Funding
InsurTech
Philippines

Saphron Raises SGD 1.35 M to Tackle Financial Inclusion in the Philippines

									by Tom Noda
March 14, 2019

2267  4

Manila-based insurtech startup Saphron has raised SGD1.35 million seed fund coming from fintech-focused VC fund Sage, and Talino Labs, a venture lab that supports companies engaged in digital transformation.
Founded recently by solutions architect Francisco “Kiko” Reyes Jr, Saphron plans to use the fresh capital to address the financial inclusion gap in the Philippines by making the delivery of insurance radically accessible. The startup aims to enable clients develop technologies that transform consumer experiences.
Sage and Talino Labs, in a joint statement, expressed optimism in Saphron’s capability “to launch transformative platforms that solve real needs, by way of intelligent, cutting edge tech in partnership with established companies in the region.”
Both venture firms cited that there are still large parts of the SEA population that are unprepared financially — be it in terms of savings or insurance. And while there is a lot of growth potential in the region, industries can leapfrog and become even more relevant to consumers by combining the latest technology with in-depth industry expertise.

“The financial services industry in the Philippines has undergone its share of disruption this past decade and is now poised for a transformation that will make savings, assistance, and protection products convenient and accessible to millions of Filipinos. Our investment in Saphron is proof of our commitment to make this happen,” said Sage and Talino Labs in a statement.
Reyes, who is also Saphron’s chief technology officer, stressed there is a serious need to make financial preparedness radically accessible, especially in a country exposed to numerous calamities like the Philippines, but where large segments of the population remain either uninsured or severely underinsured.
Reyes said his team aims to create a truly digital experience for its clients’ users, from searching for a suitable cover, to convenience in payments, to simplicity in claims processing.
“Our platform will be optimized with artificial intelligence and real-time data analytics for underwriting and customer service,” Reyes said. “It will have a multi-platform payment gateway that can accept payments from mobile payment platforms, which is now the payment method of choice in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. And we will build a blockchain-based know your customer (KYC) system with biometric identity verification for secure payments processing.”
Saphron currently assists the Pioneer group, a local commercial insurance firm that provides coverage for migrant workers and the low-income sector in the country.
Reyes said many Filipinos are still without protection and access to financial assistance when faced with accidents, hospitalization, climate-driven calamities, diseases, and other emergencies.
“Filipinos often think that securing protection is a sizeable expense, but in reality it costs more to be unprotected when emergencies occur. When a member of the family is in an emergency, it puts a strain on the entire family’s finances. In fact, a single episode alone is often enough to put households in debt for long periods,” he explained.
Saphron, referring to the October 2018 data from global insurance and reinsurance market Lloyd’s, noted the insurance penetration rate in the Philippines is at “less than one per cent,” similar to Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Egypt, and Nigeria.

Featured image credit: Saphron

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Regtech

UK Based Regtech ClauseMatch Launches APAC Headquarters in Singapore

									by Fintech News Singapore
March 25, 2019

4616  2

ClauseMatch a London based regtech firm announced that it will be expanding its operations into Asia Pacific with Singapore as its regional headquarters. ClauseMatch’s software enables financial institutions and fintechs keep up with regulatory changes.
Back home ClauseMatch counts several top-tier financial institutions including the likes of Barclays as their client. Prior to their launch in Singapore, the regtech company struck a deal with Revolut to manage its regulatory compliance
Speaking on the matter, ClauseMatch’s CEO, Evgeny Likhoded stated:
Evgeny Likhoded
“Establishing a presence in Singapore is an important milestone for ClauseMatch. Many banks have done expansions by way of acquiring local banks. And integration of local entities into the group is often not done perfectly, so what we offer to banks in Asia is actually a way to manage their internal compliance in a central way and see where they have discrepancies with local processes in different countries in Asia.”

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Innovation
InsurTech

Mitsui Sumitomo Just Launched Their Digital Hub in Singapore

									by Fintech News Singapore
April 5, 2019

525  1

Mitsui Sumitomo an insurance giant hailing from Japan, and they just announced the setup of their global digital hub in Singapore—at its Asia regional office. The digital hub has been established in Singapore since February 2019.
The announcement also mentions a global digital hub that just launched in Japan.
The digital hub in Singapore should, according to Mitsui Sumitomo, contribute to the development of digital initiatives in ASEAN, by supporting the Asia regional office in developing business strategies.
The hub was also set up to help the company figure out how to enhance customer experience in ASEAN markets, in a bid to cater to rapid digitalisation. With the hub, Mitsui Sumitomo aims to help facilitate the development of innovative insurtech via collaborations with other business partners and startups.

Featured image is of the Global Digital Hub in Japan, by Mitsui Sumitomo

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InsurTech

3 Lessons Other Insurers Should Learn from Ping An

									by Hans W. Winterhoff
April 23, 2019

 32 16

Insurance companies have been slow to adapt to a digital-first approach. In an increasingly digital world, many insurers are put in a tough spot as they struggle to keep up with the demands of a new generation of consumers.
Taking advantage of the incumbents’ inability to meet these needs, we are seeing a surge of insurtech startups stepping in to seize the market. Fighting off these agile startups have proved to be difficult with the shackles of bureaucracy and legacy systems.
Ping An, however, is one of the few outliers in this scenario.
Source: Ping An
A relatively young player with just over three decades of experience, this insurer has managed to squeeze past all the incumbents to take the crown in the 2018 Forbes’ world largest insurers list and as of January 2018, the company is worth US$ 217 billion.

This is quite a feat, as most companies who made it in the top 20 list typically have over a century of history and nearly half of them established in Europe.
With such a track record, it is no surprise that Ping An is frequently featured as a poster boy of insurers successfully embracing the new digital world. Which incidentally, is something that we covered at great length in our Insurtech Tech 10: Trends for 2019 report.
Insurers seeking remain competitive would benefit from examining Ping An’s playbook and adopting several lessons for themselves.
From our observation and extensive studies, here are 3 key lessons we believe insurers can learn from Ping An.
1. Looking beyond insurance, and developing an ecosystem
For Ping An, it’s not just about insurance, it’s about bringing in fringe services that gave them an advantage. In China, the new social+ business models have been impacting various industries from e-commerce all the way to insurance. Social+ brings a social element to connect users to businesses and strengthens their ecosystem play.
Source: PingAn Annual Report 2018
Ping An’s expansive ecosystem is nothing to be scoffed at. Today, the group offers services including finance (Ping An Bank), peer-to-peer (P2P) lending (Lufax), healthcare consultations (Ping An Good Doctor), real estate and auto listings (Pinganfang and Autohome respectively), and entertainment (Huayi Brothers) to its 500 million+ digital user base via its One Account customer portal.
2. Embedding yourself in your customer’s journey
Merely providing services in no longer sufficient today’s world, to build customer loyalty insurers need to embed themselves into their customer’s lifecycle.
One way that Ping An is doing is by playing an active role in their customer’s well-being. Through Ping An’s Good Doctor the company able to create brand stickiness to over 54 million users that are actively using the app monthly.
Source: Ping An
While being digital-first is crucial, being in the real world with your customers are equally important as well. Leveraging on AI-Powered unstaffed mobile clinics, Ping An is able to provide instant diagnosis or provide referrals to human doctors.
It is also equipped with an automated medicine medicine dispenser that will be stocked with over 100 types of common medicine.
3. Harnessing the power of data and AI
Data is king.
A statement that is as true as it is cliché. To no one’s surprise data is a huge part of Ping An’s play. That play is once again supported by Ping An’s far-reaching ecosystem.
With over 265 Million users registered on Ping An Good Doctor, it serves as a huge pool of data that the Ping An can tap into for various commercial reasons — from risks assessments to building better products.
Source: Ping An
Ping An’s deep focus into artificial intelligence also gave birth to their AI-powered medical imaging technology which boasts 95% accuracy for imaging 2 categories of lung cancer. They further developed that technology to cover 35  different type of illnesses.
As a result of that Shanghai’s Ministry of Health signed an agreement with them to ensure that all hospitals in Shanghai must connect with them in real time.
Taking Inspiration from China
The time for insurers to reinvent themselves is long overdue, the world as we know it has been lifted from the ground beneath us.
Many would point to 6 years ago when Ping An shifted all the systems on the cloud as the beginning of their transformation journey that eventually lead to them being the most valuable insurance company in the world today.
It’s not too late for insurers  to take a page out of Ping An’s playbook and start their own version of a transformation journey.

This article first appeared on our sister page Fintechnews.ch. This is an edited version for Singapore.

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InsurTech

Here’s How Insurtech is Tackling Singapore’s Ageing Problem

									by Satoko Omata
May 8, 2019

 10  3

Let’s suppose you accidentally tore your ligament in the knee while exercising in the gym tomorrow. Do you know how much you’d need to pay for medical fees?
Before we reveal the answer, there’s a saying amongst Singaporeans: it’s cheaper to die than to fall sick in Singapore.
Sure, there is the basic health insurance MediShield Life that all Singapore citizens and permanent residents (PR) are automatically signed up to (and it comes out of your pay anyway), but it covers only basic public hospital treatments and comes with many limits. Even with the Integrated Shield Plan (IP) booster, patients will still have to pay at least 5 percent of the bill while the insurer pays the rest.
The island nation is currently facing an ageing population; within the span of a decade, the percentage of residents above the age of 65 has increased from 8.7 percent in 2008 to 13.7 percent  in 2018. An elderly population is more susceptible to disease and disability.

Meanwhile, the cost of healthcare is also expected in increase by 9.1 percent  in Singapore in 2019, according to a survey by Willis Towers Watson. Let’s consider the most common elderly related injury – hip fractures. A partial hip replacement can cost you upwards of SGD6,278 in a public hospital after subsidies. Incidentally, the answer to the first question of this article, is around SGD3,086 after subsidies, according to estimates by the Ministry of Health (MOH).
The increasing cost, paired with an ageing population, puts incredible financial burden on not only the patients, but also the governments (due to the subsidies) as well as insurers (due to payouts).
Insurtech to save the day?
Arguably, Singapore’s healthcare system is in a much better position than its Western counterparts, notably the US and the UK. Having said that, insurers cannot rest on their laurels.
A report by PwC revealed that globally, three out of four insurance companies view fintech as a challenge for the industry. However, only less than half of them claim they have fintech at the core of their corporate strategies. Alarmingly, less than a third of them are exploring partnerships with fintech companies; while only 14 percent of them actively participate in ventures and/or incubator programs.
Currently, Singapore is one of the top five countries for insurtech investments globally, according to figures by Fintech Global. The top five countries make up three quarters of all deal activity in insurtech since 2014, the other four countries being US, UK, Germany, and India.
Although there are no shortage of insurtech innovation labs in Singapore, it is a highly competitive sector. If investor activity is any indication, insurtech companies need to deliver results, and soon, or be ready to face the music.
It’s not just about money; for Singapore’s ageing population, the clock is running out. Insurers and insurtech companies must quickly find a solution to ease the immense strain on the entire healthcare system, or Singapore might quickly face similar problems that are currently plaguing its Western peers.
Singapore Life
Source: Singapore Life
The most obvious insurtech use case is to make the purchasing process entirely digital. This is exactly what Singapore Life has aimed for. Instead of using brokers or agents, Singapore Life is offering insurance entirely online. The company also launched a Stay Active program, which allows users to sync their fitness tracker or pedometer with the insurer to receive awards and price cuts.
Through promoting better health and wellness, the country can hope to reduce the risk factors facing the elderly cohort, which can help alleviate some of the pressures on the system. In fact, this strategy is seen repeated by several of the insurers listed below, where they prioritise promoting health and wellbeing for their customers.
CXA Group
Source: CXA Group
One of the ways young insurtech players in Singapore are changing up the industry, is by tapping into corporations instead of going directly to individuals. Startup CXA Group is attempting to make insurance more accessible and affordable by working with corporations to offer their employees health-flexible premiums.
Traditionally, employer healthcare schemes are rigid and forces employees to use a particular service. CXA’s approach provides a selection of programs and options that can be tailored to an employee’s preference, which in turn can help lower overall premiums for employers.
This is especially relevant in Singapore where the government has enforced the Retirement and Re-employment act; employers are not allowed to dismiss any employee based on an employee’s age.  An ageing population signifies a shrinking workforce, which explains the re-employment scheme that encourages workers to work beyond conventional retirement age. CXA’s approach ensures employees get adequate coverage, without putting additional stress on the insured, while also keeping overhead costs low for employers.
The startup also launched a one-stop, self-service platform earlier this year that enables employers to provide employees access to a range of health, wealth and wellness offerings, personalised based on the individual’s health and life-stage data. The platform also comes with an e-wallet function that allows employees to purchase insurance offerings using funds released by their employer on the platform.
Prudential Singapore
Source: Prudential Singapore Screengrab from YouTube
Prudential Singapore on the other hand is tackling the healthcare problem with a two-pronged attack. On one hand, it is looking into preventive healthcare with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).
The insurer will roll out a health and wellness ecosystem that will be integrated on a single platform in efforts to help customers better manage their personal health and fitness. The platform will be fitted with symptom checking and health risk assessment functions. It will also feature doctor discovery and virtual consultation, as well as wellness coaching and activity tracking.
Additionally, Prudential is also looking to boost its internal operational efficiency by working with fintechs  Kyckr, Moxtra, and Sqreem. Kyckr will be helping with the development of  compliance solutions, while Moxtra helps enhance productivity and collaboration. Sqreem, on the other hand, creates pattern recognition solutions that allow organisations to identify links and associations among digital activities.
AIA Global
Source: AIA Global
Partnerships for an incumbent insurer isn’t just limited to financial services either. One of the rising star in the Singapore medtech scene is MyDoc. The digital healthcare provider is currently partnered with AIA to help customers identify health risks, as well as encourage customers lead a healthier lifestyle.
In return, AIA will reward its members who’ve completed health screenings with MyDoc with points under its AIA Vitality wellness programme. Customers can exchange the points for lower premiums, discounts, exclusive offers, and even cash back rewards.
Interestingly, MyDoc has also been noted to help reduce healthcare cost, with some studies quoting potential cost savings as high as 28 percent. On top of benefiting customers, it may seem that MyDoc has the potential to help save medical spending in general, which will in turn lower costs for the insured, the government, as well as insurers.
AIA goes one step further, taking advantage of today’s increasingly connected population. Most recently, the insurer announced a partnership with telco giant Singtel to offer the wellness digital platform on the My Singtel app. Customers can earn mobile data rewards with every step they take, while also receiving content related to health, fitness and nutrition.
Bonus: UCARE.AI
Ucare.ai is strictly speaking a medtech company. It is using deep learning and neural network algorithms built on existing healthcare data to help prioritise healthcare resources, while reducing preventable hospitalisation. This will ultimately lead to significant annual savings in the medical industry, which will have a knock on effect beyond the healthcare industry, with the potential to change the way insurtech works.
On top of that, Ucare.ai has also released an AI-powered predictive hospital bill estimation system in December 2018; the system is currently live at the Mount Elizabeth, Mount Elizabeth Novena, Gleneagles and Parkway East hospitals.
According to the company, the system can dynamically generate personalised and more accurate bill estimates based on relevant parameters such as a patient’s medical condition and medical practices, as well as taking into account their age, revisit frequency and existing co-morbidities including high blood pressure and diabetes.
Prior to this, bill estimations were based on statistical calculation of previous hospital bill sizes up to two years ago. With the new bill estimation systems, insurance companies can also better estimate payouts as well as take into account any additional relevant processes that may be needed.

Featured image credit: Pexels

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Funding
InsurTech
Philippines

Tryb Group Invests into Filipino Insurance Marketplace Maria Health

									by Fintech News Singapore
May 13, 2019

 8  1

Maria Health, a Filipino aggregator for health insurance, has secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding from the tryb group, with participation from Gobi Ventures, Wavemaker, Hustle Fund and Grand Metro Holdings.
Maria Health will use the additional funding to accelerate their scaling efforts in the Philippines, seeing themselves as a first-mover in the market and pushing hard to maintain their advantage.
Spending on health expenditures in the Philippines has been on a gradual incline over the years, and according to the Philipine Statistics Authority, total health expenditures grew by 8% percent between 2016 and 2017. Households spent the highest in health expenditures in 2017.
Tryb is places its bets on the health kick to accelerate as wellness becomes more important in the Philippines, particularly after the government embarks on its universal insurance plan for Filipinos.

With health and insurance literacy lacking among the Philippine populations, tryb opines that Maria Health could fill the gap with its online comparison and distribution platform.
Maria Health’s digital-first approach account management should help SMEs and private parties make more informed choices about their coverage. Maria’s platform aggregates SME, individual and family health plans providing education and comparison shopping from twenty  health insurance providers, primary care clinics and ambulatory service providers in the Philippines.
Vincent Lau, Maria Health Co-founder and CEO said:
Vincent Lau
“The process [for SMEs to offer group health insurance to their employees] is cumbersome, to say the least.”
“Our mission is to provide simple, easy to access health insurance online for the Philippines. Our platform offers the right mix of education and convenience, backed by technology.”

Jason Strimpel, Principal at tryb said:
Jason Strimpel
“The market for health insurance in the Philippines is an incredible opportunity for a technology company. Maria’s digital acquisition and distribution strategy creates measurable unit economics.”
“Filipinos spend more time online than any other country and are comfortable making important purchases online.”
Featured image via Maria Health

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InsurTech

Singapore Life Raises Another US$7.3 Million from HK-Based Ion Pacific

									by Fintech News Singapore
May 28, 2019

 3  1

Singapore Life has just raised US$7.3 million (approximately SG$10 million) from Hong Kong-based Ion Pacific, an asset management company, according to DealStreetAsia. Ion Pacific joins Aflac and Standard Life Aberdeen, Singapore Life’s original shareholders in this round of fundraising.
Ion Pacific’s part in this transaction enables them access into Southeast Asia, which it characterised as a “key focus region” for the company. Southeast Asia’s life insurance market.
The region, particularly Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines has mainly been served by agents doing face-to-face meetings, which is often deemed as the best means of establishing trust with their prospects and understand their situation.
The explosion of digital insurance platforms allows insurance companies to reach consumers at lower costs, and to reach otherwise underserved segments before.  The rapidly increasing development of these regions also allow for more insurance awareness and need amongst the populations.

Singapore Life has been actively playing in the insurance field since 2017, and in that time, raised US$90.3 million ( approximately SG$124.3 million) in external funding so far. Previously, Singapore Life acquired Zurich Life’s consumer base as the latter’s business wound down.
Earlier this year, Singapore Life diversified into payments by acquiring Canvas, later launching a prepaid Visa card that allows parents to decide the amount of pocket money to assign their children via the Canvas platform. The Canvas acquisition was one of Singapore Life’s efforts into adding value to its core insurance business.
Featured image via Singapore Life

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Indonesia
InsurTech
Mobile Payments

Bukalapak’s Fintech Could Outgrow its E-Commerce, Said Co-Founder

									by Fintech News Singapore
May 30, 2019

 6  2

One cannot talk about startups in Indonesia without bringing up Bukalapak, arguably one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in the nation.
Bukalapak has graduated from its startup roots and gained the coveted title of Indonesian unicorn. They are now in the midst of an expansion exercise into other Asia Pacific markets.

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Bukalapak has a robust history with the many e-wallet providers operating in Indonesia right now, and has also opened their platform up to more innovative fintech providers.
The e-commerce unicorn allows its e-commerce buyers to pay with Akulaku and Kredivo, both platforms which grants installment payment abilities to buyers without credit cards or a traditional credit history—a significant offering in a region where only about 4% of the population had a credit card in 2017.

Suffice to say, there seems to be a direct correlation between the rise of e-commerce with the rise of fintech in Indonesia.
The Ups and Downs of Bukalapak’s Fintech
It is not a stretch then, for Bukalapak themselves to dabble in fintech. Despite a slowdown on P2P lending in Indonesia, Bukalapak teamed up with P2P lending startups Amartha, Modalku and PohonDana to provide loans in their app under a program called Modal Mitra, geared towards their offline vendors part of the Mitra Bukalapak program.
A few months before that, another partnership with Investree allowed the platform to launch BukaModal, a feature to offer financing for its online sellers that hits a certain amount of sales.
Seemingly geared towards the company’s stated goal of financial inclusion meanwhile, Bukalapak has also has offerings in other fintech realms, like mutual funds (BukaReksa), credit (BukaCicilan), and most interestingly, a gold investment marketplace, BukaEmas, which the company claims is garnering traction.
There is also the platform’s e-wallet BukaDana, seemingly a tide-over wallet for the controversial BukaDompet. The original e-wallet has been frozen due to a Bank Indonesia crackdown that put a moratorium on a variety of e-money providers dealing with a large amount of funds, Bukalapak included.
BukaDompet awaits a new set of laws regulating e-money issuance before it can be allowed to reinstate its original e-wallet.
Despite their difficulties so far dealing with the grey areas of a nascent scene, president and co-founder of Bukalapak, Fajrin Rasyid, has a surprisingly positive outlook on Bukalapak’s fintech journey.
“Fintech Will Potentially Grow Even Faster Than E-commerce Itself”
Image Credit: BukaLapak
For now the fintech market on Bukalapak is small, but Fajrin is optimistic that it will become more important moving forward.
Fajrin’s opinion here is an observation of their own operation in Indonesia, but it is also part of the company’s vision towards its newly-launched BukaGlobal, which opens doors to customers from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Brunei to receive purchases from Indonesian merchants within 6-11 days. For now, this is more of a logistics play, but it may also be an avenue for further fintech ambitions.
“We haven’t decided. But we are thinking of some (potential fintech offerings). For example, one that is relevant is remittance.”
“We don’t know how people here usually send money to Indonesia, and vice versa. If I send money from Indonesia to here, for example, how do people here take out the money? One way is through the e-wallet. But aother way is to get it in cash. Recently we have this initiative called Mitra, which we partner with more than 800 thousand offline stores in Indonesia at the moment. And we’re thinking of using that as a cash-out point (for recipients).”
As Indonesia moves towards cashlessness, it seems like Fajrin still sees value in offering cash to Indonesians.
However, a big question remains. It’s all well and good for Bukalapak to offer a wide variety of fintech services to its consumers—be it via partnerships or via its own in-house driven initiatives—but how would it “grow even faster than e-commerce”?
Presenting E-Commerce and Fintech as One Unit
Image Credit: Bukalapak
During our little chat, Fajrin painted a picture of integration between its e-commerce side and its fintech side.
Using its investment offerings as an example, Fajrin clarified that anyone can use the platforms to invest in mutual funds. However, through its escrow system, Bukalapak will prompt merchants with the option to funnel their earnings into a mutual fund instead of their bank account. Therefore, they have a specific set of promotions and campaigns targeted to the merchants on their platform, ostensibly offering a more convenient avenue for SMEs to grow their wealth.
Fajrin even claims that the returns are higher than putting the funds into a bank normally.
Creating an ecosystem around its offerings, be it in-house expansions or partnerships, is a strategy that has served China behemoths like Alipay, WeChat Pay and Ping An well. Alipay’s value accelerated when they began sewing a tapestry of services into its offerings, financial or otherwise, like investments, loans, crowdfunding, and etc. WeChat Pay meanwhile, was already a lifestyle app to begin with so it had this strategy in the bag.
With integrated services in mind, Bukalapak’s new fintech baby is an upcoming insurance offering. The obvious idea would be to provide a marketplace for insurance, like life or health insurance, and Bukalapak intends to do so. But Fajrin also said that:
“You could also get insurance for, let’s say buying a smartphone on Bukalapak. Now you can add insurance on top of (your purchase) to gain more coverage.”
Eventually, Bukalapak may get to a point where users can’t figure out where e-commerce ends and fintech begins—and that may be just the way they like it.
We also asked for hints on any future projects, and Fajrin complied:
“Maybe I can share about one we haven’t launched, which is equity investment. Hopefully in the near future, you can also buy stocks on Bukalapak, from Indonesia’s Bank BCA or Telkom Indonesia, etc.”
Fajrin admits that the legality of that future offering is still in a grey area, so he concluded saying “that’s why I can’t share in regards to timeline yet, but in the near future”.
Avoiding Another BukaDompet Debacle
At the launch of BukaDana, the company’s workaround to the frozen BukaDompet (Image Credit: Bukalapak)
It is no surprise that the continuous freeze of BukaDompet continues to be a bane to its users, and this plagues the company to this day as consumers are still facing difficulties liquidating BukaDompet funds. There was apparently some issue with communicating the freeze to its users, and now many consumers have branded the platform thieves.
With a plethora of competition, any difficulties experienced by customers, especially pertaining to their money, could tank a brand’s entire reputation.
So Fajrin told us that Bukalapak has brought on two teams focused specifically on regulations.
“The first deals with legal compliance (with) regulations that already exist. If we want to launch fintech in Malaysia, for example, then this team will look at regulations (there we need) to comply with.”
“(When) talking about fintech, there are regulations in grey areas, or regulations that just don’t exist yet. That’s why we have a public policy team, whose job is to discuss with the government regarding what we plan to do.”
The hope is that Bukalapak will be able to anticipate regulator movements moving forward, and plan its fintech products accordingly.
For now, Bukalapak’s fintech strategy veers towards partnerships, but signs point to them shifting gears.
“We didn’t have expertise when we started this. So if we do it ourselves using our own balance sheet money, if we lose it, then we lose our own money. With the partnership, it’s not our money. Yes, we have to share the revenue, but at the same time, it also lowers the risk.”
“As we grow over time, then we’ll also build the expertise and database. We’ll know out of the loans given to our merchants, these are the characteristics of merchants that are good at returning the money.”
Fintech is pretty much a data game nowadays, so we do see some validity in Bukalapak’s fintech plans at this point. With more internal red-tape implemented in the company now though, will Bukalapak’s careful steps come at the price of innovation? Between its regulatory difficulties and BukaGlobal, we can at least say for sure that the company is in the midst of a transitional phase, and keen Indonesian observers will be keeping an eye on the company for the conclusion of their metamorphosis.
Featured image via Bukalapak

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Funding
Open Banking

Temasek and Tencent to Invest US$35 Million in TrueLayer

									by Fintech News Singapore
June 5, 2019

 14  1

Tencent and Temasek is set to invest US$ 35 Million in UK-based open banking startup True Layer’s US$40 Million Series B round. This fresh round of funding brings the startup’s total funding to US$ 51.8 Million, according to Crunchbase.
Temasek’s participation in this round is consistent with its earlier plans to diversify further into fintech, notable past investments include — GO-JEK, Ant Financial, and PolicyBazaar,
Founded in 2016, TrueLayer’s solution addresses a growing demand for open banking as regulators around the world are increasingly embracing this concept. Locally, banks like DBS and OCBC are demonstrating to the global community, that Singapore is leading the way in open banking in Asia.
According to a Bloomberg report, TrueLayer will be using the newly secured funds to fuel their Europe expansion.

Image Credit: Temasek

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Mobile Payments
Open Banking

GrabPay Users Can Now Increase Transaction Limit to $SGD 30,000 After KYC Process

									by Company Announcement
June 7, 2019

 11  6

Grab users will now be able to authorise the retrieval of personal data from MyInfo, a digital identity service from GovTech, to complete the verification process easily.
This comes after GrabPay became a relevant stored value facility (SVF), licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
As a regulated e-wallet, Grab is now required to perform customer identity verification on GrabPay users, in a process called KYC (Know Your Customer).
MyInfo simplifies the customer verification process by reducing manual form-filling and eliminating the need to submit supporting documents such as photos of the NRIC.

GrabPay users who successfully undergo the KYC process will have the annual transaction limit increased to $SGD 30,000 from $SGD 5,000.
Previously, banks like OCBC was also seen using MyInfo to enable instant account opening.

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InsurTech

3 Asian Insuretech Disrupt Specific Segments Of Insurance

									by Kai Kiat
June 13, 2016

Disrupting Individual Insurance Segments
We have seen how technology had disrupted traditional business. The most classic example is when Grab entered the taxi industry caused many traditional taxi drivers to either use its service or content with less bookings. This disruption is also happening in the insurance industry and the technology behind it is called Insuretech.
In this article, we have a look at how traditional insurance companies are reinventing themselves in Singapore and also the various Insuretec that had emerged in Asia. Within the insurance field, there are broadly 7 functions which the insurance industry goes through and each of them provides an opening for Insuretec to disrupt their existing business model.

Source: TCS

We would show you how different Insuretec are targeting different segments and how they intend to make a difference. Before that we would be looking at how traditional insurance companies are trying to keep up with their more nimble competition.

Aviva – Keeping Up With Insuretec Challenge
Aviva is a household name in Singapore especially well known for its SAF group insurance product. Even so, it is not immune to the pressures of Insuretec. Executive chairman for Aviva Asia and global chairman for Aviva Digital, Chris Wei spearheaded Aviva’s digital response by setting up ‘Digital Garage’ in Singapore and London.

Source: Slideshare
Digital Garage would have 100 core team and supported by 200 technology specialists to support its innovation drive. It would turn radical ideas into prototype that can be test drive before being implemented. It would also seek to digitalize the business for Aviva so as to better service their customers and also to seek outside collaborators who can bring their digital skills to Aviva.
The Singapore office at Armenian Street may be newly launched in December 2015 but it would have to challenge the entrenched business mindset. Aviva is a large and complex organization and it remains to be seen if they can overcome the inertia even if they come up with the solutions.

Fitsense – Exercise For Cheaper Premium
In contrast to Aviva, this is a name which you had not heard of. That is fine because it is a startup and it remains to be seen if it would be the next Google. Fitsense is a business that seeks to reduce your insurance premium if you agree to wear physical wearables that would track your physical activity and connect it with your mobile phones.

Source: Fitsense
Fitsense had teamed up with the National University of Singapore (NUS) School of Public Health to come up with the research necessary to price the risk for insurance across different age group and genders. Regular physical activity can reduce risk of chronic disease by 75% and mortality by 33%.

Source: Fitsense
They would work with insurance companies with the data that they had collected to give you a better premium. In other words, the more active you are, the less risk you present to the insurance companies. Hence you would pay less premium when compared to the couch potato whose favourite activity is to eat fatty potato chips and watch television.
FitSense is leveraging on the recent popularity of fitness tracking wearables and mobile app to harness personal data. With these data, FitSense provides the data analytics capability for insurance companies and this Singaporean company is being nominated for the European FinTech Awards 2016.

Claim Di – Easier Claims For Auto Accident
Have you been in a car accident before? I hope not but it does happen once in a while especially in the less regulated roads of Thailand. In Thailand, if you get into an minor accident, it can take up to 3 hours before the insurance companies can send their representatives to you. The core insurance product of Claim Di is simply to simplify the auto accident claims process.
For a minor accident, there are basically 2 scenarios, with and without third party. If your car hit the tree, it is just between the tree and you so there are no third party. If your car hits another car, it is considered that a third party is involved.
If there is no third party involved, it is simple. You can just take a photo and upload it. With advanced data analytics, the app can access the damage and simultaneously book your appointment with the car repair garage. The insurance company would receive the claim and approve the repair charges.

Source: Claim Di
If a third party is involved, as long as both of you have the same app, both parties can shake their phones and the same case would be logged. The photos would have to be taken and uploaded.
Based on its simple and effective features, Claim Di won US$2 million of funding from venture capitalist to expand its product to Malaysia, Korea and Japan. Revenue is expected to jump from $560,000 to US$5.6 million this year with these expansion plan.

eBaoCloud – Superior Products & Sales Cloud Platform For Insurance
eBaoCloud is a cloud computing software that allows insurance company to use their cloud service to develop and deploy new products faster than normal. eBaoCloud is a Chinese software collaboration between eBaoTech and Alibaba Cloud.
It is aiming to revolutionalize the insurance business by building a superior insurance platform that would shorten product development from the current 3 – 6 months to 1 -2 months. Insurance companies can also sell their products through the platform and be supported by data analytics on their sales performance.

Source: eBaoTech
The key risk for insurance companies is that they would then be dependent on eBaoCloud for access to their insurance platform. If there is a service disruption, they would not be able to do anything about it. Furthermore if they are too reliant, they are in a weaker position if eBaoCloud were to rise prices in the future.
That said, this is the world’s first Internet Insurance Cloud platform and it shows how effective it can be if technology companies were to focus on developing superior platforms as it would their core strength. Before the advancement of cloud computing to distribute this technology in a cost effective manner, insurance companies are forced to develop them in house and buy other components themselves, often at substandard performance.
Conclusion
So far, we have seen how incumbents like Aviva are responding to the threat of Insuretec by taking on new digital initiatives. So far, the 3 Insuretec of Fitsense, Claim Di and eBaoCloud are complimentary to the existing insurance business.
Fitsense aims to reduce premiums through exercise, Claim Di wants to make auto accident claims easier and eBaoCloud wants insurance companies to use its superior cloud service for faster product development and sales.
All 3 companies add value to the insurance processes do not threaten the existence of insurance companies but merely seek to twit their business models. In the next article, we will be looking at 3 Insuretec that are directly threatening the traditional insurance business like how Grab is threatening the taxi industry by providing a platform for private cars to double up as taxis.

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Funding
InsurTech
Wealthtech

Sumitomo Life Buys 25% Stake in Singapore Life for US$ 90 Million

									by Fintech News Singapore
July 1, 2019

 5  1

Singapore Life seems to be a on a streak, as they raise yet another round funding this year. In this round, the homegrown insurtech company secure US$ 90 Million investment from Sumitomo Life Insurance company.
Through this transaction Sumitomo Life acquires approximately 25% of the total issued and outstanding shares in Singapore Life, and is geared toward supporting the latter’s expansion plans in offering connected, insurance-led financial services for people in Singapore and beyond.
Singapore Life is an independent homegrown company fully licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) as a life insurance company since 1970.
The company aims to address the inconvenience consumers face having to use multiple providers and platforms to access their financial services, and the inertia felt by many in making financial decisions.  According to press release, the investment by Sumitomo Life now enables Singapore Life to further accelerate its mobile-first ambitions.

Mr Walter de Oude, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Life shared,

“Consumers today have access to thousands of financial products and services, yet none are fully integrated and compatible to their mobile-first lifestyles. Singapore Life was founded as a response to this – to encourage people to take action on their insurance needs. Now with the backing of Sumitomo Life in addition to our existing shareholders who recognise this, we will reshape the way that consumers experience financial services for the better and unlock the potential of money for everyone.”

Masahiro Hashimoto
Mr Masahiro Hashimoto, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sumitomo Life, commented:

“We foresee rapid growth in the life insurance markets in Southeast Asia and Singapore in particular. We are excited to support Singapore Life’s growth by participating in the company as a long-term strategic investor.”

Singapore Life today offers its customers a suite of term insurance, universal life, critical illness and endowment plans with competitive product rates. In line with its plans to introduce more connected financial services to the market, the company will launch digitally-enabled products and services that integrate savings, investment and protection for everyone.
Sumitomo Life joins Singapore Life’s other core investors Aberdeen Standard Investments, Aflac Incorporated and IPGL (Holdings) Limited, and this investment brings Singapore Life’s total funding to date to a total of USD $153m in funding to-date. With this Singapore Life joins the ranks of other regional tech-first companies as one of the top funded homegrown fintech companies in Singapore.

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Indonesia
Mobile Payments
Regtech

Indonesia’s OVO Adopts Refinitiv’s World Check to Boost KYC Capabilities

									by Fintech News Indonesia
July 9, 2019

 7  1

OVO, one of Indonesia’s leading digital payments platform, has selected Refinitiv’s World-Check to support its Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedures to minimize its exposure to financial crime risks.
This partnership comes at a time when OVO looks to continue the expansion of its business and to drive financial inclusion across the country.

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World Check, image via Refinitiv
With Indonesia’s push to build an inclusive digital economy and financial ecosystem, financial technology services such as OVO play an integral role in defining industry standards and enhancing measures to fight against financial crime.
According to Refinitiv’s annual financial crime report 2019, three-quarters of Asia Pacific organizations have been affected by financial crime over the past 12 months, leading to 60% of these businesses adopting new technologies to combat the issue.

World-Check is a highly structured database of intelligence on heightened risk individuals and organizations. Widely adopted by financial services companies, it supports the KYC and Third-Party Risk due diligence process and helps uncover risks associated with sanctions, organized crime, fraud, money laundering, bribery and corruption, as well as modern day slavery and country risk.
Phil Cotter, Managing Director of the Risk business at Refinitiv , said,
Phil Cotter
“We are delighted to support Ovo in its journey to becoming Indonesia’s primary payment method with our trusted intelligence. As we continue to fight the uphill battle against financial crime, our World-Check offering meets the crucial KYC and third-party screening needs for OVO to serve Indonesian consumers, as well as the regulatory obligations as it grows its business.”

Harianto Gunawan , Director at OVO , said,
“OVO’s adoption of World-Check highlights our continued commitment to building a robust security infrastructure to support Indonesia’s vision for a future-proof and digital economy. It also ensures that we remain vigilant in countering financial crime, which is critical to the success and future of our business. As Indonesia’s digital economy continues on its path to growth, OVO will continuously evolve and adapt to anticipate our customer’s needs, while maintaining industry leading security standards.”

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InsurTech
Vietnam

Singapore’s CXA Group Sets up a Tech Hub in Vietnam to Deepen AI Capabilities

									by Fintech News Singapore
July 23, 2019

    1

Following their US$ 25 Million fund raising round, CXA announced that they are setting up a Tech Hub in Ho Chin Minh, Vietnam.

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CXA describes itself an AI driven platform for better health, wealth and wellness choices. The new launched tech hub, will focus on helping the startup enhance its core capabilities in the areas of AI, machine learning and accelerating its product, development and micro service capabilities.
Rosaline Chow Koo

“We are in a unique position as the only solution which provides a tech platform delivering a seamless end-to-end experience from insurance, health, banking & wellness.
We have received overwhelming response from clients who wish to use our technology or be part of our eco-system, it’s time for us to expand our development capabilities. Setting up a tech hub in Vietnam provides us access to a large talent pool so we can focus on building state-of-the-art technology.

Featured image credit:Image by D Mz from Pixabay

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InsurTech

Singtel Makes First Foray into Insurance Market in Singapore

									by Fintech News Singapore
July 25, 2019

 9  2

Singtel today announced its first foray into the insurance market, introducing Singapore’s first prepaid data plan and Dash mobile remittance service that comes with personal insurance cover, provided by NTUC Income (Income) and premiums paid for by Singtel.
Singtel provides mobile connectivity to more than 60% of foreign workers in Singapore, including S Pass workers (mid-level skilled staff), foreign domestic workers and migrant workers which number about 1.171 million in Singapore.
This insurance coverage will complement the mandatory medical insurance that employers need to purchase for foreign workers.
Launch Ceremony | Image via Singtel
“As many of our prepaid and Dash mobile remittance customers are the sole breadwinners in their families, income stability and protection from financial loss are among their topmost concerns. By working with Income to remove price barriers and simplify the sign-up process, we want to make insurance accessible for all, enabling our customers to protect their loved ones, by simply topping up their data or remitting money back home. We are always seeking new ways to complement our customers’ lifestyles and will be introducing other insurance products in the coming months,”
said Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, CEO of Consumer Singapore at Singtel.

Prepaid customers who purchase a 30-day 50MB Protect data plan worth S$2 or do a S$20 prepaid top-up will be entitled to an insurance policy that provides coverage for 30 days. The coverage provides a range of benefits including lump sum payouts in the event of loss of employment due to hospitalisation, as well as permanent disability and accidental death.
The plan also offers daily cash benefits for each day of hospitalisation and a one-off get-well benefit, together with mobile data to ensure that the beneficiary can stay connected with his or her loved ones.
Image via Singtel
Dash customers who remit at least S$100 will qualify for Free 30-Day Dash Protect, an insurance policy that offers lump sum payouts in the event of permanent disability and accidental death – a first in the remittance market.
The insurance enrolment process is made easy via the hi!App or Singtel Dash app, requiring no paperwork or medical underwriting. Customers will be notified of their enrolment via SMS.
“Income is committed to extend insurance accessibility to people in Singapore. As such, the collaboration with Singtel is a meaningful one as it promotes greater financial inclusivity through their large subscriber base. It also gives us the opportunity to recognise the contributions of migrant workers to Singapore with an innovative insurance offering that plays to their routine tasks and lifestyles as they top up credit in their mobile plans or make a remittance. Thus, making insurance access simple and affordable,”
said Mr Andrew Yeo, CEO of Income.
As part of Singtel’s initiatives to engage foreign workers, Singtel has partnered the Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) and the Migrant Worker Centre (MWC) to offer connectivity and remittance benefits to newly-arrived workers. These members of CDE and MWC receive a welcome SIM offering free data and International Direct Dialling talk time. On the remittance front, they can enjoy S$5 cashback on their first remittance on Dash.
“Collaborating with a like-minded partner such as Singtel is a great boost to our efforts to improve the lives of foreign domestic workers and migrant workers. We will continue to strengthen this partnership and build on our offerings to provide these underserved communities with benefits that serves their lifestyle needs”,
said Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Assistant Director-General of National Trades Union Congress, and Chairman of CDE and MWC.
Featured image credit: Singtel

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InsurTech

Grab Partners with NTUC Income to Launch Microinsurance Product for Critical Illness

									by Fintech News Singapore
August 1, 2019

 9  1

Grab’s insurance arm, GrabInsure and NTUC Income jointly unveiled their micro insurance plan. “Critical Illness: Pay Per Trip (CIPPT)” in Singapore today. The parties involved stated that this microinsurance scheme is designed for Grab drivers better protect themselves against critical illnesses.
Grab drivers can choose to pay between S$0.10 and S$0.50 in premium for a fixed sum assured, and accumulate the corresponding insurance coverage with each trip they complete.
GrabInsure is a digital insurance marketplace set up by the joint venture between Grab and Chinese insurtech giant, ZhongAn Technologies, announced earlier this January.

Drivers can apply for the scheme by subscribing through the Grab app and with each completed trip, have the CIPPT premiums automatically deducted from their in-app cash wallet. The new plan will be rolled out to all Grab driver-partners progressively from today.
The plan is available to all Grab driver-partners who are 18 to 75 years of age. To sign up, driver-partners simply need to apply and choose from three premium rates (S$0.10, S$0.30 and S$0.50 per trip) on the Grab’s driver app.
NTUC Income has also been observed to be shopping for partners recently, as recent as July, NTUC Income teamed up with Singtel to help them launch their first insurance product.

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InsurTech

Singaporean Insurtech Secures License from Labuan

									by Fintech News Singapore
August 22, 2019

 6  2

Axinan, a Singapore-based insurtech firm, succesfully secured a combined General and Reinsurance license, issued by Labuan Financial Services Authority (Labuan FSA) a mid-shore jurisdiction in Malaysia.
Labuan FSA is the financial regulator for Labuan International Business and Financial Centre, a statutory regulator under Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance. The license obtained through Axinan’s subsidiary, Axinan Labuan Limited, accredits Axinan as a licensed General Insurer and Reinsurer under Labuan Financial Services & Securities Act 2010.
Wei Zhu, Founder and CEO, Axinan said,
Wei Zhu
“We are proud to be the first Southeast Asia insurtech company to be certified by Labuan FSA. Being a first-mover in Southeast Asia’s insurtech industry providing solutions for customers and enterprises, we are actively looking to forge strategic partnerships that can strengthen our offerings within the markets we operate in. With this license, Axinan can provide a greater variety of insurance products better suited to meet the needs of the digital economy while providing additional value to existing customers.”

As of August 2019, there are 197 Labuan insurance and insurance-related companies including large global insurance players. With the license, Axinan can now underwrite general and reinsurance risks. The company would have greater ease underwriting new product lines and distribute insurance products through a fronting arrangement with local insurers, subject to the country’s regulatory requirements.

Farah Jaafar-Crossby
Farah Jaafar-Crossby, CEO of Labuan International Business and Financial Centre Inc (Labuan IBFC Inc), the market development arm of Labuan FSA, said,
“Asia is undisputedly a key growth driver for the global insurance industry and insurtech’s role as an accelerator to this growth could not be timelier. Licensing Axinan is one of Labuan IBFC’s first steps in embracing insurtech specifically and fintech generally. We warmly welcome Axinan to the fast-growing ranks of Labuan IBFC’s digital family.”
Axinan specialises in leveraging big data, actuarial risk management and machine-learning processes to developing solutions for enterprises. Founded in 2016, with its headquarters in Singapore, Axinan has operations in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, with development offices in mainland China and Taiwan.

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Indonesia
InsurTech

Singaporean Insurtech Axinan To Provide Digital Insurance for Indonesian Unicorn Bukalapak

									by Fintech News Singapore
August 28, 2019

 9  1

Singapore-based insurtech firm Axinan announced today their partnership with leading Indonesian e-commerce unicorn Bukalapak during a press conference.
The collaboration between Axinan and Bukalapak will mark the first alliance between the two parties, amalgamating Axinan’s proprietary tech capabilities with Bukalapak’s rich understanding of its local eCommerce landscape. The two firms will be collaborating in the area of electronics and transit protection, with Sompo Insurance Indonesia (Sompo Indonesia) as the underwriter.

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Through this partnership, there will be solutions for both merchants and customers on Bukalapak’s platform. Featuring a suite of fully-digital operations with dynamic pricing and claims management, merchants on Bukalapak’s platform can opt to protect their goods against the risk of total loss or damage during transit through igloo – Axinan’s consumer brand. For purchases of gadgets and electronics from Bukalapak, customers can buy protection against accidental damages.
Headquartered in Singapore, Axinan has operations in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and development offices in China and Taiwan.

The insurtech startup recently secured General and Reinsurance license, issued by Labuan Financial Services Authority (Labuan FSA) a mid-shore jurisdiction in Malaysia.

Featured image credit: From left: Susanto Halim, head of product service development at Sompo Insurance Indonesia; Victor Lesmana, director of payment, fintech and virtual products at Bukalapak; Wei Zhu, CEO of Axinan; and Pradityo Anggoro Kusumo, country manager for Indonesia at Axinan, at a joint press conference in Jakarta | image via sgsme.sg

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InsurTech
IOT

Autonomous Vehicles Are Becoming a Reality in Singapore, Which Industries Will Be Most Affected by It?

									by Talal Ikhwan
October 7, 2019

 8.4K

Governments around the world are working hard to introduce autonomous vehicles to society. With prospects of improved safety, increased efficiency of public transportation and long term sustainability, it is not difficult to see why many countries are headed towards this direction.
The Autonomous Vehicle Readiness Index that we recently published ranked Singapore as the 2nd readiest country to roll-out autonomous vehicles among the 25 countries that were assessed, trailing only behind Netherlands.
Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index, KPMG Study
While the Netherlands benefits from European leadership in public transportation, Singapore’s ecosystem benefits from its brilliance in being a forward-thinking small island nation with a thoroughly developed road system.
Just recently, the Ministry of Transport, Sentosa Development Corporation, and ST Engineering began trialing on-demand autonomous shuttle buses in Sentosa.

Image: Screenshots of the Ride Now Sentosa booking app, via MOT

In this trial, visitors will be able to get around Sentosa for free using any of the four autonomous vehicles deployed, which comprises of two mini-buses and two smaller shuttles.
Which Industries Beyond Transportation Will Likely To Be Disrupted In Singapore
While it is easy to get excited about the idea of autonomous vehicles, the impact of its introduction to other industries is often overlooked. Here are three industries in Singapore that will need adjust in the advent of autonomous vehicles;
1. Traffic Enforcement
Fewer resources will be required for policing since no licensed programmer will program autonomous vehicles to break traffic laws. As the enforcement of speed limits, illegal turns, running stop signs and failing to comply with no parking signs turn obsolete, police officers will need to reskill and learn how to interact with autonomous vehicles, interpret collected data when accidents occur and probably forcibly disable an autonomous vehicle on the road.
2. Ride-Hailing and Deliveries
While these types of companies may no longer require the same driver fleet, they would likely have to own the cars to compete on the best user experience. For ride-hailing services, users could determine the type of the trip in addition to pick up and destination i.e. business, family or holiday trip. The ride-hailing app will then link the user with the vehicle which has the right interior design and features for this journey.
Similarly, the user experience will be key for delivery companies as there will be less need for the traditional method if customers can program their cars to pick up food, groceries, laundry and furniture.
3. Insurance
Perhaps what would be most adversely affected by this new change is the insurance industry, an actuarial analysis that we conducted in recent years suggested that in the US alone, the personal automotive insurance sector could contract by 40%.
This change would force Singapore’s insurers to rethink their business model, with an eventual lower demand for drivers to purchase extensive motor insurance policies, insurers will have to shift their focus towards carmakers and suppliers of communications systems, software, and sensors.
Some companies are already seeing the writing on the wall, automotive firms like Changan in China and Volvo have begun offering a differentiated insurance to their customers, with Volvo going so far as to accept full liability whenever its cars are in autonomous mode.
Insurers need to ask the question “If no one is driving, why do we need to offer a motor insurance? Considering new service offering that embrace the use of autonomous vehicle e.g. through cutting premium to drivers the more they engage autopilot, or through protecting autonomous vehicle manufacturers if users forgot to download the latest firmware or event against a software hacking.
Conclusion
While autonomous vehicles do open up many new doors, defining innovation strategies to adapt to new realities will help businesses benefit from these opportunities.
Featured picture: Autonomous bus Singapore, via MOT

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InsurTech

Singapore Life Rebrands to Singlife and Launches a Debit Card

									by Fintech News Singapore
September 19, 2019

 10  2

Singapore Life announced today the rebranding exercise to change its name from Singapore Life to Singlife.
The digital insurer told Fintech News Singapore that since everyone is already referring to them as SingLife, they figured they might as well embrace the new name.
Alongside its new brand identity SingLife has also announced that they have teamed up with VISA to become the first insurer to issue debit cards. The newly launched SingLife Visa Debit will be launched alongside its SingLife account.
With this, customers have full, instant access to their money with no lock-in period — effectively rendering traditional old school application forms and processes to withdraw cash from insurance accounts redundant.

This story follows SingLife’s recent acquisition of payments firm Canvas earlier this year.

According to them, the newly launched Singlife Visa Debit will offer up to 2.5% p.a returns and no additional FX charges on overseas spend. Singlife Account customers will also get free life insurance coverage of up to 5 per cent of account value. There is also no penalty for early withdrawals.
The waitlist is open for customer sign-ups from today onwards. The Singlife App will be available for download from Google Play and Apple iTunes stores. To activate the Singlife Account customer will need to deposit an initial contribution of just S$500 via FAST transfer.
“The Singlife Account and Singlife Visa Debit Card are going to launch us into a space that has never existed before. The newly rebranded Singlife transcends the boundaries of traditional insurance to leapfrog into a much bigger digital finance ecosystem and we are the first to make this happen.”
says Walter, CEO SingLife

“This is the first time in Southeast Asia that we are partnering an insurtech to issue a debit card. The process for registration, usage and tracking of spend for this account is entirely digital, and tailored to meet the needs of the technology savvy segment in Singapore. We believe Singaporeans who are interested in managing their accounts digitally and enjoy benefits relating to insurance needs, will find this product extremely beneficial,”
said Mr. Kunal Chatterjee, Visa Country Manager for Singapore & Brunei.

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Regtech
Studies

In Southeast Asia, 50% of Financial of Financial Authorities Have Developed Regtech Initiatives

									by Fintech News Singapore
December 18, 2019

50% of financial authorities in Southeast Asia have developed regtech initiatives, showcasing a wider trend among regulators across the region as these increasingly turn to technology to help them adapt to the changing financial services landscape, according to a new report by the University of Cambridge.
Around the world, regulatory innovation has become increasingly common. In Southeast Asia, financial regulators have begun turning to technology to address the challenge of rapidly changing financial services markets, according to a new report titled The ASEAN Fintech Ecosystem Benchmarking Study jointly produced by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at Cambridge Judge Business School, the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and FintechSpace.
Regulatory technology, also referred to as regtech, has emerged as a key tool for regulators and a long-lasting solution for its potential to help the public sector adapt to a changing marketplace.
In Brunei, the country’s Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) has utilized regtech to help implement a centralized statistical system. AMBD partnered with regtech vendor Vizor Software in 2017 to use the startup’s solution to collect financial data from external entities via a single portal, generate reports and insights.

In April 2018, the Philippines’ Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced that it would roll out regtech and suptech solutions by the end of the year. BSP had partnered earlier with the Regtech for Regulators Accelerator (R2A), a global initiative that provides technical assistance for financial sector regulators to “develop and test the next generation of digital supervision tools and techniques.”
BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. said in 2017 that the central bank had been testing two platforms that use artificial intelligence (AI) for the conduct of bank supervision.
In Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has leveraged regtech in the fields of identity and know-your-customer (KYC), data governance and platforms for innovation. One of the regulator’s key initiatives is MyInfo, a digital service that enables citizens to authorize third party access to their data, which can then be used to open bank accounts, among other things.
MAS is currently in the process of merging money exchange and remittance systems law into one legislation, which would enable the comprehensive regulation of old and new payments services, notably through digital solutions.
In Thailand, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) has been looking to leverage distributed ledger technology (DLT) to transform government saving bonds, issuance, distribution and sales. Not only would the technology allow for stakeholders to more access information, blockchain would also allow for increased efficiency, transparency, as well as easy regulatory monitoring and reporting.
Finally, in Malaysia, the country’s central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), launched an Open API initiative last year focusing on motor insurance, credit cards and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) financing.
Image: Regtech initiatives across ASEAN, The ASEAN Fintech Ecosystem Benchmarking Study, September 2019
Besides regtech initiatives, regulators across Southeast Asia have also established innovation offices. Innovation offices are designed to provide regulatory clarification to financial services providers offering innovative products and services, and are often part of governments’ wider fintech strategy. Such offices exist in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei.
Another popular initiative by local governments is the regulatory sandbox, a special regime for financial services providers to test innovative solutions and business models. Regulatory sandboxes exist in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Vietnam is expected to launch its own regulatory sandbox soon, which will be operated by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).
But perhaps one of the most notable initiatives in this regard is the API Exchange (APIX), a cross-jurisdictional sandbox. APIX, a platform of the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN), was established earlier this year by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), MAS and the ASEAN Bankers Association (ABA). The platform is designed to be a flexible online global fintech marketplace and sandbox platform for financial institutions from across the region.
Alongside Southeast Asian regulators launching their own regtech and suptech initiatives, the research also addresses the region’s emerging fintech landscape, highlighting the most notable trends.
Among the main trends, the research notes fintech firms’ shift from being customer focused to now progressively serving SMEs and large corporations, a trend particularly evident in the online lending and alternative financing space, as well as AI, machine learning (ML) and big data.
The report also found that predictive analytics and ML were the most commonly used technologies for all fintech firms in the region. Blockchain and DLT are gaining momentum in the digital payments space, and enterprise technology for financial institutions, as well as capital raising through crowdfunding have also gained in popularity.
Singapore and Indonesia were found to be the top two countries in the ASEAN region by the number of fintech firms, representing 29% and 17% of the region’s overall fintech industry, respectively. They are followed by Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. Meanwhile, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar were found to have nascent fintech markets, although strong growth has been witnessed in the past couple of years.
Image: ASEAN Fintech Landscape by Country, The ASEAN Fintech Ecosystem Benchmarking Study, September 2019

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Innovation
Open Banking

Why Platformification is Key to The Next Banking Revolution

									by Jan Reinmueller
January 17, 2020

Driven by technological innovations and increased online connectivity, the world is going through a major economic revolution with the rise of the platform economy.
The platform economy refers to the current transition most companies are making from being product-centric to becoming customer-centric enabled by a platform strategy.
Such companies are following on the steps of successful businesses such as Google, Amazon and Alibaba, which have all used the platform business model to grow exponentially.
The platform business model
Platform businesses are typically online matchmakers or technology frameworks, and focus on helping to facilitate interactions across a large number of participants.

Such interactions can take the form of short-term transactions like connecting buyers and sellers, or can involve the formation of longer-term social relationships and collaborations to achieve a shared outcome.
These interactions, the principal assets of any platform, stimulate a growth effect referred to as the network effect which allows a platform to become more valuable to its users as it attracts more users through co-creation of value.

Relevant examples include of course Facebook, which counts more than one billion active users and accounts for nearly a quarter of all online advertising revenue in the US, the Apple App Store, which has shared a US$120 billion in sales with developers since 2008 and generated US$46.6 billion for Apple, and Amazon, which has built multiple types of effects into its business model originating from its review systems (users visit Amazon to read and write reviews), its marketplace (more merchants = more products = more users), and its recommendation system (the more consumers used the site, the more accurate the recommendations Amazon could provide them).
Our recent study in KPMG shows that digital platforms will continue to grow in importance in the digital age and the future of corporate competitiveness across industries will depend on the use of platforms.
If a business does not lead platform competition, then it will have to rely heavily on platform providers for its survival. Thus every organization needs to be designed or redesigned to be platform compatible.
Finance platform businesses in Asia
In the fintech world, one country that has emerged as a world leader in the platform business model is China. The country is home to some of the world’s biggest platform-based fintech companies, including Ant Financial, the most valuable fintech company in the world offering a wide range of financial services through ecosystems for insurance, credit, loans, credit scoring and wealth management, as well as Tencent, the owner and operator of WeChat, China’s top multi-purpose mobile app recording over one billion monthly active users.
Since being first released in 2011, WeChat has evolved from being a simple social media application used to chat and share photos to becoming a colossal platform offering everything from peer-to-peer payments and loans, to airplane tickets and ride-hailing.

Delving deeper into the platform-based approach, Tencent launched in 2017 the Mini Programs, which are essentially lightweight apps that run on the WeChat platform. The aim was to help users avoid downloading standalone apps from third-parties by allowing business owners to develop apps that are independent from Android or iOS but sit in the WeChat ecosystem.
The functionality has allowed Tencent to lock users in for even longer, and by November 2018, the WeChat ecosystem had over one million such Mini Programs.
Another key ecosystem provider and platform business from Asia is Japan-native LINE, which, much like WeChat, has grown from a messaging app into a lifestyle ecosystem with several financial features such as mobile payments, insurance, investment and personal finance management. LINE is the most popular messaging app in Japan, Thailand and Taiwan.
Digital platforms in banking
Taking a page off these businesses, banks are also increasingly adopting this platformification model.
By establishing a banking platform, banks can allow third-party fintech developers to build products and services on behalf of bank customers, creating a broad network of fintech applications for loans, payments, investing, wealth management and other services, while enabling financial institutions to deliver a unified banking experience.

Image Credit: Álvaro Ibáñez via Flickr
Financial institutions including BBVA, Capital One, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Wells Fargo all provide some sort of developer hub, portal or exchange that allows third-party apps to access, integrate and/or extract data about the bank’s customer base.
BBVA’s Open Platform, for example, offers four API suites: Identity Verification, which gives third-party apps the ability to verify their customer’s identity in one; Move Money, which supports a range of payment types; Account Origination for creating and managing branded consumer and commercial deposit accounts; and Card Issuance, which allows for the design and management of branded customer debit cards.
BBVA became the first bank in the US to offer a full suite of banking-as-a-service (BaaS) products after its BBVA Open Platform program moved out of beta in October 2018.
How should banks respond?
In order to be competitive in 2020, the platform business model has become an imperative for banks and financial institutions alike. While these platform models have proven successful for Chinese fintech giants like Tencent and Ant Financial, simply imitating strategies without due consideration of your own unique circumstances may prove to be foolish, a subject that I wrote about extensively in my previous piece.
While there isn’t an inherently superior strategy out there for banks to derive return of investment from launching a platform model, there are some models that banks can consider.
Mirroring some of the big techs, a bank could potentially monetise access to these APIs, banks could come up with some sort of fee structure to grant fintech access to these APIs.
Alternatively, banks could also provide their customers with free access to an ecosystem of solutions and value-added services. Much like how Google would provide its end-users free services like Gmail, banks could, for example, create services to help SMEs better manage their cash flow, in turn with this new treasure trove of data could be used by banks to create a more seamless business loan application process.
We’re also observing Singaporean banks taking the approach of building their own marketplaces, DBS in 2017 launched its car marketplace in partnership with sgCarMart and Carro. Similarly, UOB launched its own travel marketplace just this month. Both these initiatives are a natural extension of the financial products their offer and in doing so they move up the customer lifecycle. Those who own a customer’s path to purchase gains full ownership of the customer.
Regardless of which approach any given bank will take, those who have yet to embark on such an initiative should strongly consider including this in part of their digital strategy or risk being left behind.

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InsurTech

Zurich launches Post Cyberattack Response Solution for Asia

									by Fintech News Singapore
June 23, 2016

Zurich Insurance recently launched DigitalResolve, a coordinated incident response service to help businesses in Asia Pacific (APAC) mitigate and recover from cyberattacks. As the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Risks Report recognises cyber dependency among the top three trends that will shape global development during the next ten years, Zurich is at the forefront of offering a co-ordinated post-cyberattack service in APAC1, servicing Zurich Security and Privacy customers.
Offered through our partner Crawford & Company, DigitalResolve helps organisations to co-ordinate and manage resources so they can recover from damaging cyberattacks with minimum disruption. The new service launches at a time when increasingly globalised and interconnected operations are increasing the potential impact of cyber disruptions to businesses, while internet-related technologies such as mobile internet, the Internet of Things and cloud technology generate economic benefit yet increase cyber dependency.
In this complex environment – which cost the global economy an estimated US$315 billion through cybercrime in 2015, $81billion of which was lost in APAC2 – Executives in eight countries see cyberattacks as the greatest global risk to doing business, according to the WEF’s Executive Opinion Survey 2015. Across the region, these countries include Singapore, Japan and Malaysia.
DigitalResolve is a unique Zurich solution specifically developed to immediately mitigate the risk of operational shutdown, supply chain disruption, customer and revenue losses, declines in productivity, regulatory fines, litigation claims, cyber-extortion payments and reputational damage.

The new service supports organisations that are attacked by assigning them a dedicated 24/7 incident manager with immediate response capabilities, who in turn appoints and coordinates a team of cyber experts to resolve the issue and minimise post-attack exposure. Depending on the attack, these will include PR consultants, forensic accountants, IT forensic experts, lawyers, credit monitors, and ransom negotiators.
DigitalResolve will be available to all Zurich Security and Privacy customers in Singapore first, followed by Hong Kong, Japan and China by the end of 2016, before being rolled out to other markets across the APAC region. Already offered in the UK, DigitalResolve is fully operational.
Oliver Vale, Head of Professional Indemnity, Zurich Global Corporate Asia, said: “It is not a question of if but when a cyberattack will happen. Today more than half of the world’s internet users are in Asia. However, despite being the fastest growing region for connectivity, the region is still inadequately prepared for cyberattacks.
“Embracing new IT-driven technologies opens up wide-ranging opportunities for organisations of all sizes – but our increasing reliance on the internet introduces significant new risks too. In light of the increasing volume and sophistication of security breaches, it is no longer sufficient to consider cyber risk a concern for the IT department or mitigate against the possibility of experiencing cyberattack in the first place.
Today, organisations must also plan for co-ordinated recovery in the event of an attack, so that when breaches happen, they can get the business back to full strength, at full speed. Furthermore, given the nature of Singapore as a regional hub, local businesses are exposed globally. DigitalResolve is specifically set up to provide the same high level of resolution worldwide as it is locally, as panels are chosen not only for their track record and expertise but also their global reach and established networks.”
Zurich is also collaborating with governments, academics and other think tanks around the world to establish global standards, encourage information sharing, build resilience and create adequate global governance on cybersecurity.
Global Risks Report 2016, now in its 11th year, assesses the likelihood and potential impact of 29 global risks. Published by the World Economic Forum, the Global Risks Report 2016 has been developed with the support of Strategic Partners Marsh & McLennan Companies and Zurich Insurance Group. The report also benefited from the collaboration of its academic advisers: the Oxford Martin School (University of Oxford), the National University of Singapore, the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center (University of Pennsylvania), and the Advisory Board of the Global Risks Report 2016.
Zurich Insurance Group Ltd.
In Singapore, Zurich provides a wide range of insurance offerings. Zurich Insurance Company Ltd (Singapore Branch) offers general insurance products for commercial and corporate clients. Our presence in Singapore dates back to 2006. Further information about Zurich in Singapore is available at www.zurich.com.sg.

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Regtech

Swiss Regtech Startups in Singapore to Watch

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 4, 2019

Singapore is one of the world’s largest financial markets, a position it has earned thanks to its business-friendly environment, excellent government support, easy regulation and access to specialist knowledge.
And with technology rapidly changing the financial services landscape, it comes with little surprise that Singapore has been putting a lot of effort in turning itself into a top fintech hub. And it is safe to say that the city state has succeeded in doing so.
Today, Singapore is home to the largest fintech startup ecosystem across Southeast Asia, recording some 490 fintech startups. Not only has it birthed some of the region’s hottest startups, the city-state has also become the go-to location for foreign players looking to expand overseas.
Swiss solutions in particular have been in high demand in Singapore, and there are good reasons for that. For one, Switzerland has enormous expertise in the rapidly growing area of fintech and regtech, being the birthplace of startups such as Advanon, AAAccell, NetGuardians and Apiax. The country is also very innovative and has led the Global Innovation Index for several years, a particularity that also reflects on its fintech and regtech companies. Additionally, Swiss companies are known for their expertise, adaptability and highly-skilled employees, qualities that make them reliable partners.

Which Swiss regtechs are active in Singapore?
So far, at least four Switzerland-native regtech companies have expanded to Singapore.
APIAX

Apiax is perhaps the most notable one. Headquartered in Zurich and founded in 2017, Apiax is an award-winning regtech startup that has developed a powerful toolset to master regulations digitally. The company has built a comprehensive solution to transform written regulations into digital compliance rules and to make these rules available across complex organisations. Businesses can also access a range of ready-to-use rule sets on different regulatory topics provided by Apiax’ content partners.
Boasting a team of over 25 experienced regtech specialists, Apiax recently raised US$6.6 million in a Series A funding round to invest in product development and finance its expansion to Singapore. Currently, the company is working on new products tackling data protection, fund distribution, as well as tax-impact calculation. It is also looking to expand beyond financial services to serve other industries as well.
Apiax has received numerous accolades, including the title of Startup of the Year at the Swiss Fintech Awards in March 2019, and was named by Fintechnews.ch one of the hottest fintech startups in Switzerland. The company will have a booth – Kiosk #4ZS10 –  at the annual Singapore Fintech Festival taking place from November 11 to 15, 2019.
NETGUARDIANS

Another major Swiss regtech player that is active in Singapore is NetGuardians. Established in 2007, NetGuardians is a leading Swiss fintech and regtech company helping more than 50 Tier 1 to Tier 3 banks worldwide to fight financial crime.

NetGuardians has gained worldwide recognition for its fraud detection and risk attenuation solutions developed by experts specializing in risk. Its main innovation is its ability to detect fraud before it happens via behavioral analysis technology. The company relies on big data to analyze user behavior throughout the banking system, and uses dynamic profiling to establish a risk profile on an individual level.
NetGuardians is headquartered in Yverdon, and has offices in Kenya, Poland, and Singapore, with yet more expansion planned.
EDGELAB

Lausanne-headquartered EdgeLab delivers valuation and risk data, risk management apps and an automated investment solution, helping institutions digitalize investment in line with all the regulatory constraints (e.g. MiFID II, Solvency II, Basel III, etc). EdgeLab works with private banks, asset and wealth managers, pension funds and insurance companies on an international client base and regulatory frameworks. It has offices in Zurich and Singapore.
IMTF

Last but not least, IMTF, a company founded in 1987, provides fintech solutions and regulatory compliance software to banks, financial institutions and other industries globally. IMTF is one of the most comprehensive providers in the regtech space, offering innovative and reliable software solutions which enable clients to increase efficiency achieving significant cost reductions with assured compliance.
IMTF was named one of the Top 10 Regtech Solution Providers for 2019 in the APAC region by the APAC CIO Outlook magazine in September, and was crowned Best Innovative Client solution at the 7th WealthBriefingAsia Singapore Awards 2019 in July.
IMTF is headquartered in Switzerland with offices in India, Luxembourg, Austria, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Ireland and Singapore.

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Open Banking

OCBC Enables Account Opening for Startups Immediately After Incorporation

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 5, 2019

Start-ups are now able to open an OCBC business banking account in Singapore immediately after incorporation, rather than having to wait one day.
This is made possible by an API between the bank and global information services provider Experian. Once a business is incorporated, OCBC Bank can, through Experian, validate the start-up’s business profile issued by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).
This announcement follows their previous initiative to enable serial entrepreneurs to apply for loans with OCBC before even incorporating.
Said Ms Christie Chu, Head of Emerging Business and Commercial Banking Cash, OCBC Bank,

Christie Chu
“Banks play a key role in the start-up and SME ecosystem partly because the bank account is at the centre of business operations. Given this role and our standing as banker to more than 1 in 2 SMEs in Singapore, we are in the best position to strengthen the connections among all players in this ecosystem.
That is what we have done here by streamlining the account opening and incorporation process so that start-ups can begin running their businesses as soon as possible.”

In November 2018, the bank also improved its digital account opening process by leveraging the nation’s data repository MyInfo, and MyInfo Business.
Featured image credit By Terence Ong – Own work, CC BY 2.5, Link

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InsurTech

Singlife Launches Singapore’s First Insurance Savings Plan with Visa Card to Spend

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 11, 2019

Digital insurer Singlife announced today that they have launched their mobile-first insurance savings plan, the Singlife Account.
Previously on waitlist, the public is now able to download the Singlife App while an exclusively selected group of customers from the earlier waitlist will be among the first to start earning interest on their Singlife Accounts.

Every Singlife Account comes with an optional Visa debit card that gives customers instant access to their account and allows them to make overseas transactions without incurring FX charges.
In just two months from the launch of the new Singlife brand in September 2019, the Singlife Account has already seen over 2,000 customers signed up on its waiting list, signifying a collective demand for an insurance product that gives today’s mobile-first generation what they want for their money.
Walter de Oude, CEO and Founder of Singlife shares,
Walter de Oude
“We decided to flip savings products upside down by giving customers a higher interest rate for the money that sits in the bottom of their account without lock-ins. This is designed to simplify saving and do away with the fear of lock-ins that often keeps customers’ money in low interest earning accounts.”
“Today’s consumers are looking for simpler ways to make their money work harder. We want to help our customers manage, grow and protect their savings, unlocking the true potential of their money. We strive to provide customers with a seamless experience, ultimately putting the power back into their own hands,”

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AI
Funding
Regtech

Tookitaki Closes US$19.2 Million Series A To Help Fight Money Laundering

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 26, 2019

Tookitaki a Singaporean regtech firm announced today that it has raised an additional US$11.7 million in funding bringing its total investment for their Series A to US$ 19.2 million.
The extended Series A round allows Tookitaki to enhance its product offerings and drive technological innovation to help fuel their ongoing fight against money laundering and reconciliation issues, as well as spur business recruitment across its global offices in Singapore, India, and the U.S.
With its key offerings in the anti-money laundering (AML) and reconciliation space, Tookitaki aims to bolster its year-over-year revenue growth, which they claim has already surpassed 300 percent over the last two years.
Abhishek Chatterjee
Abhishek Chatterjee, Founder and CEO of Tookitaki shared,

“Our vision has always been to revolutionize regulatory compliance and ensure sustainable compliance programs for every financial institution in the world. Backed by our strategic global investors, we are better placed to deliver on this vision by growing our presence significantly across the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific region.”

Tookitaki was founded by Abhishek Chatterjee. He was formerly employed at JP Morgan, observed the 2008 financial crisis firsthand, and noted that regulators were stricter about financial checks and balances in a bid to maintain financial stability. However, the overall volume of digital banking and e-money transactions rose swiftly over time. Tookitaki was formed from this need to provide sustainable compliance programs in the banking and financial services industry (BFS), using technology that is powered by machine learning and distributed data-parallel architecture.

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Regtech

5 Asian Firms Named Top 100 Global Regtech Companies for 2020

									by Fintech News Singapore
December 9, 2019

REGTECH100 has released its latest list of the top 100 regtech companies, among which 5 regtechs from Asia.
REGTECH100 is an annual list of 100 of the world’s most innovative regtech companies. The list recognizes the next-generation of solution providers shaping the future of the compliance, risk management and cybersecurity industries.
5 regtechs from Asia were named amongst the top 100 regtechs leaders in the regulatory industry needs to know about in 2020.

Centenal

Headquartered in Singapore, Centenal is a fintech company providing digital operation and compliance solution for wealth managers. The company’s vision is to help the wealth management industry to “obtain customer empowerment and operational and compliance excellence through digitization and automation.”
Centenal’s award-winning CRS Expert is the first-of-its-kind regulation engine that transformed the Common Reporting Standard, a complicated international legislation, into a digital regulation rule, saving 98% compliance time.

CustomerXPs (Clari5)

Headquartered in Bangalore, India, CustomerXPs is a software product company providing financial crime risk management and customer experience management solutions to banking institutions. The company was founded in 2006, and sells its financial crime risk management software product under the brand name Clari5.
CustomerXPs’s Clari5 product provides financial institutions with real-time, cross-channel interventions for enterprise fraud management, anti-money laundering (AML) and customer experience management. It employs intelligent models based on neural networks, time series and complex analytics to provide insights. Clari5 also allows financial institutions to reuse the same in-memory data to simultaneously market their products and services in real-time.

Dathena

Founded in 2016 in Singapore, Dathena is a pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) company that enables end-to-end data security.
Dathena’s proprietary AI, the Dathena 99 Core Engine, allows for data discovery, classification and PII detection, easily covering data volumes of millions of files and billions of records stored in databases. Leveraging natural language processing (NLP), deep learning and machine learning (ML), Dathena is able to identify and map sensitive data with unprecedented accuracy – 80% out-of-the-box, reaching 99% semi-supervised.
Alongside Singapore, Dathena has offices in France and Switzerland.

IDfy

Based in Mumbai, IDfy provides risk and fraud solutions processing a million people profiles every day for more than 150 companies. These include renowned companies in fintech, cryptocurrency, insurance, telecom, e-commerce, taxi aggregation, and P2P exchanges.
IDfy’s proprietary systems are built on the latest in ML-based anomaly detection, machine vision, and identity authentication techniques. These systems catch new and emerging fraud as well as fraud that previously went undetected, keeping our clients, their customers and employees safe and secure.

Merkle Science

Merkle Science is a deep-tech startup based out of Singapore. The company provides infrastructure to help blockchain companies, crypto-exchanges, investment funds, banks, and government agencies perform due diligence on the blockchain.
Merkle Science’s risk and blockchain monitoring solution allows companies to detect and prevent illegal use of cryptocurrencies. The solution monitors all incoming and outgoing crypto transactions to ensure that corporates are not transacting with blockchain addresses linked to illicit behavior such as ransomware or darkness marketplaces and to prevent businesses from unknowingly facilitating money-laundering or financing of terrorism.
The company is backed by Digital Currency Group, Kenetic, LuneX, SGInnovate and Entrepreneur First.

Besides these 5 regtech companies from Asia, REGTECH100 has also named several companies from abroad but which have offices in the region. These include:
Checkbox, a full suite of enterprise-grade app development features that enables non-IT users to build and deploy automation and workflow software for legal and compliance;
Encompass, the creator of a know-your-customer (KYC) automation software that enables better, faster commercial decisions;
Fenergo, which provides digital client lifecycle management (CLM) software solutions for financial institutions;
Kx, a division of First Derivatives which provides flexible tools for processing real-time and historical data;
KYC2020, which provides AML solutions;
Regulatory DataCorp (RDC), a company offering automated, intelligent customer screening solutions ;
The Technancial Company, which delivers real-time risk management and trade surveillance tools for global markets;
TRAction, which provides regulatory reporting services for financial institutions, and;
Yoti, a digital identity startup.

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