Crypto
Digital Assets

MAS Proposes Measures to Regulate Cryptocurrency Trading and Stablecoins

									by Fintech News Singapore
October 27, 2022

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) published two consultation papers proposing regulatory measures for cryptocurrency trading and stablecoins that are to be part of the Payment Services Act.
MAS is of the view that cryptocurrencies, which it refers to as digital payment tokens or DPTs, are “highly risky and not suitable for the general public” though “it would not be feasible to ban them.”
As such, it proposes disallowing the use of credit facilities and leverage in retail DPT trading, and ensuring that DPT service providers adhere to business and technological standards similar to those faced by other financial institutions.
MAS will also regulate the issuance of stablecoins which are pegged to a single currency — referred to as single-currency pegged stablecoins or SCS — where the value in circulation exceeds S$5 million.

SCS issuers must hold reserve assets in cash, cash equivalents or short-dated sovereign debt securities that are at least equivalent to 100% of the par value of the outstanding SCS in circulation.
They must be denominated in the same currency as the pegged currency and all SCS issued in Singapore can be pegged only to the Singapore dollar or any Group of Ten (G10) currencies.
SCS issuers must also meet a base capital requirement of the higher of S$1 million or 50% of annual operating expenses of the SCS issuer at all times, and meet similar requirements for liquid assets.
Ho Hern Shin
“Regulations go hand-in-hand with innovation in financial services. The enhanced regulatory regime for stablecoins aims to support the development of value-adding payment use cases for stablecoins in Singapore.

As we continue to partner industry players to explore the potential benefits of tokenisation and distributed ledger technology, MAS will make appropriate adjustments to its regulatory regime to address the associated risks,”
said Ho Hern Shin, Deputy Managing Director (Financial Supervision), MAS.

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Open Banking
Payments

Embedded Finance vs. BaaS in Financial Services

									by Rebecca Oi
November 9, 2022

In recent years, the financial services industry has undergone a significant transformation. Traditional financial institutions face new competition from startups leveraging technology to offer innovative financial products and services, broadly referred to as the fintech landscape.
But there is a distinction between traditional finances offering newer digital products to be competitive in a dynamic marketplace.
 In an uncertain economic climate, consumers are increasingly looking to digital platforms and apps to help them save a buck.
At the same time, businesses (including banks and other financial institutions) want to optimise their digital transformation investments to ensure quality investment returns.

The demand for financial services has changed in recent years
Consumers now want more personalized and convenient services that meet their shifting needs, especially post-pandemic and as newer innovative solutions appear.
This outlook has led to the rise of embedded finance, a new way of providing monetary services support.
Traditional finance is often not equipped to offer these trendy new services, such as ‘Buy Now Pay Later‘ (BNPL) options or cashback/loyalty points for transactions using their platform, out of the box.
This is often down to how archaic mainframe-based banking systems could be — they’re not built with the ability to quickly adapt emerging digital solutions on top of their analog systems.
Overhauling their in-house architecture will be costly and likely lead to critical services being offline while the transition is carried out.
So modern banks are often ironically turning to fintechs supplying banking-like digital resources to provide third-party financial services that the B2B and B2C markets are increasingly demanding.
These digital financial services are termed as embedded finance, aiding the classical financial services industry (FSI) to quickly onboard emerging digital banking capabilities that fast-track their digitalisation journey.
Adopting embedded finance options pleases both consumers and shareholders simultaneously since users want the ease of knowing their banking institution offers fintech-like services.
At the same time, the board can rest assured that the bank is modernising rapidly without consuming too much cost.
The trend is expected to continue exploding in widespread adoption among FSI, with digital consulting company Publicis Sapient forecasting an annual growth rate of 41% in global embedded banking revenues from 2021 to 2025.
Global embedded banking projections, total product revenue, $Bn, Source: Publicis Sapient, 2022
BaaS rising for merchant sites’ to be like banks
On the flip side of rising embedded finance growth, organisations not traditionally affiliated with the FSI want to offer bank-like financial services to simplify customer experiences on their digital-native platforms.
Going outside of their core competencies to offer in-demand financial services, such as embedding payments on their web or mobile platforms easily via APIs, or providing branded payment cards for valuable customers to shop at offline locations, could be disruptive to a lot of platforms if they didn’t have the option of offering banking as a service (BaaS).
In a nutshell, BaaS are bundled offerings, often white-labeled or cobranded services to carry the firm’s branding instead of the financial service provider, that nonbanks can use to serve their customers.
BaaS enables nonbanks to offer financial products and services without obtaining a banking license or developing the necessary infrastructure.
While BaaS is still in its early stages, it has the potential to disrupt the traditional banking model and create new opportunities for nonbanks to enter the financial services industry.
On the other hand, banking as a service (BaaS) enables companies to offer services and financial products to their customers without having to be a financial institution.
 This is accomplished through APIs, which allow companies to access the needed financial services from a provider quickly and without building everything from scratch.
BaaS providers offer financial services that can integrate into a company’s existing product or service. This allows companies to provide customers with offerings on their platforms without having to build their bank-like infrastructure.
Examples of BaaS offerings could be supplying financing options, such as microcredit lines for consumers on e-commerce sites — so they can shop at their ease without paying immediately — and small loans for businesses, such as what all-in-one smartphone superapps like Singapore’s Grab and Indonesia’s Gojek offer to merchants who leverage other services on their platform.
The rise of embedded finance and BaaS is changing the financial services landscape. Financial institutions must adapt to this new trend to remain competitive.

Featured image credit: edited from Freepik

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InsurTech

14 Asian Companies Make Up Top 100 Insurtech Companies of 2022 Ranking

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 9, 2022

Sonr, a market intelligence platform for the insurance industry, has released its annual ranking of the world’s leading startups, scaleups and innovators driving change across insurance.
Now in its fourth edition, the Insurtech 100 2022 provides a comprehensive compilation of the hottest and most dynamic names in the insurtech space.
These companies are digitally-driven insurers, brokers and technological enablers serving the insurance market across the entire value chain, and are being recognized for their ingenuity, growth and traction they’ve witnessed over the past year.
The 100 insurtech companies were selected using the Sonr Index, a proprietary scoring technology that incorporates millions of data points across key criteria encompassing leadership, product and business performances, with expert analysis and perspective from some of industry’s leaders representing organizations like consulting firm EY and insurance provider Generali.

This year’s top 100 selection come from 17 countries and include 39 new entries. 14 of them come from Asia, representing countries such as China, India, Singapore and Indonesia.
Here are the Asian insurtech startups and insurtech leaders that made it into the Insurtech 100 2022 ranking:
Bolttech (Singapore)

Founded in 2020, Bolttech builds connections between insurers, distributors like telcos, retailers and banks, and customers to make it easier and more efficient to buy and sell protection and insurance products.
Bolttech connects in over 200 insurers with 800+ distribution partners and more than 7.7 million customers, and is used by insurance brands including Hippo, Progressive, Liberty Mutual, Travelers and MetLife. The company is active in over 30 countries and handles US$50 billion in quoted premiums across 6,000 product variations per year.
Bolttech is the highest ranking insurtech in Asia on the list, as well as the youngest overall. It has raised more than US$247 million in disclosed funding.
Ping An Good Doctor (China)

Founded in 2014, Ping An Good Doctor, formerly known as Ping An Healthcare and Technology, is a software company providing a one-stop healthcare ecosystem platform in China. The platform covers online medical and consumer healthcare services, wellness interaction services, online consultations, hospital referrals and appointments, health management, and more.
The publicly traded company claims more than 440 million registered users on its platform and about 1.3 billion consultations. The platform has accumulated nearly 49,000 internal and external doctor teams from 20 practices, as well as fitness trainers, nutritionists and counseling psychologists. It also has over 3,000 partner hospitals, 208,000 partner pharmacies, more than 100,000 partner healthcare service providers, and over 1,800 health checkup partners.
ZhongAn (China)

Founded in 2013, ZhongAn is a Chinese online-only insurance company that operates across five main areas: lifestyle consumption, consumer finance, health, auto and travel.
ZhongAn applies mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data and other new technologies for a variety of different purposes including product design, automatic claims settlement, market positioning analysis, risk control and back-end claims services. Its services help users search for insurance products for a variety of purposes including travel, shopping, medical treatment and investment.
In addition to insurance services, ZhongAn has established numerous subsidiaries focused on technology and innovation across the insurance value chain.
A publicly traded company, ZhongAn has up to 460 million users and has issued over 5.8 billion insurance policies.
Digit Insurance (India)

Founded in 2016, Digit Insurance is a tech-driven insurance startup based in Bengaluru, India that aims to build simple and transparent solutions. It offers a portfolio of insurance products across motor, including pay-as-you-drive, travel, property, mobile, commercial and health. It also has flexible coverage for as short as a single day, or as long as six months.
Other features include a smartphone-based self-inspection claims process, a self-serve tool for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help pick their best coverage, and a COVID-19 symptom checker.
The company has served 20 million customers since inception and clocks US$400 million in annual premiums. It also has a network of over 35,000 appointed reps that earn commission on selling its products.
Digit Insurance has raised US$586 million in disclosed funding and is valued at US$4 billion, according to CB Insights. It’s currently working on a public listing in India.
Singlife with Aviva (Singapore)

Founded in 2014, Singlife with Aviva is a financial services company that provides technology-enabled solutions and a wide range of products and services.
The company offers a comprehensive suite of insurance plans, employee benefits, partnerships with financial advisor channels and bancassurance, investment solutions, as well as the mobile-first Singlife Account, and its accompanying Singlife Debit Card, which allows customers to save, spend, earn and be insured all in one app.
Singlife with Aviva was formed by the merger of Aviva Singapore and Singlife. First announced in September 2020 and valued at S$3.2 billion, it was the largest insurance deal in Singapore at the time and created one of the largest homegrown financial services companies in the nation.
Waterdrop (China)

Founded in China in 2016, Waterdrop is a technology platform that combines insurance and healthcare. Its offering includes Waterdrop Medicine, which works with insurers and retail pharmacies to offer healthcare and pharmaceutical services, Waterdrop Crowdfunding, a digital illness support platform to help relieve poverty resulting from high medical care bills, and Waterdrop Insurance Marketplace, a digital insurance platform hosting more than 50 insurance companies, offering both short and long-term health and life insurance.
Through its products, Waterdrop has built a massive social network of protection and support for people, raising awareness of insurance and ultimately providing insurance and healthcare service to consumers in China.
Qoala (Indonesia)

Founded in 2018, Qoala is an online insurance marketplace where users can search, compare, and buy insurance products from trusted insurance companies quickly and easily, right from a mobile app.
Qoala operates in three countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand – offering various insurance protections, ranging from health, motor vehicle, property, personal accident, and other needs that can be accessed quickly, easily, and transparently.
Qoala has acquired over 50,000 insurance marketers and provides a platform supported by over 50 insurers for them to sell insurance from multiple insurers, while managing pre-sale and post-sale services. It also provides several innovative micro-insurance products through its partnerships with Traveloka, Redbus, DANA, JD.ID, Shopee, Kredivo and Investree among others.
Turtlemint (India)

Founded in 2015, Turtlemint is the operator of an online insurance platform intended to help with the process of buying and managing insurance policies. The company’s platform provides recommendations of insurance to customers based on proprietary algorithms and data analytics and offers a network of offline facilitators to help complete the insurance purchase and provide claims assistance.
Turtlemint focuses on policies across health, term life, car and bike, and provides customized options and recommendations based on more than 20 different parameters shaped by proprietary algorithms. The company has a wide network of more than 160,000 insurance advisors. It has raised US$197 million in disclosed funding, according to the report.
Policybazaar (India)

Founded in 2008, Policybazaar is an Indian insurance aggregator and multinational financial technology company based in Gurgaon. It provides a digital platform where users can compare and buy life, health, travel, auto and property policies from dozens of insurers without using a broker. Its knowledge hub, Ask PB offers direct access to a team of advisers and shares information with a wider community to help guide decisions and boost engagement with the platform.
Policybazaar is one of India’s largest insurance marketplaces. It has served more than nine million customers and has sold over 19 million policies since inception.
It’s the flagship platform of PB Fintech, which owns the fintech brand, Paisabazaar.com, a credit product aggregator, and the lending and insurance marketplace in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Policybazaar.ae.
Acko General Insurance (India)

Launched in November 2016, Acko General Insurance is a general insurance company that operates in the auto insurance, embedded insurance (bite-sized contextual coverages like mobile insurance), and health insurance sectors.
The company offers features such as zero commission, zero paperwork, instant renewal, same-day claim settlements, and app-based updates on claims, and aims to provide customers with fair pricing, convenience, and superior customer experience..
Acko General Insurance has distribution partnerships with the likes of Amazon, and covers around a million gig workers via food delivery giants Zomato and Swiggy, taxi service Ola, and property lettings giant, OYO.
The company says it has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 88% in the last four years, has served more than 75 million customers and has issued about 900 million policies till date. Acko General Insurance has raised more than US$450 million in disclosed funding.
Sunday (Thailand)

Founded in Thailand in 2017, Sunday is a fully-integrated sales and services insurtech that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and digital platforms to offer personalized insurance products and services that suits all types of individual and business risks.
The startup seeks to reinvent the entire insurance value chain by offering its end-to-end solutions via its partners and proprietary distribution channels. It operates across motor, travel, gadgets and group health products, serving both individuals and businesses.
Sunday has raised US$75 million in disclosed funding, according to the report.
OneDegree (Hong Kong)

Founded in 2016, OneDegree is a technology company that aims to be the next-generation insurance industry leader in Asia. It is the first digital insurer candidate in Hong Kong with a fully digitized insurance process end-to-end, and operates across pet, home, health and business products.
OneDegree has built a highly scalable end-to-end digital insurance platform with the flexibility to support all personal-line general insurance and health insurance products. This proprietary platform integrates a user-friendly front-end app, making it easy for consumers to purchase and manage their insurance policies with a powerful back-end system that enables advanced analytics and automation of traditionally manual process across claims processing, policy management, and customer service.
The company has raised US$70 million in disclosed funding, according to the report.
The Carevoice (China)

Founded in 2014, the CareVoice, or TCV, is a Shanghai-based SaaS health insurance ecosystem that aims to help insurance companies tackle four major pain points: low quality of customer engagement, lack of product differentiation, reliance on traditional sales channels, and limited ability to extend tech value-chain.
Through CareVoiceOS, the CareVoice provides insurers with access to a connected health insurance ecosystem. The OS offers a turnkey solution that can help insurers immediately launch their digital engagement capabilities, or serve as an infrastructure solution to sustain their own customer engagement mechanisms.
CareVoiceOS curates the most advanced, rigorously validated health management technologies around the world, allowing insurers to create connected digital journeys that address every stage of policyholders’ customer journeys. Insurers can also customize the journeys to fit the needs of different demographics.
The Carevoice has raised US$13.1 million in disclosed funding, according to the report.
Bowtie (Hong Kong)

Founded in 2018, Bowtie is an online insurance company in Hong Kong that offers an agent-free, commission-free and convenient online platform for customers to quote, apply and claim for health insurance plans.
The company provides six main insurance products: VHIS (voluntary health insurance scheme), Touch-wood (accident insurance), Critical Illness, Term Life, Cancer Fighter (cancer medical insurance), and Group Medical Insurance.
Bowtie has distributed HK$40 billion worth of life and health insurance coverage since inception. The company has raised more than US$50 million in disclosed funding.

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Green Fintech
Regtech
Singapore Fintech Festival 2022

Climate Tech Startup Offsetted Launches ESG Compliance Solution at SFF 2022

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 2, 2022

German climate tech company Offsetted has launched Offsetted Finance, an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliance solution for the financial industry and real sector.
Offsetted Finance enables public and private businesses to understand their carbon footprint, model emission reduction plans, and perform ESG-related disclosures.
The product will also provide organisations with data-driven, actionable insights on their ESG performance improvement in line with industry-specific benchmarking and scoring.
Offsetted is a decarbonisation platform founded in Hamburg, Germany in 2022. The product launch was officiated by the startup’s founders Alex Lazarenko and Daria Lipatova at the Singapore Fintech Festival.

Daria Lipatova
“We believe that by providing a simple, accessible tool for assessing and acting on both direct and indirect emissions, the latter of the most important to the financial sector, Offsetted Finance enables organisations to respond to regulatory pressure easily,”
said Daria Lipatova, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Offsetted.

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Open Banking
Singapore Fintech Festival 2022

Embedded Finance Firm Weavr Expands to Singapore

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 2, 2022

Weavr is setting up in Singapore as part of its efforts to make embedded financial services available to any digital business.
The official launch was held at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2022, where Weavr is part of the United Kingdom (UK) Trade Mission pavilion led by the UK Department for International Trade.
One of Weavr’s models, Plug-and-Play Finance, helps digital businesses set their financial services in motion and monetise them quickly at a fraction of the cost of the traditional Banking-as-a-Service (BAAS) model.
Key benefits of Weavr’s financial plug-ins include pre-defined solutions for a range of use cases that reduce time to market while complying with data security and regulation.

This also includes a low-code offering that embeds services quickly and seamlessly without short-changing quality and security as well as extensible solutions that add new financial services in new markets as they grow.
Alex Mifsud
Alex Mifsud, CEO and Co-Founder of Weavr said,
“We’re excited to enable digital businesses in Singapore, and in the region for which Singapore is such an effective hub, with the means to integrate financial services wherever their customers need them seamlessly.

We see few better opportunities for deploying a significant portion of the US$40 million of capital we raised earlier this year to bring the benefits of embedded finance to digital innovators and ultimately to their customers in the region”.
Kara Owen
Kara Owen CMG, The British High Commissioner to Singapore said,
“I am delighted to see UK fintech Weavr expand into Southeast Asia with the opening of its office in Singapore as a launchpad into the region. The UK Digital Trade Network powered by Tech Nation are supporting UK companies like Weavr to make the most of the opportunities in Southeast Asia.

With a market of 650m people with significant demand for innovative fintech that can make business and everyday lives easier – demand for products like Weavr’s is significant.”

Featured image credit: edited from Unsplash

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Digital Assets
Payments
Singapore Fintech Festival 2022

Paxos Gets the Green Light From MAS for a Full DPT License

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 2, 2022

Blockchain infrastructure platform Paxos has received a license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to offer digital payment token services as a Major Payments Institution.
The license enables Paxos to offer digital asset and blockchain products and services, as well as support its current partners in expanding their services into Asia.
The company previously received in-principle approval from the MAS in March 2022 and secured the first limited purpose Trust charter for digital assets in New York in 2015.
Paxos’ announcement follows a slew of similar announcements at the ongoing Singapore Fintech Festival, including Circle’s in-principle approval and Wise’s capital markets services license.

Rich Teo
“We founded Paxos to make it safer and easier to move assets at any time, anywhere. We’re honored to be one of the first US-based blockchain platforms to secure this important license from MAS,”
said Rich Teo, Co-Founder and CEO, Paxos Asia.

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InsurTech
Open Banking
Personal Finance Mgt (PFM)
Singapore Fintech Festival 2022

Singaporeans Can Now View Their Insurance Data on SGFinDex

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 2, 2022

Individuals can now digitally access and aggregate information on their life, accident and health insurance policies by participating insurers, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG) announced today.
Policyholders can access the information via financial planning applications or websites of participating insurers, banks, and MyMoneySense, a free government financial planning digital service.
Singapore Financial Data Exchange (SGFinDex) is the world’s first public digital infrastructure that provides individuals with a safe and secure way to access their financial information across government agencies, banks, insurers, and central securities depositories.
They can now retrieve insurance data on top of existing banking and investment data to make an informed decision about their insurance protection gaps while having an extensive view of their financial status.

The enhancement is made possible via collaborations with the Life Insurance Association, Singapore (LIA Singapore), the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), and government agencies.
There are 30,000 monthly users and nearly 1.2 million data retrievals. SGFinDex offers data protection and privacy controls that only allow retrievals and updates through the explicit consent of individuals via Singpass, with the consent lasting for one year from the first time the user links an account to SGFinDex.
Sopnendu Mohanty
Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer, MAS said,
“SGFinDex has progressively enabled individuals to consolidate, access and view their financial holdings. With the addition of insurance data, the comprehensiveness has been enriched further hence improving financial planning for individuals.

This has again demonstrated the importance of public-private sector collaboration in creating an innovative solution that brings convenience to individuals and paves the way for further collaboration in open finance.”
Wee Ee Cheong
Wee Ee Cheong, Chairman, ABS, and CEO of UOB said,
“Insurance is an important component in an individual’s long-term financial planning. With insurance data now available in SGFinDex, it will give users a more holistic view of their financial position and empower them to make better decisions in building a comprehensive and robust financial portfolio.

ABS will continue to facilitate collaboration within the financial sector and with government agencies, leveraging technology to expand the capabilities of SGFinDex to benefit our nation and its people.”

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Digital Assets
Singapore Fintech Festival 2022
Trade Finance
Wealthtech

MAS Completes Its First Digital Asset Live Trades Under Project Guardian

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 2, 2022

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that Project Guardian, its project exploring decentralised finance (DeFi) applications in wholesale funding markets, has completed its first live trades.
The trades were conducted under Project Guardian’s first industry pilot which saw DBS, JP Morgan and SBI Digital Asset Holdings conduct a live cross-currency transaction with tokenised JPY and SGD deposits.
A simulated exercise involving the buying and selling of tokenised Singapore government securities bonds, Japanese government bonds was also performed.
MAS also announced the launch of two new industry pilots in the areas of trade finance and wealth management.

The first pilot, which involves Standard Chartered Bank, aims to digitise the trade distribution market by transforming trade assets into transferable instruments.
The second pilot involves HSBC and UOB working with digital markets infrastructure provider Marketnode to enable native digital issuance of wealth management products.
Sopnendu Mohanty
“The live pilots led by industry participants demonstrate that with the appropriate guardrails in place, digital assets and decentralised finance have the potential to transform capital markets.

Project Guardian has deepened MAS’ understanding of the digital asset ecosystem and has contributed to the development of Singapore’s digital asset strategy,”
said Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer, MAS.

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Blockchain
Digital Assets
Digital Transformation
Payments
Singapore Fintech Festival 2022

Singapore, France and Switzerland to Collaborate on Wholesale CBDC Project

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 3, 2022

BIS Innovation Hub is launching a project around central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and Decentralised Finance (DeFi) protocols as part of its 2022 work programme.
Dubbed Project Mariana, it explores automated market makers (AMM) for cross-border exchanges of the hypothetical Swiss franc, Euro, and Singapore dollar wholesale CBDCs. It also evaluates the potential between financial institutions to settle foreign exchange trades in the financial market.
Involved in the project are the Eurosystem, Singapore, and Switzerland BIS Innovation Hub Centres, Bank of France, Monetary Authority of Singapore, and Swiss National Bank, with the aim of delivering a proof of concept by mid-2023.
Project Mariana automates foreign exchange markets and settlement by applying DeFi protocols with the potential to improve cross-border payments.

DeFi is built on public blockchains that automate markets for crypto and digital assets through the application of smart contract protocols. Pooled liquidity and innovative algorithms determine the prices between two or more tokenised assets.
For future cross-border exchange of CBDCs, similar AMM protocols could be used by new financial infrastructures.
Cecilia Skingsley
Head of the BIS Innovation Hub, Cecilia Skingsley, said,
“This pioneering project pushes our CBDC research into innovative frontiers, incorporating some of the promising ideas of the DeFi ecosystem. Mariana also marks the first collaboration across Innovation Hub Centres; expect to see more in the future.

Featured image credit: Edited from Unsplash

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Blockchain
Digital Assets
Singapore Fintech Festival 2022

DBS Tests DeFi-Enabled FX and Government Securities Live Trades With MAS

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 3, 2022

DBS announced that it is testing the trading of foreign exchange and government securities using permissioned DeFi liquidity pools on public blockchain as part of Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Project Guardian.
The trade involved the outright purchase and sale of tokenised Singapore Government Securities, Singapore Dollar (SGD), Japanese Government Bonds and Japanese Yen (JPY).
DBS says that Project Guardian showed that trading in a permissioned DeFi protocol enables instant trading, settlement, clearing and custody – all at the same time.
The test trade’s success also indicates the potential for deeper secondary liquidity across multiple assets and markets to attract more investors and bypass intermediaries for greater efficiency.

Separately, DBS is also conducting a trial in collaboration with GovTech involving the use of tokenised digital SGD vouchers at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2022.
Han Kwee Juan
“The ability to programme smart contracts will reshape how execution can be achieved in a highly trusted manner, especially if it takes place in a permissioned market where all anonymous wallets are verified by trust anchors performing ‘Know Your Customer’ processes and trading is allowed to take place within that pool,”
said Han Kwee Juan, Group Head of Strategy and Planning, DBS.

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Digital Assets
Payments
Singapore Fintech Festival 2022

Grab Participates in StraitsX’s Pilot Use of Tokenised Digital Vouchers at SFF 2022

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 3, 2022

Fazz financial group’s StraitsX and Grab are testing the issuance of Purpose Bound Money (PBM) with 5,000 trial participants during Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) as one of four trials under MAS’ Project Orchid.
Participants will be able to utilise PBM in the form of commercial digital vouchers at selected F&B outlets through their preferred blockchain e-wallet application during the festival.
Grab’s payment service GrabPay is working with StraitsX and digital currency payment gateway TripleA to support the last-mile settlement of PBM during the pilot.
This involves accepting StraitsX’s XSGD on the Polygon chain and reflecting the Singapore-dollar pegged stablecoin as SGD in the participating merchants’ GrabPay accounts.

GrabPay is also the main merchant payments processor for the PBM pilot at SFF this year — paying out SGD to participating merchants and removing the need for merchants to reconcile two accounting systems.
Liu Tianwei
“Building on the work StraitsX has done with the Singapore dollar stablecoin, XSGD, the issuance of PBMs further demonstrates how blockchain technology and stablecoins can be applied in real-world scenarios,”
said Liu Tianwei, Deputy CEO of Fazz.
Wong Wenbin
“This pilot with StraitsX and the MAS is a great opportunity for us to test how the technology can be used to benefit the everyday user,”
said Wong Wenbin, Head of GrabFin Singapore.

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Digital Assets
Singapore Fintech Festival 2022
Wealthtech

HashKey Capital Secures In-Principle Approval CMS License

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 7, 2022

HashKey Capital announced at the Singapore Fintech Festival that it has received in-principle approval for the Capital Markets Services license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
A full Capital Markets Services license would allow the company to conduct fund management services from Singapore.
HashKey Capital is currently a “Recognised Investment Firm” under the Tech@SG programme which aims to help companies hire key talent to grow and expand their business in Singapore.
HashKey Capital, the investment arm of the HashKey Group, is an asset manager investing in blockchain technology and digital assets known for being Ethereum’s earliest corporate investor in the region.

The company was also granted an uplift of its Type 9 licence for asset management in Hong Kong in September, enabling the company to manage a portfolio of 100% virtual assets.
Deng Chao
“Being recognised by the MAS as a licensed fund management company will allow HashKey Capital Singapore to contribute to and support the local Web3 community.

Once the CMS license is granted, HashKey Capital will be able to offer its services to institutional and accredited investors,”
said Deng Chao, CEO, HashKey Capital Singapore.

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Crypto
Digital Assets

The FTX Collapse: Sam Bankman-Fried’s Dramatic Fall From Grace

									by Rebecca Oi
November 16, 2022

In a dramatic turn of events, FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States, with CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried resigning from his role.
This was after Binance pulled the plug on its acquisition of FTX in a remarkable turn of events, just a day after it announced its initial intention to acquire the crypto exchange company.
Despite the signing of the nonbinding agreement that would see Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, take over FTX non-U.S. business and its popular trading platform, which has been a linchpin in the dramatic rise of digital assets over the past year, the deal was called off.
Uncertainty in Singapore on FTX
This has put uncertainty into Singapore state investor Temasek’s investment FTX’s Series B and Series C funding rounds, which according to Forbes is estimated to be around US$ 205 million.

A Temasek spokesperson has said, “We are aware of the developments between FTX and Binance, and are engaging FTX in our capacity as a shareholder.”
Temasek’s investment in FTX dates back to July 2021 in the earliest round of Series B funding, which raised approximately SGD1.4 billion (US$1 billion) from several investors at a valuation of approximately SGD 25.2 billion (US$18 billion).
In October 2021, the state-funded investment company participated in the second round of funding together with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and Tiger Global, reiterating their confidence and belief in the long-term returns in the FTX, especially when the investments came at a time when cryptocurrencies are facing tighter regulatory scrutiny in the United States and around the world.
Amidst the heavy losses incurred by investors in Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said yesterday that it did not have any cause to list FTX on the same basis as Binance, which it ordered to stop providing payment services to its residents in September.
However, although FTX does not operate in the island state; it is not possible to prevent users from directly accessing overseas service providers.
FTX’s struggle a precedence
According to Reuters, FTT, the native token by FTX, has not been performing well two weeks ago. With the news of the initial acquisition, it collapsed by 72 percent on Tuesday and was down five percent at a two-year low of SGD6.44 (US$4.61) on Wednesday.
Semafor reported that just hours before the announcement, FTX sought financing from investors in Silicon Valley and Wall Street, seeking bailouts amounting to SGD1.40 billion (US$1 billion). This is in stark contrast to the positive sentiments earlier this year, relocating from Hong Kong to the Bahamas and donating SGD13.98 million (US$10 million) to organizations in the Caribbean country. In April, it announced plans for an SGD83.88 million ($60 million) headquarters and hosting its second annual Crypto Bahamas conference at the Baha Mar resort in Nassau next April.
Binance further poured fuel into speculation by tweeting it would liquidate any remaining FTT on their books, citing “recent revelations.”

As part of Binance’s exit from FTX equity last year, Binance received roughly $2.1 billion USD equivalent in cash (BUSD and FTT). Due to recent revelations that have came to light, we have decided to liquidate any remaining FTT on our books. 1/4
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) November 6, 2022

Alameda Research, Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto brokerage, had their balance sheet leaked with information that of its SGD20.41 billion (US$14.6 billion) in assets, roughly 40 percent were made up of FTT tokens, and this raised concerns among investors that with this much assets made up of native token, there might be potential manipulation of prices and favours that could push prices in certain ways.
In numbers about the acquisition that could have been
Bankman-Fried said the deal does not involve FTX.US or Binance.US, which are separate entities. FTX was valued at SGD44.74 billion (US$32 billion) in its most recent funding round in January this year, but both companies have declined to comment on the acquisition’s value, with many expecting a drop.
Binance’s announcement to sell its FTT plunged the token’s price to more than 75 percent, sparking a withdrawal of SGD8.39 billion (US$6 billion) just mere 72 hours after the announcement. And it was not just FTT that was affected. Reuters reported that Bitcoin is down 2 percent at SGD25514.32 (US$18,250) marking its worst day since mid-August, along with Ether, which lost nearly 18 percent since early Tuesday.
FTT price took a slight hike after the announcement about the acquisition was made, but Justin D’Anethan is not optimistic about the token and its brokerage’s prospects. D’Anethan, the institutional sales director at Amber Group, a Hong Kong-based digital asset platform, said “FTX reaching out to Binance highlights the fact that they were not okay financially, and that the jitters in the market, and suspicions about their inability to fulfill obligations were correct.”
He added “When a player of that size goes bust, it means its lenders are not getting repaid and all the token projects that Alameda was invested in will also suffer as Alameda does whatever it takes to cash out.”
According to data from Coin Metrics, Bitcoin, the largest and best-known digital currency, has lost nearly 9 percent to SGD37519.69 (US$26,848.20) since mid-April, dragged down by a combination of factors, including a crackdown on digital currencies in China.
Binance has also been hit hard by the market downturn, and its stock has lost more than half its value since January, with Zhao’s earnings dropping from SGD 135.59 billion (US$97 billion) to SGD15.38 billion (US$11 billion) in five months. Still, the exchange has been looking to expand its business through acquisitions, and the FTX deal would have been its biggest yet.
What now for investors?
Trading venues distanced themselves from FTX after they were investigated for abnormal transactions.
Kraken, a crypto trading platform, froze a handful of accounts owned by FTX Group, its sister trading company Alameda Research and their executives on Sunday after talking to law enforcement officers.
In a letter to the company’s investors, Galois Capital co-founder Kevin stated that roughly half of the company’s capital is locked up in FTX.
The crypto hedge fund company had admitted on the record that they did have “significant funds stuck on FTX” but had not employed “any Bahamian method to move funds out.”
“I expect we will recover some percentage of our assets on FTX over a few years,” the Galois Capital co-founder added.
Meanwhile, Sequoia Capital and Japanese investment conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp have marked their FTX investments down to zero dollars.
Sequoia said in a letter posted on Twitter that its Global Growth Fund III invested US$150 million in FTX.com and FTX US, while the Sequoia Capital Global Equities fund invested US$63.5 million.
Binance and other smaller cryptocurrency companies, such as Crypto.com and OKX, have promised to publish proof of sufficient reserves to match their liabilities to customers.
Changpeng Zhao Binance CEO said that Bankman-Fried lied to his users, his shareholders and regulators. Zhao also said that Bankman-Fried is largely responsible for the collapse of FTX.
However, some responsibility should be on venture capitals firms and others that invested in FTX as they didn’t uncover the problems in the crypto exchange said Zhao.
In a series of tweets, Bankman-Fried apologised, saying “I’m really sorry, again, that we ended up here.
“Hopefully things can find a way to recover. Hopefully, this can bring them some transparency, trust, and governance.”
He also said he “was shocked to see things unravel the way they did.”
Investors are now at the mercy of the FTX bankruptcy process and may have to wait before accessing their funds.

2) I’m really sorry, again, that we ended up here.
Hopefully things can find a way to recover. Hopefully this can bring some amount of transparency, trust, and governance to them.
Ultimately hopefully it can be better for customers.
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) November 11, 2022

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Innovation
Open Banking
Payments
Vietnam

Sacombank Chooses Swiss Firm Temenos to Elevate Digital Banking

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 10, 2022

Sacombank, one of the largest banks in Vietnam has selected Temenos Infinity to elevate digital banking and deliver a seamless omnichannel experience to retail and business customers.

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The bank has a customer-centric business strategy and plans to introduce fully digital customer onboarding and origination and enhance the service experience for existing customers through digital channels.
Craig Bennett

 “Vietnam is a strategic market for Temenos. More than 20 Vietnamese banks run on our core banking technology, and we see growing adoption and interest for our Temenos Infinity digital banking platform.
 Adding Temenos Infinity to the bank’s technology stack will propel the bank forward, opening new opportunities and delivering outstanding customer experiences,”
said Craig Bennett, Managing Director of APAC, Temenos
With Temenos Infinity, Sacombank can quickly launch new innovative digital products and services, such as peer-to-peer payments, in-app payments, in-app chatbots, personal financial management, and biometric authentication. The bank can also offer its customers a single view of their financial relationships across all channels.
Temenos’ open and composable platform will also help Sacombank connect with e-commerce providers, social networks, and other online services to accelerate a cashless ecosystem, a priority for the Government of Vietnam.
Bui Van Dung
“The omnichannel platform project is an unavoidable step to make a breakthrough in digital business of Sacombank.
Sacombank believes that Temenos has the best reputation, capacity, and technology in omnichannel, along with a consultant team experienced in implementing similar projects at the leading banks, financial institutions in area and world-wide.
said Bui Van Dung Deputy CEO of Sacombank.

featured image credit: edited from Unsplash

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Indonesia
Open Banking

Indonesia’s Open Finance Scene Heats Up as Consumer Interest Heightens

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 18, 2022

In Indonesia, consumers are showing high levels of awareness and interest in open finance and embedded fintech, with most people agreeing that sharing their data allows them to be provided with better products and services, as well as tailored recommendations, a new study by DailySocial, a local tech blog and information portal, found.
The survey, which polled 100 respondents across Indonesia, found that more than seven-in-10 customers are aware of embedded finance, indicating that digital ecosystems like Gojek and Grab are allowing them to purchase insurance coverage and investment products.

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Respondents also know how providers are using their data, with about nine-in-10 respondents indicating being aware that their data can be used for loan approval, future product recommendations or personalized financial offers.
Overall, Indonesians showed openness to data sharing, believing that granting financial services providers access to their data will get them better products and services.

83% agreed that data sharing can benefit users as long as data are not misused; 69% said data sharing allows for personalized services and access to solutions that are more in tune with their specific needs; and 67% said it allows for better personal financial management.
Benefits of data sharing, Source: DailySocial, Oct 2022
Rising interest in open finance among consumers in Indonesia comes at a time when the central bank is pursuing the Indonesia Payment Systems (IPS) Vision 2025 strategy.
The plan focuses on supporting banking digitalization and the digital transformation of the financial system, fostering innovation, and ensuring consumer protection and fair business practices. Open APIs and payment connectivity are set to play a key role in that plan.
Last year, Bank Indonesia BI launched the National Open API Payment Standard (SNAP), comprising protocols and instructions to facilitate open inter-application interconnectivity in terms of payment transaction processing.
In a statement, the central bank said the implementation of SNAP was a “critical phase of accelerating open banking in the payment systems space” in Indonesia, noting that open API payment standardization will help reduce industry fragmentation and accelerate financial and economic digitalization.
Incumbents ramp up open finance play
In the private sector, market-driven initiatives have also proliferated. Bank Central Asia (BCA) launched in 2017 BCA API, a cash management solution that allows business customers to integrate their applications with the BCA banking system to perform banking transactions more easily, quickly and securely. In the span of four years, the bank said BCA API had recorded more than 1 billion customer transaction hits.
BCA also provides OneKlik, a service that facilitates direct transaction payments on merchants websites and applications from a BCA bank account.
Earlier this year, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), Indonesia’s largest bank by total assets, extended its partnership with open finance company Ayoconnect, bringing the startup’s technology to BRI’s digital banking solutions.
The partnership allows Ayoconnect to leverage BRI’s open banking APIs for use cases like cardless cash withdrawals, e-money top up, transaction history, and more, enabling BRI to launch new digital services. In addition, Ayoconnect’s ecosystem partners will now be able to utilize BRI’s APIs to provide their customers with innovative services more easily and quickly.
BRI previously had a collaboration with Ayoconnect on a new direct debit capability that allows the bank’s merchant partners to directly deduct payments from their customers’ bank accounts.
A vibrant startup scene
Ayoconnect is one of Indonesia’s top open finance API platforms. Founded in 2016, the company allows businesses to embed more than 4,000 financial products in a plug-and-play fashion through its network of APIs. It claims it is used by more than 200 companies, including Indonesia’s leading financial institutions and tech companies.
Ayoconnect recently secured US$13 million in a Series B+ financing round which brought its total fundraise this year to US$28 million.
Brankas is another major player in the domestic open finance scene. Founded in 2016, the company offers a roster of banking-as-a-service embedded APIs covering account opening, credit scoring, identity verification, online payments, and more. It claims more than 40 banks and 100 enterprise customers and channel partners are now relying on its products.
Brankas closed a US$20 million Series B in January 2022.
Another company in the space is Brick, which, despite being much younger than the former two, has witnessed significant growth. Founded just two years ago, Brick builds financial data APIs for fintech and consumer tech companies. These APIs make it easy for businesses to offer payment, credit, investment and insurance products to their consumers.
Brick claims its APIs now supports one million customers, and says it has more than 50 paying clients, including many local fintechs.
The startup secured US$8.5 million in seed funding in February 2022.

Featured image credit: edited from Freepik and Pixabay

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Funding
Indonesia
Regtech

Indonesian Digital Trust Startup Privy Raises US$48 Million Series C

									by Fintech News Indonesia
November 14, 2022

Indonesian digital signature and identity provider Privy announced that it has secured US$48 million in a Series C funding round led by global investment firm KKR.
The round also witnessed participation from existing investors MDI Ventures, GGV Capital and Telkomsel Mitra Inovasi (TMI) as well as new investors including Singtel Innov8.

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The investment will help Privy innovate further with new offerings and stronger capabilities as well as build a strong foundation for overseas expansion.
According to Privy, it has more than 30 million verified users and 1,800 enterprise consumers on its digital signature, digital verification, and subscription products, and processes more than 40 million digital signatures per year.

Marshall Pribadi
Marshall Pribadi, CEO and Co-Founder of Privy said,
“We are thrilled to welcome KKR as among our new investors. Their participation in this latest fundraise, alongside the continued support by our existing investors, is testament to the progress we have made over the course of Privy’s journey, and the conviction in our long-term vision of building digital trust through our platform and the potential of Indonesia’s digital transformation.”

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InsurTech

Singlife with Aviva Appoints Dr. Allen Kuo as Its Group Deputy Chief Investment Office

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 21, 2022

Financial services company Singlife with Aviva announced that it has appointed Dr. Allen Kuo as its Group Deputy Chief Investment Officer.
He will strengthen specialist skills within the Investment Office as well as provide leadership and guidance as Singlife bolsters its asset management capabilities.
Based in Singapore, Allen will also oversee the implementation of Singlife’s sustainable investment strategy.
Allen brings with him over two decades of investment and risk management experience across multiple asset classes — specialising in quantitative finance and investment risk – accumulated from senior stints during his time in the US, China and Hong Kong.

Prior to joining Singlife, Allen was the Director and Deputy Chief Risk Officer of University of California’s Regents Chief Investment Office, the pension and endowment arm of the institution.
The Singlife Investment Office was established in January 2022 following the formalisation of Singlife with Aviva as a newly merged entity.
The team’s responsibilities include asset allocation, portfolio optimisation, manager selection and product solutions.
Kim Rosenkilde
Kim Rosenkilde, Group Chief Investment Officer, Singlife with Aviva said,
“As Singlife continues to make its presence in leading sustainability in financial services, getting the right talent on board and choosing impact investments is key to accelerating our efforts.

I have no doubt that Allen’s wealth of experience will be a great asset to the team and look forward to working closely with him on our investment journey.”
Dr. Allen Kuo, Group Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Singlife with Aviva said,
“I am truly honoured to be joining Singlife, having seen the tremendous work that the young but dynamic investment team has accomplished in such a short space of time.

I look forward to contributing more towards the Singlife mission of not only finding a better way to financial freedom.”

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Digital Assets

While Retail Crypto Is Bearish, Institutional DeFi Picks Up Steam

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 28, 2022

Institutional decentralized finance (DeFi), a trend that refers to the combination of DeFi software protocols with appropriate safeguards to ensure financial integrity, regulatory compliance and customer protection, is a fast-growing sector that’s emerging on the back of accelerated product innovation, booming adoption of digital assets, and the growth of the overall DeFi industry.
In a new report, Oliver Wyman Forum, Singaporean bank DBS, Onyx by JP Morgan, and Japan’s SBI Digital Asset Holding, looks at the nascent institutional DeFi space, providing an in-depth presentation of what the sector is all about while presenting the opportunities it brings.
The report defines institutional DeFi as the application of DeFi protocol to tokenize real-world assets, combined with the level of protections and controls that regulators demand and customers expect, including identity solutions to enable financial institutions to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulations, strong cybersecurity, and recourse mechanisms.
The report says that tokenization, the process of issuing digital tokens representing real-world asset, is a trend that has attracted the interest of many financial firms for its many potential benefits. These include efficiency gains driven by automation and disintermediation, transparency, improved liquidity potential and tradability of assets, as well as faster and potentially more efficient clearing and settlement.

Tokenization also allows for fractional ownership of assets. This, in turn, could lower barriers to investment and promote more inclusive access of retail investors to previously unaffordable or insufficiently divisive asset classes such as real estate, placements of equity or debt, thus providing greater access to markets that would otherwise be reserved to large investors.
Today, efforts to pursue tokenization is are well under way, the report says, and cover both payment instruments and assets.
On the payment side, it notes that central banks from around the world are ramping up efforts to issue digital representations of cash and develop central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). It cites a 2021 survey by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) which found that 90% of central banks were investigating the potential of CBDCs, including 26% that were actively developing CBDCs or conducting pilot projects.
In the private sector, the growth of the stablecoin market, which reached a market capitalization of US$150 billion earlier this year, is a sign that interest in there and attests that investors are becoming more comfortable with digital representations of cash.
On the asset side, the report notes that tokenization is rapidly picking up around the world with trade volumes continuing to grow steadily. For example, Broadridge’s Distributed Ledger Repo platform, which uses tokenized government bonds, reached US$35 billion in the first weeks after launch.
JP Morgan’s intra-day repo application on Onyx Digital Assets, which the bank launched in November 2020, has already processed more than US$430 billion of repo transactions.
In tandem with industry efforts to develop real-world asset tokenization, the report says that DeFi has rapidly emerged in the past three years with innovations flourishing across various financial ecosystems and attracting billions of dollars of liquidity across decentralized exchanges, lending protocols and other solutions.
Though DeFi has so far been prevalent in the public blockchain space, these protocols, which are programmable and self-executing business processes, can be applied to interact with any tokenized asset.
In the traditional finance world, tokenization coupled with programmability could have far-reaching implications for the broader industry, the report says. In particular, it could generate substantial cost savings because of reduced middle and back-office operations, and automation. It could also reduce risk by enabling atomic settlement, and introduce new business opportunities relating to the composability nature of DeFi protocols.
Notable benefits of DeFi, Source: Oliver Wyman Forum, DBS, Onyx by JP Morgan, SBI Digital Asset Holdings, 2022
Institutional DeFi has grown strongly over the past year with new solutions being launched and partnerships being formed to tackle challenges such as gaps in digital asset trading, KYC and AML-related issues, and regulatory compliance.
For example, Blockpass, a digital identity verification provider, teamed up with EMURGO earlier this year to offer on-chain KYC services for Cardano ecosystem projects. EMURGO is a founding entity of the Cardano blockchain and its official commercial arm.
In January 2022, Liquid Meta, a DeFi infrastructure and technology company, and Civic, a blockchain-powered digital identity solution provider, formed a strategic partnership to bring secure permissioned identity services to DeFi. The partnership also focused on enabling Liquid Meta to provide capital liquidity to permissioned decentralized applications (dApps).
Overview of the institutional DeFi landscape, Source: Blockdata, 2022

Featured image credit: edited from Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik

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Funding
InsurTech

Igloo Extends Series B to US$46 Million, Eyes M&A Opportunities

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 29, 2022

Insurtech firm Igloo announced that it has raised an additional US$27 million in its Series B extension, bringing its total funds raised for this tranche to US$46 million.
The initial Series B capital raise of US$19 million in March this year was led by Cathay Innovation, with further investments from ACA and other existing investors including OpenSpace.
The round was led by the InsuResilience Investment Fund II which was launched by German development bank KfW on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and development (BMZ) and managed by impact investor BlueOrchard Finance.
Other investors include Women’s World Banking Asset Management, Finnfund, La Maison, and Series B lead investor, Cathay Innovation.

Igloo plans to use the fund to attract engineering, product, design and data talent as well as to identify various M&A opportunities in the region.
The company has formed partnerships with over 55 companies across 7 countries and over 15 products in its expanding product suite.
Igloo has facilitated over 300 million policies and increased gross written premiums by 30 times since 2019.
Raunak Mehta
“The support from our investors underlines the value of our technology proposition in making insurance accessible and affordable for the underserved communities, especially gig economy workers and MSMEs.

We are now well positioned to leverage our expertise and accelerate our growth across the region and further strengthen our products and services portfolio that addresses the traditional insurance gaps.”
said Raunak Mehta, Co-founder and CEO, Igloo.

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Blockchain
Digital Assets
Payments

35 Asian Nations Are Developing CBDCs – Here’s Where They Stand

									by Rebecca Oi
December 5, 2022

Economies worldwide are increasingly considering the viability of a digitised national currency, most commonly referred to now as a Central Bank Digital Currency, or CBDC. Eleven countries have already launched their CBDCs, but none in Asia yet.
There are currently 35 countries in Asia that are in different stages – either research, development, or pilot – of CBDC exploration, according to the American think tank Atlantic Council which tracks the digital currency status worldwide.
The closest to a full-scale launch is likely China next year, where it was the first to introduce the digital yuan, or e-CNY, in August 2020.
Why the growing interest in the CBDC?
Here are the basics. It is the digital version of a country’s legal tender backed and issued by its central bank. Since it is literally just the digital version, its value is the same as the physical paper notes. For example, 100 e-CNY is equal to 100 yuan. They can be held in an account with the central bank or as electronic tokens in digital wallets, mobile devices, and prepaid cards.

There are two known use cases for CBDCs. First, retail is denoted by CBDC-R, which is involved in transactions by the general public. The second is wholesale, wCBDC, used in bank-to-bank transactions and settlements by financial institutions.
Countries can design their CBDC for both use cases, like China and Thailand, or start with either, such as South Korea and Russia, piloting for retail use; meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Singapore are testing for wholesale only.
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Source: AMRO staff
Asia is rife with CBDC activities
Asia is rife with CBDC activities as the region, home to many emerging markets, is quick to adopt new technology and keen to extract more benefits from innovations. CBDCs make use of blockchain technology, like cryptocurrencies, but the country’s monetary sovereignty is still preserved since each country’s respective central bank issues them.
Due to its decentralized nature, it doesn’t have to be bogged down by the legacy system, such as the US dollar financial channels, which makes a country’s economy vulnerable to changes in US monetary or political policies like trade sanctions.
Aside from that, expanding financial inclusion is a core objective behind the increasing interest in CDBCs. Going digital can facilitate transactions at home and across the border, as experienced during the rapid digitalization and further penetration of mobile and internet access in the initial two years of the covid-19 pandemic.
The CBDC is a part of the continuing enhancements in modern monetary transactions, including real-time settlement and lower transaction costs.
In fact, the UN Sustainable Development Goal for 2030 is committed to reducing transaction costs of migrant remittances to less than three percent and eliminating remittance corridors with prices higher than five percent.

Nicholas Drury
 “Migrant workers sending US$200 back home on a banking rail have to pay more than US$18 (six percent), which is more than double the UN Sustainable Development Goal target, according to the World Bank.
As part of ongoing inclusive interoperable technologies implementations, CBDCs need to play a key role in further reducing cross-border settlement costs to reach the three percent SDG goal,” said Nick Drury, director of Mojaloop CBDC Center of Excellence in Singapore, recently.
Asia has yet to launch CBDC fully
While the technology is promising, there are concerns – from infrastructure, cybersecurity, and privacy to combating fraud, terrorism funding, and money laundering – which still need to be addressed.
This probably explains why no country in Asia has yet to launch its CBDC fully. So far, there are 15 countries still doing research on CBDCs, 10 in the development stage and 10 in the pilot phase, according to the Atlantic Council tracker. Out of the (almost) 11 ASEAN countries, only Brunei and Timor-Leste have yet to make a known plan for CBDC.
Last Wednesday, Indonesia’s central bank released a whitepaper detailing its plans for its CBDC Project Garuda, the national initiative to develop a digital rupiah. This will be carried out in three stages, with the wholesale digital rupiah being examined first.
Those doing CBDC pilot schemes include Russia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, China, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.
The Reserve Bank of India has started its first wCDBC pilot for e-rupee this month and intends to begin an experiment for retail uses with five banks this December. The Bank of Japan will begin a trial of using digital yen with the country’s three big banks and regional banks next year.
Progress of CBDC Projects in Asia. Source: Atlantic Council
Cross-border CBDC projects in Asia
Furthermore, some countries in Asia have completed or are participating in cross-border CBDC projects. The mCBDC Bridge sees a collaboration between the BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand, the Digital Currency Institute of the People’s Bank of China, and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates on a multi-CBDC platform.
The Bank of Japan has worked on Project Stella with the European Central Bank, and the central banks of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have Project Aber.
Singapore, meanwhile, has more than a few wholesale CBDC projects under its belt. It has Project Dunbar with Australia, Malaysia, and South Africa; Project Jasper with Canada and the UK; Onyx/Multiple wCBDC with France; and Project Cedar Phase II x Ubin+ between the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the New York Innovation Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
MAS will also be experimenting with automated market makers for foreign exchange using wCBDC with Banque of France and Swiss National Bank in Project Mariana.

Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik here and here

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Cloud
InsurTech

Singlife With Aviva Will Fully Migrate to AWS by End of 2023

									by Fintech News Singapore
December 5, 2022

Financial services company Singlife with Aviva announced that it will migrate its entire information technology (IT) infrastructure to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) by the end of 2023.
Singlife aims to enhance its digital capabilities, enabling it to meet the demands for hyper-personalised digital financial services while also supporting its environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) objectives.
Prior to its merger with Aviva Singapore in 2022, Singlife built a digital-first service model on AWS to support its consumers in Singapore and the Philippines.
Now, as a merged entity with Aviva Singapore, Singlife is closing its on-premises data centers and migrating its Aviva IT workloads to AWS.

To complement the integration of cloud services, Singlife will benefit from AWS’s training programmes to upskill its workforce with in-demand cloud skills in the areas of development, technical operations, and management.
Additionally, Singlife’s leadership team will participate in AWS’s Cloud in the Clouds executive training programme, which provides leaders with a comprehensive overview of cloud services and insights on how to nurture a cloud-driven work culture.
Romil Sharma
Romil Sharma, Group Head, Technology and Operations at Singlife with Aviva said,
“Our cloud-first strategy with AWS allows us to stay true to our digital-first heritage, enabling us to harness the full potential of technology to benefit our consumers.

With our upgraded data analytic capabilities, we are now uniquely positioned to provide consumers with hyper-personalised experiences, helping them achieve financial freedom confidently on their own terms.”
Vikram Rao
Vikram Rao, Head of Enterprise, ASEAN at AWS said,
“By going all-in on AWS, Singlife with Aviva is taking a cloud-first approach while upskilling employees in the latest cloud capabilities.

Using AWS, Singlife with Aviva can quickly develop new and innovative data-driven services, and enhance consumer experiences, supporting their customer promise of ‘A Better Way to Financial Freedom’.”

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Open Banking

Singapore’s Appetite for Open Banking Is at an All-Time High, Finastra Survey Shows

									by Fintech News Singapore
December 7, 2022

Open banking is now universally and unequivocally regarded as a key part of a bank’s landscape, according to a global research by financial services software and cloud solutions provider Finastra.
The ‘Financial Services: State of the Nation Survey 2022’ found that 99% of its respondents in Singapore consider open banking as ‘must have’ or ‘important’, up from 97% last year.
In 2021, Singapore led other markets with agreement from 95% that open finance was important compared to the global average (91%).
Additionally, three quarters (76%) of Singaporeans agree that open finance has the potential to bring about fairer and more equal financial services

Meanwhile, 90% agree that open finance is already having a positive impact on the industry and making it more collaborative.
More insights from the report
Banking as a Service (BaaS) and embedded finance have become an industry norm. 85% in Singapore agree that BaaS and embedded finance are already expected/demanded by customers.
More than a third (38%) said their organisations have improved or deployed BaaS in the past year.
Two in five (41%) said their organisations have deployed embedded finance in the last year, more than any other market.
Source: Financial Services State of the Nation Survey 2022
However, the current economic situation has led to further investment constraint.
In 2021, 81% of respondents in Singapore said their technology and digital banking investments had been constrained by cost pressures.
This year, 84% said the current economic situation has tightened spending.
This is demonstrated by the fact that 44% said in 2021 that they were planning to improve or deploy BaaS in next 12 months, whereas just 38% in this year’s survey said their organisations had actually done so.
Despite the current economic uncertainty and wider cost pressures, more than three quarters (77%) expect their full investments to resume by the end of H1 2023.
Source: Financial Services State of the Nation Survey 2022
The survey findings also revealed a unique paradox in Singapore’s cloud adoption.
For all other markets, where cloud adoption was higher than average (“all or most” software hosted on cloud solutions), these markets also revealed lower than average use of on premises solutions, and vice versa.
However, Singapore had a far higher than average number (43%, vs 32% global average) that said their software stack is split equally between cloud and on-premises solutions.
These findings may be indicative of the banking landscape in Singapore, which is dominated by incumbent banks.
Among the new digital banks that have recently launched their operations in Singapore include Trust Bank, Grab-Singtel digital bank consortium GXS, Ant’s ANEXT Bank and Green Link Digital Bank (GLDB).
Source: Financial Services State of the Nation Survey 2022
Simon Paris
“Finastra has always championed open finance as the key to unlocking the potential of people, businesses and communities everywhere.

Over the years that we have conducted this survey, we have seen open finance grow from an emerging idea to a clear priority for institutions across the world, enabling, as it does, business model shifts such as embedded banking, as well as financial inclusion and equality.”
said Simon Paris, Chief Executive Officer at Finastra.
The research was conducted amongst 758 professionals at financial institutions and banks from August to September 2022 across Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Germany, the UAE, the UK and the US.

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Indonesia
InsurTech
Thailand

Travel Insurance Represents Massive Opportunities for Insurtech as The World Reopens

									by Rebecca Oi
December 15, 2022

Insurtech startups in the Southeast Asian region are capitalising on the heightened need that consumers now have for travel coverage, even as the majority of countries globally relax travelling restrictions in earnest.
In the recent past, this sort of travel coverage would be viewed as an optional product that people purchase when they may be traveling somewhere with a dubious safety record. But following the recent global health crisis, adequate travel insurance is now viewed as an absolute essential before travelling.

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Travellers often lament the protection afforded to them by their insurance providers, not to mention the troublesome and lengthy process of claims.
Capitalising on this, many insurtech companies in the region are focusing on providing innovative, digital-first insurance products and services that cater to the specific needs and preferences of consumers in the region.

These products and services often use advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and data analytics to offer more personalised, convenient, and affordable insurance options.
Insurtech in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand
According to a report, Singapore has one of Asia’s biggest concentrations of insurtech start-ups, with over 80 companies in the island state. The market is expected to grow annually by nine percent (CAGR 2021 to 2026). The Singapore government is also supportive of the insurtech industry, with initiatives such as the Sandbox Express program.
Market Concentration of Insurtech Players in Singapore. Source: Mordor Intelligence
The Indonesian insurance market is highly fragmented, with many small and medium-sized companies competing for customers. According to the data published by the General Insurance Association of Indonesia (AAUI), all insurers have recorded a 20 percent increase in their half-yearly turnover. Traditional insurers are partnering with insurtechs to diversify distribution channels to capture business growth.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s insurance industry is forecasted to reach US$36.1 billion by 2026, according to a GlobalData estimate.  Insurtech is embedded in the country’s Fourth Insurance Development Plan (IDP 4) for 2021 to 2025 to ensure that the industry can adapt to the new environment.
Source: GlobalData
Travellers favouring travel providers and agents
Research has shown that 44.2 percent of travellers from Singapore bought their insurance through an online insurer for their last trip.
Future Preference for Purchasing Travel Insurance. Source: Cover Genius
In contrast, 45 percent from Thailand and 57.7 percent from Indonesia purchased via travel providers or agents. Singapore travellers would also switch to travel providers, with 39.6 percent exploring this option, whereas Thailand (45 percent) and Indonesia (60.6 percent) would still go through travel providers.
Barney Pierce
Cover Genius’ senior vice-president for partnerships, Asia-Pacific, Barney Pierce, said that this indicates the majority across Southeast Asia prefer to purchase travel insurance directly from their travel provider or agent for their next trip. This can only be achieved with embedded protection throughout their booking experience.
That being said, there are several reasons why people in these countries may prefer to buy insurance through traditional insurance providers rather than insurtech companies.
For example, some people may be more familiar with and comfortable with traditional insurance providers and may prefer to purchase insurance from companies they know and trust.
Additionally, some people may be hesitant to try new and unfamiliar technology and prefer to stick with tried-and-tested methods for purchasing insurance. Finally, certain insurance products or services may only be available through traditional insurance providers, which could also influence people’s decisions about where to buy insurance.
Factors considered when purchasing travel insurance coverage
Singaporeans rank trust as the number one factor when purchasing travel insurance, followed by the convenience of obtaining the cost of protection.
Similar to the expectations of Singaporeans’, Thais also have the same ranking, whereas Indonesians place convenience as the most important factor, followed by trust.
Indonesians also want the flexibility to customise insurance or warranty protection, with this factor coming in third place.
Future Preference for Purchasing Travel Insurance. Source: Cover Genius
All three Southeast Asia countries in the research have a zero to negative net promoter score (NPS) for online insurers regarding the claiming experiences, with credit cards scoring negatives across the board.
Travel providers scored a positive in Thailand but still failed to meet expectations for Singaporeans and Indonesian travellers, registering negatives in these two countries.
This indicates the overall dissatisfaction with travel insurance in the region.
Post-covid travel insurance
With the ever-present possibility of contracting covid, a travel insurance plan that includes COVID-19 coverage is an absolute must, according to Alan Wong, a financial service director at Prudential and an authorised agent of AIG Singapore. Supporting Wong’s opinion is Chandramogan s/o Gunasakaran, an executive senior financial planner with Great Eastern Singapore.

Chandramogan s/o Gunasakaran
“There could be a case where a person could be down due to COVID-19 and might need to cancel, postpone the trip or suffer some travel disruption either before, during, or after the trip. For such situations, insurance companies will reimburse based on the sub-limit of (the) plan for expenses incurred during these situations,” said Chandramogan.
Therefore, there is a role for insurtech to deliver insurance to thousands of travellers through access to more personalized and tailored insurance products and services based on their specific needs and preferences, including coverage for pandemic-related risks and disruptions.

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InsurTech

Allianz’s Asia Lab invites start-ups to reinvent insurance with new Digital Arena platform

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 14, 2016

SINGAPORE, 14 November 2016 – Allianz today announces the launch of its Digital Arena innovation platform, a programme that encourages start-ups and entrepreneurs to share and pitch fresh ideas that will reinvent the way insurance is delivered and experienced in Asia.
Allianz’s Asia Lab
With the aim of bringing together Allianz commercial teams with high-potential entrepreneurs and start-ups from the digital community, the Digital Arena platform will support Allianz in identifying new ways to meet customer needs along the insurance value chain. The platform aims to pioneer next-generation innovation and solutions in connected health, mobility, insurtech, analytics and cyber security.
Robin Loh
Robin Loh, Chief Digital Officer, Allianz Asia Pacific said, “Customer needs are evolving rapidly and it is important that we are open, committed and have the infrastructure to meet these changing demands. This innovation platform supports an exciting interaction with disruptive start-ups, and also scales our ecosystem with opportunities for growth. With the Digital Arena platform, even very small start-ups can work with and leverage Allianz’s established market presence and commercial expertise across Asia.”

Participating start-ups can register their interest on the portal www.allianzasialab.com, to have their propositions reviewed and shortlisted by Allianz’s Asia Lab team, after which both parties enjoy the flexibility of exploring collaborative options that include partnerships or investments.
Ideas already developed from the pilot phase include the tie-up with RecomN, a Malaysia-based on-demand portal where customers hire tradespeople for services like home repair and food catering. RecomN’s early exposure on the Digital Arena platform led to a successful partnership with Allianz Malaysia Berhard, with the insurer providing liability coverage for RecomN’s daily online transactions.
Asia Lab
This launch follows the unveiling of Allianz’s Asia Lab earlier this year, which underscores Allianz’s firm commitment to its fast-growing markets in this region. Singapore is home to Allianz’s regional head office, from where it services 14 markets across life and health insurance, property and casualty insurance, and asset management.

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InsurTech

Singlife With Aviva to Pick Eight Early Stage Insurtech Startups for Its Accelerator

									by Fintech News Singapore
December 22, 2022

Singapore’s financial services company Singlife with Aviva has announced the launch of an accelerator programme for insurtech startups.
The Singlife Connect programme will focus on developing scalable market solutions to revamp insurance distribution.
Through the accelerator, successful applicants will gain access to Singlife’s suite of products and insurance verticals as well as personalised mentorship.
Singlife will co-develop scalable solutions within the accelerator to enable quicker customer discovery as well as receive the necessary regulatory and compliance support to effectively execute their go-to-market strategies.

According to Singlife, the programme will initially support up to eight early stage insurtech startups from ideation to strategy and implementation
Singlife then plans to evolve its operating model in the future to support startups with more complex needs.
Insurtech startups who have a foothold in the Singapore market can apply for the programme here before 31 January 2023.
Varun Mittal
Varun Mittal, Group Head, Digital & Ecosystems, Singlife with Aviva said,
“Customers are evolving and insurtechs have to enhance their offerings.

Through strategic partnerships with insurtech startups, we hope that Singlife Connect will provide the right tools and platforms for insurtechs to grow with confidence and serve their customers with optimum impact.”

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Blockchain
Crypto
Digital Assets

Can Bitcoin Be a Financial Lifeline for Economies in Crisis?

									by Johanan Devanesan
December 22, 2022

Bitcoin, the world’s first and most widely-recognized cryptocurrency, has gained a reputation for being a volatile and risky investment. However, in certain economies around the world, Bitcoin is being embraced as a useful tool that is allowing for financial stability and economic growth to continue despite unpredictable financial uncertainty.
The recent collapse of exchange platform FTX and the 200 percent decline in the global cryptocurrency market has significantly dented confidence in Bitcoin again among speculative investors.
But in many parts of the developing world, where volatile local economies have been upended by political or social instability, inflationary tactics and unreliable currency valuations, Bitcoin in particular has emerged as a potential ‘safe haven’ asset.
Let’s look at some of the developing economies that have relied on a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin amidst deteriorating local currency situations and flat out economic crises.

Latin American countries, perhaps more accustomed to wildly fluctuating currency valuations, figure prominently among nations that have embraced a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin to fill in economic gaps where the regional currency lacks.

For instance, Argentina has an annual inflation rate of 88 percent. With inflation soaring, Argentina is a country featuring one of the highest volumes of cryptocurrency transactions, with an estimated 17 percent of Argentina’s citizens using Bitcoin and others to make everyday transactions, according to Argentine newspaper La Nación.
And El Salvador became well known last year as the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. In spite of cryptocurrency tailwinds that have tanked the country’s alleged US$100-300 million investment (estimated to now be worth less than US$40 million, based on prevailing crypto market prices), El Salvador’s president continues to believe that the crypto market will eventually rally and the public investment in Bitcoin will pay off handsomely, eventually.
In Ecuador, the government has taken a strong stance against Bitcoin, banning the cryptocurrency outright in 2014. However, despite this official stance, Bitcoin has still found a way to thrive in the country.
Ecuador’s economy has long been plagued by high inflation and currency instability, and many citizens have turned to Bitcoin as a way to protect their wealth. In addition, the country’s unstable banking system has made it difficult for many people to access financial services, leading some to turn to Bitcoin as an alternative.
But it is not just in Latin America where such change has been felt – any country with a destabilised local economy has the possibility of adopting crypto as an alternative. In Lebanon, the ongoing economic crisis has led to widespread protests and political instability. The country’s currency, the Lebanese pound, has lost a significant amount of value, leading many to seek out alternatives.

Bitcoin has emerged as one potential solution, as it allows people to store their wealth in a decentralised digital cryptocurrency that is not tied to any specific country or government. In addition, Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer nature makes it easier for people to send and receive money without relying on traditional financial institutions.
Venezuela is another country where Bitcoin has gained a foothold, thanks in large part to the country’s ongoing economic crisis. The Venezuelan bolivar, the country’s official currency, has been ravaged by hyperinflation, making it nearly worthless.
As a result, many people in Venezuela have turned to Bitcoin as a way to store their funds and make financial transactions. In addition, Bitcoin mining, the process of verifying and adding transactions to the Bitcoin blockchain, has become a popular way for people to earn an income in Venezuela.
So why is Bitcoin proving to be so useful in these economies? One reason is that it provides a way for people to protect their wealth from inflation and currency instability. Inflation can erode the value of traditional fiat currencies, making it difficult for people to maintain their purchasing power. Bitcoin, on the other hand, has a limited supply of 21 million coins, which helps to protect against inflation.
Another reason Bitcoin has been successful in these economies is that it provides a way for people to access financial services. In countries where the traditional financial system is unstable or unavailable, Bitcoin can provide a way for people to send and receive money, make online purchases, and even access loans.
For example, in Lebanon, where traditional financial institutions have struggled to stay afloat, Bitcoin has emerged as a way for people to access the global financial system.
Finally, Bitcoin has the potential to stimulate economic growth in these countries. In Ecuador, the use of Bitcoin has helped to create new jobs and business opportunities, as more and more people become involved in the cryptocurrency industry. Similarly, in Venezuela, Bitcoin mining has provided a source of income for many people and has helped to stimulate the local economy.
While Bitcoin may be seen as a risky and volatile investment in some parts of the world, but in countries like Ecuador, Lebanon, and Venezuela, it is proving to be a valuable tool for financial stability and economic growth.
Its decentralised nature, ability to protect against inflation, and ability to provide access to financial services make it an attractive alternative to traditional fiat currencies in these economies. As a result, Bitcoin is helping to create new opportunities and stimulate economic growth in these countries.
Featured image credit: Freepik
Image credits: Image by pvproductions & Image by master1305 on Freepik

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Blockchain
Crypto
Regtech

Matrixport Partners With Chainalysis to Step up Its Compliance Capabilities

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 10, 2023

Singapore-based crypto lender Matrixport will be leveraging Chainalysis’ blockchain data platform to step up its compliance capabilities, support anti-fraud protocols and monitor risk.
Through this partnership, Matrixport will be able to monitor its cryptocurrency assets to detect patterns of high-risk activity and deeper due diligence into suspicious activities.
The crypto lender said that this is a move towards transparency across its digital assets financial services, including Cactus Custody™, spot OTC, fixed income, structured products, asset management and digital prime brokerage.
Chainalysis’ compliance suite includes its KYT (Know Your Transaction) solution and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) tools.

Christopher Liu
Christopher Liu, Chief Compliance Officer at Matrixport said,
“We are committed to implementing the highest standards and Chainalysis holds the industry benchmark for compliance within the digital asset ecosystem with their cryptocurrency compliance suite.

By harnessing Chainalysis’ blockchain intelligence and real-time transaction monitoring capabilities, we are enabled with best-in-class controls to protect and provide our clients with secure, transparent and efficient digital asset services.”
Joshua Foo
Joshua Foo, Regional Director, ASEAN and Central Asia at Chainalysis said,
“We are excited to collaborate with Matrixport and enable their team to launch their cryptocurrency offerings with high regulatory compliance standards in place.

We look forward to working closely with Matrixport to build a stronger trust in blockchain and cryptocurrency, and provide a safer environment for their customers.”

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InsurTech
Thailand

Thailand’s AIS Ties up With bolttech to Allow Its Customers to Replace Their Devices

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 10, 2023

Singapore-based insurtech firm bolttech has partnered with Thailand’s mobile network operator AIS to deliver embedded protection services for the recently-launched AIS Care+ programme.
The AIS Care+ programme allows customers to switch or replace their smartphones and tablets flexibly for any reason and at any time.

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AIS said in a statement that customers can get doorstep delivery within 6 hours in Bangkok with a money-back guarantee.
The plan includes a “no questions asked” option for customers to exchange their current mobile device for a different brand, colour or model.

bolttech also provides a complimentary screen replacement service now bundled with the AIS Care+ plans.
AIS Care+ is available to all AIS customers who purchase a smartphone or tablet at any AIS branded stores such as AIS Telewiz or AIS Buddy stores.
Customers can subscribe to either a monthly or 12-month service.
Saran Phaloprakarn
Saran Phaloprakarn, Head of Mobile and Consumer Products at AIS said,
“We’re thrilled to partner with bolttech, a global expert in device protection, to launch this innovative and differentiated protection service offering in Thailand.

AIS Care+ gives our customers more choice and convenience for changing or fixing their mobile devices, without having to deal with complicated and time-consuming claims and servicing requests.”
Baldev Singh
Baldev Singh, CEO for Southeast Asia, bolttech said,
“Our device protection embedded with AIS, the leading telecommunications brand in Thailand, is another major step in our partner-led strategy for the market.

We will continue to build on our partnership with AIS to offer more value to their growing customer base.”

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AI
InsurTech

AIA’s Amplify Health Acquires AI Startup AiDA Technologies

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 11, 2023

Amplify Health, a healthtech joint venture between AIA Group and Discovery Group, has acquired Singapore-based AI solutions provider AiDA Technologies.
AiDA was founded in 2016 by Dr Tan Geok Leng, Dr Shonali Krishnaswamy, and a team of data scientists from the InfoComm Research Institute (I2R), A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research).
The firm has developed a suite of proprietary machine learning technologies, used to automate underwriting, claims processing, and detect fraud, waste and abuse.
The solutions enable companies to use data better to accelerate processes, increase revenue, drive cost reductions and anticipate evolving risk.

AiDA’s technologies complement Amplify Health’s healthtech solutions for integrated digital health programmes to manage chronic disease and private medical insurance (PMI) product development capabilities.
Dr Axel Baur
“The acquisition of AiDA Technologies adds further AI and machine learning capability to our existing IP and integrated health technology solutions stack that we are deploying throughout the region.

Through this acquisition, we are accelerating our plans to enable payors, corporates, medical providers, and public health systems to improve health outcomes for patients and the sustainability of healthcare systems in Asia Pacific.”
said Dr Axel Baur, Deputy Chief Executive of Amplify Health.
Dr Tan Geok Leng
“As we sought to unlock the future potential of AiDA Technologies, we looked for a partner who could provide greater domain expertise, financial resources and access to new distribution networks to enable us to scale for even greater impact.”
said Dr Tan Geok Leng, Chief Executive Officer of AIDA Technologies.

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InsurTech

Prudential Singapore Gets Green Light From MAS for New Financial Advisory Arm

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 16, 2023

Prudential Singapore announced that it has received approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to set up a new financial advisory firm.
The company said in a statement that the new firm will offer a wider range of products and services to its customers that are complementary to its life insurance offerings.
This includes wealth solutions and general insurance such as travel insurance and motor insurance.
The financial advisory firm adds to Prudential’s existing distribution channels comprising a tied agency of more than 5,000 financial consultants, exclusive bancassurance partners – United Overseas Bank (UOB) and Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) – as well as digital channels such as the Pulse by Prudential app.

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