International’s director of marketing and communication.

    A&W Singapore also intends to apply for halal certification to cater to the big Muslim market in Singapore.

    “The Muslim community formed a very big chunk of our business (in the past) and I think right now we will continue to respect and recognise that this particular market is very important to us,” Tan said.

    And directly by A&W Restaurants, A&W Singapore’s menu also incorporates regional favourites such as the “golden aroma chicken” from A&W’s Malaysian and Indonesian outlets, and the “waffle sundae” from A&W outlets in Thailand.

  • Singapore is APAC’s top Smart Fiber City

    Singapore is APAC’s top Smart Fiber City

    Singapore is the top Smart Fiber City in Asia-Pacific, according to a new ranking released at the FTTH Council Asia Pacific Conference in Wuhan, China.

    The inaugural Smart Fiber Cities ranking list Singapore as the region’s Champion, due to the city’s 93% FTTH/B coverage, 100% 4G coverage and its over 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots.
    For the regional rankings, FTTH Council Asia-Pacific evaluated cities with high FTTH/B coverage based on the innovative and useful solutions that have been developed to take advantage of this infrastructure.

    Cities were raked in two categories – champs and challengers. Champs have almost complete fiber coverage city-wide and have reached maturity in smart projects that have been deployed. They also generally have a comprehensive smart city framework in place and smart projects already in operation.

    Challengers meanwhile are actively deploying fiber infrastructure to meet their smart city ambitions, but their fiber-based smart services are usually limited to specific domains.

    Behind Singapore in the Champs category are Tokyo in Japan and Seoul in South Korea with roughly 90% FTTH coverage, followed by Hong Kong, Busan in South Korea, and Melbourne in Australia.

    Chinese cities meanwhile took the first three spaces in the Challenger category, with Shanghai on top with round 90% FTTH/B coverage, followed by Hangzhou and Wuhan. Runners up included Malaysia’s Selangor, Jakarta in Indonesia, Bhubaneswar in India and Ho Chi Minh in VIetnam.

    “The research into Smart Fiber Cities shows that we are just at the beginning of these developments. Across APAC, we see many mature projects in areas such as e-government and security, with 5G-based applications in, for example, transport and disaster management coming up,” FTTH Council Asia-Pacific president Venkatesan Babu said.

    “We have great expectation for the large numbers of pilots in areas such as healthcare, smart grids and autonomous traffic. We look forward to closely follow new developments in the coming years.”

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  • New Financial Institution Launched in Singapore

    New Financial Institution Launched in Singapore

    A news Singapore-based firm, formed by home-grown industry veterans, targets financial technology, regulatory technology, infrastructure, and sustainability-driven enterprises. Licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Vanda Global Capital, formed by home-grown industry veterans, is focused on grooming high potentials in the technology vertical, and in impact-driven companies reflecting environmental, social and governance causes.

    The firm targets financial technology, regulatory technology, infrastructure, and sustainability-driven enterprises. Vanda prioritizes and emphasizes unwavering support of Singapore-based initiatives, congruent with Singapore’s vision of establishing the nation as a leading fintech hub, the company said on Tuesday.

    At the helm of Vanda is its CEO, Low Wei Ling, a banking and finance industry veteran of over 25 years of experience and with a solid track record in internationally acclaimed investment banking, asset management, universal and private banking business franchises.

    She serves the MAS Banking Advisory Group and was awarded the International Outstanding Young Private Banker of the Year for exemplary leadership globally. She is a judge of the MAS Global Hackcelerator & Fintech Awards.

    Vanda Global Capital’s leadership management team also includes industry visionaries like Richard Eu Yee Ming of Eu Yan Sang International and Wong Joo Seng of Spark Systems and co-founder of M-DAQ.

    As Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Board of Vanda Global Capital, Eu Yee Ming, who holds a Law Degree from University of London, was a merchant banker, stockbroker, venture capitalist and is also the Non-Executive Chairman of Eu Yan Sang International, a healthcare company that focuses on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with annual revenues of over S$300 million.

    Co-Founder & Non-Executive Director of the Board of Vanda Global Capital, Wong Joo Seng is a banking and finance veteran and a venture partner of Vickers Venture Partners. He is founding CEO of GK Goh Financial Services, the derivative trading subsidiary of GK Goh Holdings, and also co-founder of M-DAQ and the company’s founding Chairman.

  • UOB Partners Local E-commerce Platform To Mine Opportunities

    UOB Partners Local E-commerce Platform To Mine Opportunities

    United Overseas Bank has partnered with a popular e-commerce platform to build ecosystem partnerships. This follows a string of partnerships announced with other high profile online platforms.  United Overseas Bank (UOB) announced a regional alliance with local e-commerce platform Qoo10 on Monday, complementing the bank’s efforts to help small businesses seize opportunities in the digital economy. Qoo10, with more than three million buyers, is the top e-commerce platform in Singapore.

    «Our alliance with Qoo10 enables us to extend our touchpoints to provide small businesses with the financing they need directly on the e-commerce site, helping them to take advantage of opportunities quickly as they arise,» said Lawrence Loh, Head of Group Business Banking at UOB.

    In January this year, Qoo10 launched QuuBe, a blockchain-based e-commerce platform which already has more than two million products on the marketplace. Through the alliance, Qoo10 will be able to tap UOB’s holistic suite of financial solutions to help consumers and merchants buy and sell products more easily on both the Qoo10 and QuuBe platforms.

    «Partnering established and trusted allies such as UOB enables us to empower our merchants and customers with readily accessible solutions that provide greater financial flexibility in running a business or making purchases,» says Ku Young Bae, CEO of Qoo10.

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  • Citibank Singapore to Instantly Approve Debt Consolidation Plan

    Citibank Singapore to Instantly Approve Debt Consolidation Plan

    Citibank Singapore announced that it is the first bank in Singapore to introduce instant in-principle approval for debt consolidation plans. Customers applying online for Citibank Singapore’s debt consolidation plan will receive an immediate indication of their application status, as the bank is the first in Singapore to offer eligible customers instant in-principle approval.

    «The ability to grant instant in-principle approval resolves a key customer pain point by giving customers a better sense of their application’s eventual outcome, even before they go through the effort of gathering their financial documents and sending them to the bank,» said Vikas Kumar, Head of Cards and Personal Loans at Citibank Singapore, in a media statement.

    This new capability, which will be launched on Tuesday, enhances convenience for prospective customers who previously had to wait for up to three days for a decision after the bank receives their applications through email or post.

    Upon receiving a debt consolidation application, the bank will access the customer’s credit report through its API integration with Credit Bureau Singapore. The customer’s credit situation is assessed through a fully automated process, enabling the bank to grant instant in-principle approval for eligible individuals.

    Customers can then submit their supporting documents – which are required by industry regulations – consisting of their various credit statements from different financial institutions, income records, and proofs of identification. The bank will also proactively reach out to customers should they need assistance after receiving their in-principle approval.

    Debt consolidation plans were introduced by Singapore’s financial institutions in January 2017 to help borrowers reduce their debt over time. Debt consolidation plans consolidate a borrower’s existing unsecured credit balances across various institutions under a single entity and offer effective interest rates that are lower than card and credit line rates.

    Customers on debt consolidation plans will have lower monthly repayments as compared to the total individual payments a customer incurs, and the benefit of making repayments to a single bank. Customers of Citibank Singapore can choose a loan tenure of up to seven years and will receive a credit card with a limit of one month’s income.

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  • Marks & Spencer Singapore store opens at Jewel Changi

    Marks & Spencer Singapore store opens at Jewel Changi

    Marks & Spencer Singapore will open its Jewel Changi store this Wednesday.

    The 13,000sqft space offers M&S’s clothing and accessories across womenswear, menswear, lingerie and kidswear.

    The store also features Food Hall which will include nearly 3000 lines of food and drinks, including international award-winning wines.

    Customers can expect a variety of chilled food and drinks including fresh sandwiches, prepared salads, fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy, prepared meals, inspired by world cuisines.

    The new store also features an M&S in-store bakery, selling coffee-to-go and patisserie goods.

    “Our new store at Jewel Changi Airport will combine the best of our clothing collections and high-quality food with an inspiring shopping environment and exceptional customer service, offering a truly special experience,” said Christine Choi, Marks & Spencer Asia CEO.

    A new feature of the Jewel Changi store will be unique name badges for staff which bear ‘Singlish’ taglines such as ‘I am Stylo Milo, ‘I am Tok Kong’, and a few other variations embracing local culture.

    From April 17 to June 11, shoppers can enjoy special offers including lucky draws and free M&S cooler bags.

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  • Oysho Singapore opens first store in Singapore

    Oysho Singapore opens first store in Singapore

    Oysho Singapore is opening its first store this week, at Jewel Changi.

    The Spanish fashion label’s debut Singapore store spans 220sqm, and features a warm atmosphere, fitted out with materials such as wood and metal, combined with new furnishings.

    The store stocks products from all the brand’s categories, including sleepwear, lingerie, gym wear, beachwear, footwear, sportswear and accessories. Prices range from $7.90 to $299.

    The Oysho Sport range features garments suited to boxing, surfing, skiing and trekking. With a commitment to technical innovation, the brand’s garments include lines featuring aloe vera microcapsules, compression fabrics for muscle recovery, and Sensil Innergy Nylon 6.6 fabric which Oysho says enhances physical performance.

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