Australia
Regtech

Lack of Access to Capital Hindering Australia’s Potential to Be a Leader in Regtech

									by Fintech News Singapore
July 6, 2020

Limited access to funding and long sales cycles are hampering Australia’s regtech industry, preventing the sector from realizing its full potential, according to industry trade group the Regtech Association (RTA).
The RTA, which conducted qualitative research of 33 regtech companies between October and November 2019, found that the majority of the industry was self-funded (70%). Angels and high net worth individuals were the next most active capital investors (27%), followed by venture capital firms (VCs) (15%), and corporate venture capital firms (CVCs) (12%).
Australian regtechs capital sources, December 2019 Source: The Regtech Association
In a report released in December 2019, the organization deplores VCs and CVCs’ minor participation in the Australian regtech sector, noting that access to investment capital was “hyper-critical” to ensure these companies’ continued growth.
Access to funding is even more critical for the industry when considering the long sales cycles regtech companies must deal with. According to the report, it takes on average approximately 14 months for technology deployment to financial services and procurement programs. In some cases, sales cycles can take up to two years.

The sales cycle is linked to the difficulty in raising capital for businesses with a long sales cycle and protracted periods of resource-draining intensity but low cash flow, the report says.
Regtech Australia: Untapped opportunities
Global regtech spending is predicted to exceed US$127 billion by 2024, up from US$25 billion in 2019, according to data from Juniper Research, a growth which will largely be driven by a rise in the automation of resource-intensive tasks including know-your-customer (KYC) checks as well as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in transaction monitoring.
In this context, Australia, one of the world’s top ten regtech markets that’s both rich and diverse, is well positioned to become a leader in regtech export, the RTA report says. But before the sector can reach its full potential, several challenges must be addressed and in that, the government will have a key role to play.
In particular, the organization advises for the development and deployment of a policy agenda that supports and delivers more efficient regulation and compliance across the industry. It also recommends the launch of new initiatives to address the lack of capital, spur innovation and accelerate regtech adoption.
These initiatives should include a so-called Regtech Digital Marketplace, a digital platform connecting buyers, sellers and regulators; a “Design Box,” which would allow regtechs and regulators to test regtech solution designs; a Regtech Tracker, a system that would monitor the uptake and integration of regtech; and the Regtech Patient Capital Fund, which could be in part funded by regulatory fines paid by financial institutions, the report says.
These initiatives should come in addition to a series of regtech-specific grants, tax incentives for investors into regtech, continuation and expansion of resources to support regulatory education and engagement programs.
The release of the RTA report came at about the same time as the release of a paper by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) in which the regulator highlights the “enormous potential” of regtech, urging the country’s financial sector to embrace regtech solutions. Among the numerous potential benefits of regtech, ASIC cited cost savings, as well as improved efficiency and accuracy.
Although commonly put in a financial services-only context, regtech companies offer a broad range of technology solutions that operate across the economy.
In Australia, the industry is still predominantly active in financial services – though a number of players have expanded to serve other sectors including insurance, government, wealth management, and consultancy, according to the RTA survey.
Regtech sectors served and the pitch to win ratio, December 2019, Source: The Regtech Association

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InsurTech

Chubb Launches Work From Home Insurance for the Asia Pacific Region

									by Fintech News Singapore
July 14, 2020

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Chubb announced today the launch of their Work from Home (WFH) Insurance that they claim is a market-first in Asia Pacific. As businesses adapt to living with COVID-19 and beyond, working from home is expected to remain a part of an employee’s work-life.
Chubb’s WFH Insurance is said to have been tailored to enable employers to continue to care for the health, safety and well-being of their employees whilst they work remotely.
With this insurance, employees diagnosed with stress disorders due to working from home will receive mental health payment for their psychological counselling.
In addition to that, it also covers ergonomic injury and prevention benefits for postural injuries/strains resulting from inconsistent workstation setups. This coverage includes the event of an accidental death and permanent disability payments for slips and falls within the home from hazards.

Ben Howell
Ben Howell, Deputy Head of Regional Accident & Health at Chubb in Asia Pacific said,
“Chubb anticipates that companies will continue to encourage workspace flexibility even as lockdown measures are easing across the region. Although employees have adjusted well to being digitally connected from home via videoconferencing and other applications, there are emerging risks as a result of this new work arrangement. It is timely for Chubb to launch our Work from Home Insurance to meet the evolving employee care and benefit needs.”
Earlier this year, Grab and Chubb announced the launch of Travel Cover which is a travel insurance service that Grab users can purchase within the app.

Featured Image Credit: Unsplash

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Open Banking

OCBC Bank Enables the Use of SingPass as Alternative Login to Access Digital Banking Services

									by Fintech News Singapore
July 16, 2020

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OCBC Bank announced today that is has enabled 1.8 million of its digital customers in Singapore to use the SingPass as an alternative login to access the full suite of digital banking services. They claim to be the first bank to enable this new feature, and it has been made available its customer since 4th July 2020.
The need to remember multiple access codes and PINs is eliminated, while enabling customers to securely access their digital banking services. In order to use this, customers must download the SingPass Mobile app if they have not already done so.
Managed by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech), the SingPass Mobile app allows users to transact with over 60 government agencies online securely. More than 1.6 million Singapore residents today use the SingPass Mobile app to access government e-services including checking their Central Provident Fund (CPF) account balances, filing taxes and applying for public housing. Many now also use the app for SafeEntry logins at venues to facilitate contact tracing.
Aditya Gupta
Mr Aditya Gupta, OCBC Bank’s Head of Digital Business for Singapore and Malaysia, said:

“Inclusion and accessibility have been core to our digital transformation narrative. I believe that offering SingPass – a trusted and widely used mode of digital authentication in Singapore – as an alternate login, will give more of our customers the confidence and convenience to bank with us digitally. We have partnered with GovTech to pioneer the co-creation of a trust ecosystem for Singapore’s banking industry using the national digital identity platform, which will radically improve how our customers access and experience our digital services.”
Kwok Quek Sin
Mr Kwok Quek Sin, Senior Director, National Digital Identity, GovTech, said:
“OCBC Bank is known for many of its innovative efforts in leading digital transformation and has been one of the early adopters of our National Digital Identity strategic platform. This month, OCBC Bank has started to offer SingPass as an alternative login to access their digital banking services. We are happy to be able to support our Singapore companies in their exciting digitalisation journeys. GovTech will continue to push out more products on the national digital identity platform to help businesses enhance digital service delivery, improve customer experience and bring about productivity gains.”

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Regtech

Apiax is Awarded MAS’ FSTI Proof-of-Concept Grant

									by Fintech News Singapore
July 21, 2020

Swiss Regtech startup Apiax has been awarded the FSTI Proof-of-Concept grant by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on the 16th June, 2020.
The FSTI Proof-of-Concept grant provides funding support for experimentation, development and dissemination of nascent innovative technologies in the financial services sector.
Philip Schoch
Philip Schoch, Co-founder of Apiax, said:
“We are proud to be granted funding support from such an important organisation as the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Our hard work and dedication to pushing the boundaries of technology in compliance is getting recognised, and this grant allows us to take our product development even further.”
Founded in 2017, the award-winning regtech technology is said to provide easy access to compliance knowledge. It claims to enable companies in an increasingly regulated economy to stay focused on their core business objectives, delivering high value and unique experiences to their customers.

Featured image: Apiax Founders

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InsurTech

Income Future Starter – First Insuretech Accelerator Programme in Singapore

									by Fintech News Singapore
August 1, 2016

Today, Singapore’s first insurer Income announced the “Income Future Starter, powered by TAG.PASS“, a 11-week accelerator programme designed specifically for entrepreneurs that fast tracks the commercialisation of products and market access through mentorship and co-innovation. This joint programme with TAG.PASS is a collaboration with Infocomm Investments.
The programme comprises of 3 core phases:
– business model development and validation
– product development

– pitch for investments.
Start-ups will go through intensive training and guidance where they are expected to conduct field interviews, problem-solution validation, rapid prototyping, storyboarding, software and hardware development, growth hacking, marketing, branding, sales and business pitching amongst others.
Benefits for Successful Applicants
Income Future Starter aims to bring about the next big thing with innovative solutions that can capture opportunities based on problems worth solving in the areas of insurance, business analytics, and healthcare.
Several specific areas to be featured in Future Starter
US$21,000 will be granted (without giving up equity)  to maximum 12 shortlisted start-ups. These entrepreneus will accelerate their innovative products and/or services at BASH, a startup space in Singapore’s famed Block 71 area.
If you are a start-up that shares our vision to enhance the accessibility of insurance to customers (including the underserved and unserved communities), as well as, to improve user experience and create new innovative business models, apply now for Future Starter HERE until Oct. 09, 2016. There will be recruitment roadshows in Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea in September.
Future Starter – Important Dates

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Indonesia
InsurTech
Philippines

Insurtech Platform Igloo Lands Partnership With Union Bank and Akulaku for Micro-Insurance

									by Fintech News Philippines
August 20, 2020

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Igloo, Singapore-headquartered insurtech firm, announced partnerships with Union Bank of the Philippines and Indonesia’s Akulaku to offer micro-insurance policies. Akulaku is one of Indonesia’s most well-funded fintech startups who is best known for their “buy now, pay later” service.
Igloo will be offering a whole suite of personal accident (PA) products on UnionBank’s API Marketplace and Akulaku’s platforms. The products were designed for the lower-income households and is said to be “easy to purchase, simple to understand, and most importantly, highly affordable with 3, 6, 9, and 12 month plans”.

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Igloo, a full-stack insurtech firm, employs big data, dynamic risk assessment, and expedited claims management, to provide partners with widened distribution networks and allow consumers’ access to customised insurance solutions. In April, Igloo had rebranded (previously known as Axinan) after closing a Series A+ funding round, bringing its total funding to US$16 million.
The Philippines has one of the most significant insurance gaps in the world. In 2018, the insurance penetration rate in the country stood at less than 1%, and the relative cost of the insurance gap represented 1.3% (US$4.2 billion) of its gross domestic product (GDP).

To close this gap, the market for micro-insurance products has been growing. The penetration of micro-insurance in the Philippines is one of the highest globally – making up to 25% of its population last year, and expected to reach 48% by 2022.
Raunak Mehta
Mr Raunak Mehta, Chief Commercial Officer of Igloo, shared,
“People today are exposed to highly personalised experiences driven by data, and their experience with insurance products should be no different. Our digital-first approach, growing product portfolio and best of practice learnings from the region can help to increase insurance awareness and provide Filipinos with access to affordable insurance that addresses their needs and bridges the insurance gap in the country”.
Arvie de Vera
Arvie de Vera, UnionBank Senior Vice President & Fintech Group Head shared,
“Through the partnership, Igloo’s micro-insurance products are now made available on UnionBank’s API Marketplace. This plays a vital role in enabling and boosting insurance penetration rates in the Philippines through innovative means, and contributes to our shared goal of financial inclusion as Filipinos will gain greater access to affordable insurance solutions.”
William Li
William Li, CEO of Akulaku that has over 6 million users on the platform, said,
“We see a huge income disparity in the Philippines. Insurance is important and yet not affordable by many. By partnering with Igloo, we could make insurance affordable again and help safeguard at least the most fundamental aspect of a Filipino’s everyday life.”
Igloo’s partnerships with UnionBank and Akulaku, come after a recent collaboration in Indonesia with Blibli, Bhinneka, and Ciputra Life, where it similarly used its technology to provide catered insurance plans for Indonesians and protect them from the financial effects of COVID-19.
Igloo will be announcing more partnerships in the upcoming months with some of the biggest telcos, banks, and on-demand customer platforms in Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Featured image credit: Igloo Facebook

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Regtech
Sponsored Post
Studies

Evolving Regulatory Landscape Pushes Wealth Managers Towards Regtech Specialists

									by Fintech News Singapore
September 8, 2020

The rapidly changing regulatory landscape is pushing wealth and asset management companies to turn to specialist regtech providers, experts said.
In a webinar that took place on August 25, 2020, Ralf Huber, co-founder of Swiss regtech firm Apiax, and Claire Farley, executive director of legal services firm aosphere, addressed the main data protection challenges companies are dealing with today, sharing findings from a survey of the Asian wealth management community.
Farley, who’s responsible for aosphere’s product strategy and heads the group’s three online regulatory subscription services, said that the proliferation of data and data regulations are forcing companies of all sizes to turn to regtech specialists for their regulatory and compliance needs.
“Data protection is changing, but there are also all sorts of other regulatory changes. It’s challenging,” Farley said.
“There’s a huge drive of going towards specialist solution providers: people who live and breathe automating and systemizing these kinds of processes. When you use these kind of providers, you benefit from a syndicated cost model. You don’t have to develop and maintain your own [system]. You can use a provider who is already doing that for a lot of other people as well, and spread the cost in that way.”
Following the implementation of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union (EU) in May 2018, many jurisdictions around the world moved to review and strengthen existing data privacy and cybersecurity laws.
2018 and 2019 in particular saw continued growth and change in those areas across Asia Pacific (APAC). Notable examples include China’s cybersecurity law, Sri Lanka and Malaysia’s personal data protection laws, and the Philippines’ Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct targeting online lenders.
But keeping up with these rapidly changing rules can be a taunting task, Farley said, especially when you are doing business internationally as regulations around data privacy and protection vary across jurisdictions. It’s especially challenging in Asia where the region’s privacy frameworks are still highly fragmented.
According to the Hubbis/Apiax survey, 64% of wealth and asset management firms in APAC see data transfer as one of their biggest challenges, showing that companies are still struggling to figure out the appropriate protocol and security when moving data.
“For our customers, the main issues are around understanding the rules around data transfer,” Farley commented. “These rules vary around the world.”
“[On data protection], we see three main trends in the legal area: the first is increasing data localization, or rules that say ‘you can’t transfer this data outside of the country.’ The second thing that is making data transfer a more difficult thing to do, is all the changing legal developments, for example the [Shrems II judgment] and other rules aimed at balancing customer data protection. And the third is the rising trend toward individual consent.”
Biggest challenges in data protection, The Hubbis/Apiax Survey on Data and Cross-border Compliance for Asia’s Wealth Management Community, August 2020
Among the biggest motivators for wealth and asset management companies to go digital, APAC respondents cited efficiency (58%), the urgency for innovation/digitalization (25%) and cost savings (17%), showcasing that region’s wealth managers are viewing digital solutions as a way to improve efficiency and enhance scalability.
The global regtech market is expected to reach US$16 billion by 2025, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.3%, according to a Markets and Markets report. This growth will be mainly driven by the increased cost of compliance, rising need for faster transactions, regulatory sandbox approach to support regtech innovations, and lower entry barriers with software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based offerings, the report says.
Further illustrating the growth of the regtech sector is the rising investment activity. According to KPMG’s Pulse of Fintech H2’19 report, the number of global regtech deals rose to a new high of 145 in 2019, reflecting an increasing interest in the sector as new regulations including GDPR but also the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) in Europe, as well as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), are being implemented.
Moving forward, a number of elements will continue to drive interest and investment in regtech, KPMG said, including more focus on consumer protection and data security, the enrichment of the regulatory landscape in different jurisdictions, digital transformation within financial institutions, and the success stories of regtechs as they begin to scale and grow.

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InsurTech

Singlife to Merge with Aviva in Singapore’s Largest Insurance Deal Valued at S$3.2 Billion

									by Fintech News Singapore
September 14, 2020

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Singapore Life Pte. Ltd. (Singlife), a homegrown insurer, offering mobile savings and protection solutions, today announced it has entered into a transaction with a view to combine with Aviva Singapore. Valuing the combined Singlife and Aviva Singapore entities at S$3.2 billion, the deal marks one of the largest in the insurance sector in Southeast Asia and the largest in Singapore.
Besides its insurance business, Aviva Singapore also owns a unit trust platform, Navigator, as well as two of the largest financial advisory firms in Singapore, Aviva Financial Advisers (AFA) and Professional Investment Advisory Services (PIAS).
The deal intends to bring Singlife’s mobile-first savings and protection solutions to Aviva’s 1.5 million strong customer base, while being able to offer existing Singlife customers a significantly deeper product range and advisory capabilities.
Subject to regulatory approval, current Singlife Chairman Ray Ferguson will continue as the Chairman of the new group. Singlife Group CEO Walter de Oude will be appointed as Deputy Chairman, while current Aviva Singapore CEO Nishit Majmudar will be appointed CEO of the combined entity’s Singapore licensed insurance business.

The new combined business will initially be named Aviva Singlife. Aviva plc will retain a 25% equity shareholding in this new, combined business. Singlife’s existing shareholder, Sumitomo Life Insurance Company will hold 20% of the group equity, while Aflac Ventures LLC, Aberdeen Asset Management PLC, IPGL Limited and minorities will collectively hold 20% of the group equity.
TPG, a global alternative asset firm, will hold 35% of the group equity. TPG has been investing in a range of industries such as financial services, healthcare, retail, media and technology. In the financial services space, companies TPG has invested in include Korea First Bank, Shenzhen Development Bank, PT BFI Finance, BTPN, American Beacon, Du Xiaoman Financial, CD Finance, Ariel Re, ProSight, and Warranty Group.
Walter de Oude, Group CEO and Founder, Singlife said,
“We are building something truly inspirational harnessing the best of financial services for the benefit of Singaporeans and the region.”
Ray Ferguson
Ray Ferguson, Singlife Chairman said,
“Singlife was created with the ambition to reshape finance and help unlock the potential of money for everyone. COVID-19 and changing consumer demands have changed the way people think about financial services, and more than ever before want to engage in a mobile-first way for their ordinary savings and protection needs, and still get the financial advice they need, when they need it. By joining forces with Aviva Singapore, we are creating a homegrown regional brand that will go far beyond insurance and deliver on these ambitions by creating innovative financial products with intuitive technology and independent advice.”
Nishit Majmudar
Nishit Majmudar, CEO of Aviva Singapore and Chairman of Navigator, AFA and PIAS said,
“Aviva Singapore has always focused on delivering great customer outcomes. This is reflected in our positive results as we are in our fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth. Joining forces with Singlife, who is known for their mobile-first approach, will further enhance what we deliver – a comprehensive set of solutions with a superior customer experience.”
The combined post-merger business will initially trade using both the Singlife and Aviva brands as Aviva Singlife demonstrating the combination of the two businesses.
The transaction is subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approval, and is expected to complete by January 2021. Thereafter, the Singlife and Aviva Singapore legal entities will merge subject to approval by the Singapore courts targeting 1H 2021. Singlife and Aviva Singapore will continue to operate independently until the merger is complete.
Singlife is the first independent homegrown company to be fully licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) since 1970 as a life insurance company. The partnership marks Singlife’s most significant milestone to-date, following its acquisition of Zurich Life Singapore in 2018.
The company is backed by Sumitomo Life Insurance Company, Aberdeen Standard Investments, Aflac Incorporated, and IPGL, joining the ranks of other regional tech companies as one of the top-funded homegrown fintech companies in Singapore. Singlife manages almost S$7.0 billion in life insurance coverage.
In March 2020, Singlife launched Singapore’s first mobile insurance-savings plan, the Singlife Account, with an accompanying Visa Debit Card. The Singlife Account hit 100,000 downloads within the first three months of launch, with customers entrusting almost S$500 million through the product to date.
Aviva Singapore currently insures about 1.5 million customers and manages S$11.8 billion of assets.
Apart from insurance and savings solutions, their offering also includes unit trust platform brands, Navigator and dollarDEX. They also own Aviva Financial Advisers and Professional Investment Advisory Services (PIAS), two of the largest financial advisory firms in Singapore. Navigator, dollarDEX and these two financial advisory firms are included in this transaction.

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Open Banking
Virtual Banking

Open Banking, Data Protection Laws Bring in New Challenges for Digital Banks and Incumbents

									by Fintech News Singapore
September 28, 2020

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Open banking, one of the hottest topics in financial services today, is bringing in new challenges and risks that both traditional financial institutions and fintech companies must address swiftly, said Frederik Mennes, director of product security at cybersecurity firm OneSpan.
In a recent conversation with Finextra, Mennes identified three major security risks brought in by open banking that incumbents and digital banks alike must tackle.
The first risk, Mennes said, relates to the fact that open banking requires financial institutions to open up their IT systems and share data with third-party providers (TPPs).
Frederik Mennes
“It’s very important that only licensed, authorized and therefore trustworthy TPPs can obtain data from financial institutions,”
he said.

“If an unauthorized, perhaps malicious, TPP would be authorized to obtain financial data from a bank, that would have an enormous impact on the confidentiality, as well as the integrity of the financial data, which could ultimately have a negative impact on the reputation of the financial institution.”
The second risk, Mennes said, relates to users of applications provided by TPPs. “It’s very important that these users are properly authenticated when they try to access a bank account held by a financial institution,” he said. “We don’t want to see a situation whereby a user of a TPP application can obtain an authorized access to a bank account that is perhaps under the control of someone else.”
Finally, the third security risk is that, ultimately, open banking will be making TPPs part of the security perimeter of financial institutions’ IT infrastructure, posing systemic cyber risks across organizations and third parties.
“In a certain sense, the IT infrastructure of the bank is now going to contain the IT infrastructure of the various TPPs,” Mennes said. “When a TPP is compromised, it could also have a negative impact on the bank.”
A rapidly evolving regulatory landscape
To address these emerging security risks, regulators around the world have introduced new rules. Several regimes, for example, require TPPs to digitally sign all the requests that they send to open banking interfaces, so that only authorized, trustworthy TPPs can gain access to financial data from banks.
In Europe, the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) requests financial institutions to authenticate users of TPP applications when they want to access their bank accounts. The regulation also dictates how authentication must be performed, setting, for example, requirements on two-factor authentication and transaction authentication based on dynamic linking, and further requires transaction risks analysis to spot fraudulent access attempts and fraudulent.
PSD2 also pays attention to the security of the infrastructure of TPPs, and set requirements relating to creating security policies, proper network security control, performing penetration tests to proactively detect vulnerabilities, and more.
Jurisdictions like the UK, Hong Kong, Australia and the European Union (EU) have adopted a regulatory-driven approach to open banking, introducing a legal framework and setting out rules to enable the safe, mainstream adoption of open banking.
According to Mennes, Australia stands out from the crowd for having the most ambitious and innovative approach to open banking.
“Australia is actually moving beyond open banking and proposing an open data economy whereby citizens cannot only request financial institutions to share their date with TPPs, but also other companies like energy providers, telcos, etc.,”
Mennes said.
“I believe that overtime we will see a similar approach in other parts of the world.”
Open banking initiatives and regimes aren’t the only regulatory changes financial institutions and fintech companies must deal with. In Asia, new regulation revolving around digital banking is presenting fintech companies with an array a new requirements to comply with, and around the world, jurisdictions are enacting data privacy and data protection laws.
In November 2019, the Financial Action Task Force, which comprises 39 countries representing major financial centers across the globe, issued a draft guidance on digital identity, detailing the best way to apply customer due diligence to digital account opening processes using digital identity verification. The guidance is expected to come into effect later this year.
Challenger banks continue to gain ground
Challenger banks continued to gain ground in 2019, sparking substantial investor interest and raising a record of US$5.3 billion in equity funding. Momentum persisted in H2’20, with digital banks such as UK-based Monzo, Germany’s N26, Brazil’s NuBank and US-based Varo, raising mega rounds, according to CB Insights’ State of Fintech Q2 2020 report.
Europe, the pioneer in open banking regulations, remains the hub of digital banking, having given rise to the first wave of challenger banks, including N26 and UK-based Revolut, which currently stand as the third and fifth most valuable challenger banks in the world with valuations of US$5.5 billion and US$3.5 billion, respectively, according to a CB Insights analysis.
Out of the world’s top ten most valuable challenger banks, four are from Europe, three are from the US, and two are from Latin America, including NuBank, currently the most valuable digital bank in the world at US$10 billion, and Uala, from Argentina with a valuation of US$950 million.
10 Most Valuable Challenger Banks, CB Insights, August 2020
New generation of challenger banks
But a new generation of challenger banks is emerging, and these are taking a radically different approach to that of early pioneers.
“The new players want to grow to make money, not conquer the world,” Jeroen De Bel, partner at Fincog, a consultancy that manages a database of neobanks, told Sifted. “You see more and more of the newer apps learning from [the mistakes of] the UK players, ensuring the path to profitability is there early on … It’s all about sustainability.”
These newer players aren’t going after the mass market but rather focus on getting a core proposition, De Bel said.
For example, in Germany, Tomorrow recently launched a neobank for consumers focused on protecting the climate. Tomorrow offers an ethical current account and sustainability-focused add-ons, and claims 40,000 active users.
Another new player from Germany is 220, a private members bank for entrepreneurs, influencers and investors. In addition to banking services, 220 also provides its customers with private events and perks like exclusive discounts and limited experiences.
In the UK, Kroo, formerly known as B-Social, offers a “social finance” app with an accompanying debit MasterCard. Kroo enables users to make purchases, as well as share and keep track of expenses with friends and family.
Longevity Card is an upcoming challenger bank from the UK that focuses on helping customers have a healthy lifestyle, in addition to providing mobile banking services. Longevity Card will come with an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered healthtech solution that will analyze daily activity, nutrition, and many other parameters to offer customers personalized health tips and reward them for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
A recent addition to this ever-growing list is Jefa, a startup targeting women in Latin America. The company is building a product that focuses on solving the problems that women face when opening a bank account and managing. It plans to launch in a few months, starting with Costa Rica and Guatemala.
Data from Fincog shows that there are currently more than 250 independent neobanks across the world for a combined customer base of over 350 million.
Traction of Neo Banks, Fincog, August 2020
Unsurprisingly, penetration is highest in emerging markets, including China (93%), India (50%) and Brazil (32%), which top the chart. These are followed by the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and Spain with rates that range between 2% and 4%.
Digital banking in Southeast Asia
With 22 million people joining the “mobile age” every year, Southeast Asia is rapidly emerging as the new battleground for challenger banks. European fintech scaleups including Revolut and TransferWise have already expanded into the region, but with regulators in countries including Singapore and Malaysia issuing new rules on digital banking, these will have to compete against a whole new generation of homegrown neobanks.
In June last year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that it would issue two digital full bank licenses and three digital wholesale bank licenses in a bid to spur innovation. The digital banking licenses are expected to be granted by the end of 2020.
Malaysia released its virtual banking licensing framework in December 2019 and is expected to begin accepting applications later this year. Meanwhile, Thailand is reportedly studying the possibility of licenses for digital banks.

The forthcoming entrance of digital-first, challenger banks in Southeast Asia is expected to shake up the region’s banking industry which remains dominated by incumbents with outdated products and services that fail to meet the needs and expectations of a younger, hyper-connected generation.
But according to Myles Bertrand, managing director of APAC at Mambu, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) banking platform, the introduction of these new licenses is intended to fill up a gap rather than increase competition, although increased competition will most likely be a side effect.
“The ‘gap’ in this scenario is the approximate 73% of people living in Southeast Asia who don’t currently have a bank account – it’s a sizeable market, and one which should encourage plenty of new players,” Bertrand told Vulcan Post.
Despite being one of the largest and fastest-growing regions in the world, Southeast Asia is also home to a large pool of unbanked and underbanked population. Banking penetration across countries in Southeast Asia stands at around 50% on average, compared with the 95% banking penetration rate in the US and UK.
According to Bain and Company, more than 7 out of 10 adults in Southeast Asia are either underbanked, with no access to credit cards or no long-term savings product, or unbanked and without access to a basic bank account. In addition, millions of Southeast Asia’s small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) face large funding gaps.
Financial services penetration in Southeast Asia compared with other regions, Bain and Company, October 2019

Featured image credit:Infographic vector created by fullvector – www.freepik.com

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Open Banking

SWIFT Announces New Strategy to Enhance Its Processing Platform

									by Fintech News Singapore
September 17, 2020

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SWIFT announced that over the next 2 years and beyond, it will continually enhance its payments and securities platform as part of a new strategy approved by its Board.
The digital platform will use APIs and cloud technology to provide a set of common processing services that banks have historically invested in individually, saving the industry time and money. New and extensive data capabilities will enable the pre-validation of essential data, fraud detection, data analytics, transaction tracking and exception case management.
In payments, financial institutions will be able to expand offerings to businesses and consumers and provide better end-customer experience. In securities, financial institutions will benefit from improved reconciliation, reporting and asset servicing processes as well as end-to-end visibility of transactions to reduce settlement fails and fines.
This new approach will support innovation, independently or in collaboration with fintechs — to create new value-added services to support their business growth.

SWIFT’s enhanced platform will orchestrate interactions between financial institutions and other participants, aiming to minimise friction, optimise speed and provide end-to-end transparency and predictability.
This move has the potential to power instant and frictionless transactions between at least 4 billion accounts serviced by financial institutions across the SWIFT network.
Javier Pérez-Tasso, CEO of SWIFT, said:
Javier Pérez-Tasso

“We are innovating the underlying infrastructure that financial institutions use to make transactions run even faster end-to-end, and at the same time further reducing costs for the community through industry-shared services in the areas of cyber, fraud and compliance.

We will introduce data innovation that embeds risk and control elements expected from SWIFT, creating peace of mind for business-critical operations. Combining these elements, we are creating a broad platform with faster technology and smarter and better services that the industry can trust as a foundation for innovation towards their own end-clients.”

The planned platform capabilities build on SWIFT’s recent initiatives, including SWIFT gpi and will be underpinned by its continued investment in cybersecurity and risk management.

Featured image: SWIFT Operations Forum – Americas (SOFA) 2013, Taken at SOFA in midtown Manhattan, Tuesday, March 5, 2013

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InsurTech

Revolut Singapore Ties up With Insurtech to Offer Lifestyle-Based Insurance

									by Fintech News Singapore
October 7, 2020

    2

Revolut and SNACK by NTUC Income, an insurance cooperative in Singapore, announced a partnership to incorporate lifestyle-based insurance offerings.
SNACK, launched in June this year, offers stackable, micro-insurance that integrates into their customers’ daily lifestyle activities. The app has partnered with EZ-link, Fitbit and Burpple so far.
A key aspect of the collaboration will be to explore embedding SNACK into Revolut’s “Spare Change Round Up” feature which will give customers the option to purchase insurance coverage on SNACK.
Bite-sized premiums of $0.30, $0.50 and $0.70 will be linked to daily lifestyle activities such as dining, taking public transport, spending using Revolut Visa debit card as well as clocking steps on Fitbit.

Revolut customers will have the full flexibility to purchase insurance products such as Term Life, Critical Illness and Personal Accident, from accumulated spare change in their Savings Vault on its app.
In addition, as part of the collaboration, starting 7th October, Revolut customers will receive a $500 one-time complimentary insurance coverage when they sign up for an account on the SNACK app.
This is part of a wider line-up of other initiatives that will be rolled out later this year in collaboration with SNACK. Launched just under 1 year ago in Singapore, Revolut claims to have reached over 70,000 signups in Singapore.
James Shanahan, CEO of Revolut Singapore said:
James Shanahan
“With Revolut, our customers enjoy excellent exchange rates, instant peer-to-peer transfers, rewards and cashback offers on e-commerce spend, real-time spend updates and smart analytics that provide useful predictions that help them manage their expenses. Our partnership with SNACK layers insurance protection over our existing money management features and allows our customers access to micro-insurance products that are underwritten by NTUC Income.”

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Regtech

Singaporean Regtech Tookitaki Among G20 TechSprint Winners

									by Fintech News Singapore
October 7, 2020

Singaporean regtech firm Tookitaki won in the monitoring and surveillance category for their “Crypto-currency AML Typology Repository Management” solution at the G20 TechSprint challenge.
The hackathon-style competition was launched in April to highlight the potential for technology to resolve regulatory compliance (regtech) and supervisory (suptech) challenges.
The regtech firm recently announced in November 2019 that it had raised US$19.2 million during a Series A funding round.
Besides Tookitaki, 2 other winners were announced by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Saudi G20 Presidency at the Enabling Regulatory and Supervisory Solutions for the Digital Era symposium.

FNA won the dynamic information-sharing category for their “FNA Platform for Dynamic Information Sharing and Real-Time Analytics (FNA Platform)” solution. Meanwhile, ISDA-REGnosys won the regulatory reporting challenge for their “Consistent Regulatory Reporting via the Common Domain Model” solution.
The winners have been invited to showcase their submissions at the Singapore Fintech Festival, which will run as a hybrid virtual event on 7-11 December, focusing on five global challenges, including building skills for the future, creating the infrastructure for a digital economy and recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The symposium was part of the Saudi G20 Presidency’s programme for digital era supervisory and regulatory issues. It comprised two sessions, with the first offering a platform for the final TechSprint prize winners to share their solutions.
The second tackled problems facing supervisors and financial institutions. Participants included central bank governors, deputies, and heads of international and regional financial bodies, as well as private sector experts. The Saudi G20 Presidency awarded cash prices of US$ 50,000 per problem solved.
Dr Ahmed Alkholifey, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) said,
Dr Ahmed Alkholifey
“It was a great pleasure to announce the winners of the G20’s first-ever TechSprint initiative. The solutions showcased the importance of involving the global fintech community. Despite the disruption caused by the pandemic, we have received a great deal of interest from candidates across the globe, indicating the greater potential of joint public and private sector-led efforts to find solutions to common supervisory and regulatory problems.”
Benoît Cœuré, Head of the BIS Innovation Hub said,
Benoît Cœuré
“The TechSprint has been an opportunity to showcase how global collaboration can lead to the development of high-quality regtech and suptech solutions and spur critical innovations to address our common regulatory challenges,”

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Open Banking

Open Banking, A Bigger Disruption Force to Incumbents Than Digital Banks: DBS

									by Fintech News Singapore
October 16, 2020

    5

In Singapore, open banking developments may be a bigger disruption to traditional banks than digital banks, says DBS.
The addressable loan market for Singapore’s upcoming digital banks is estimated to be worth between S$220 and S$243 billion, but despite the market potential, DBS analyst Rui Wen Lim believes that open banking developments will have a much bigger impact on the traditional banking sector than digital banks over the medium term.
Singapore’s new digital banks will likely have to put in the effort to acquire and develop meaningful customer stickiness to turn a profit, considering that Singapore is a relatively small and well-banked market, Lim says.
The Contenders to Singapore’s Digital Banking Race, Fintech News Singapore
She estimates that digital banks could gain a market share of 1 to 5% of the unsecured retail and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) loan market in the initial years, but that figure may not translate to immediate profitability.

At the same time, Singapore’s incumbent banks have embarked on an extensive digital transformation journey over the last decade and are likely to continue working on delivering value propositions to match those of digital banks, stiffening competition.
Open banking, on the other hand, will allow consumers to aggregate their banking, insurance and investment information across banks and financial institutions on a single platform, allowing for easier comparability and higher level of competitiveness in the banking industry.
Overview of open banking in Singapore
In Singapore, development of open banking has been largely facilitated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which has encouraged banks to adopt application programming interfaces (APIs) since 2016.
MAS has spearheaded several initiatives to promote open banking and facilitate the adoption of open APIs. The regulator has provided guidelines for open banking and APIs, and has also been involved in the API Exchange (APIX). Launched in 2018, APIX is an open architecture API marketplace and sandbox platform. There are currently 54 financial institutions and 351 fintech companies on APIX and the platform has registered more than 120 transactional APIs and nearly 200 informative APIs.

APIX is operated by the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN), a non-profit organization established by MAS, the ASEAN Bankers Association (ABA) and International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Currently, MAS operates the Financial Industry API Register, which features all open APIs available in the Singapore financial industry and that now counts 238 transactional and 279 informational APIs.
But new developments are expected to occur this year. By the end of 2020, MAS is expected to release details of a portal that would allow consumers to aggregate and share their financial data across different banks and financial service providers.
Dubbed Financial Planning Digital Services (FPDS), the initiative aims at facilitating data portability with a secure API framework, giving consumers greater access and control over their financial data.
According to local fintech startup MoneyThor, the portal will come with a consent mechanism facilitated by SingPass, the single sign-on service already used by all residents to access the government’s e-services.
Consumers will be able to grant access to the financial institutions of their choosing to share not only information about their bank accounts and credit cards but also information about their pension contributions, social security savings and government housing scheme payments.
Though no official launch date for FPDS has been announced yet, it is expected to be rolled out in two main phases, starting with banks and government agencies, followed by insurers and wealth management firms.

Featured image credit: Edited from Pexels

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InsurTech

Insurtech Bolttech Expands Its Footprint to South Korea With LG U+

									by Fintech News Singapore
October 19, 2020

    2

bolttech, an insurtech company that is a part of the Pacific Century Group, announced its expansion into South Korea through the launch of its partnership with LG U+, one of South Korea’s telecommunications carriers.
LG U+’s customers around the country can now benefit from bolttech’s protection for their mobile devices through the switch service ‘My Phone Switch’.
bolttech’s entry to South Korea represents its 13th market across 3 continents which includes Austria, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States.
Rob Schimek, Group Chief Executive Officer at bolttech, said,

Rob Schimek
“South Korea is an important market for us, and we are thrilled to partner with LG U+, a household name and one of the largest carriers in South Korea with a huge customer base. Together we can bring cutting-edge device protection solutions to their tech-savvy customers.”
‘My Phone Switch’ enables customers to switch their mobile devices for whatever reason with no exclusions – be it screen cracks and dents, water damage, out-of-warranty repairs, or if they want to try a new device or colour – up to 2 times in 2 years.
According to their statement, customers can get their switched devices delivered in as fast as six hours within Seoul, and a next day delivery is available for customers in the other cities.
Youngkun Chang
Youngkun Chang, General Manager of South Korea at bolttech, commented,
“We are proud to partner with LG U+ to bring innovative device protection to more people in the country and provide a digital customer experience that keeps people connected.”

Featured image: Edited from Unsplash

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InsurTech
Virtual Banking

Razer Rolls Out Insurance Offering with FWD for Beta Users

									by Fintech News Singapore
October 27, 2020

    1

Razer Fintech is deepening their collaboration with FWD Singapore (FWD), by providing insurance coverage to its users in Singapore as part of the recently launched Razer Card
The former had recently collaborated with Visa, to unveil the Razer Card which will be made available to 1,337 selected users from now till 31 December, via an exclusive beta testing programme.
FWD will offer S$100,000 complimentary term life insurance coverage to each those who qualify to be Razer Premium Card holders.
Razer Fintech and FWD have previously collaborated to launch products such as the Covid-19 insurance plan that have been made available via the Razer Pay app.

In the coming months, other relevant insurance products such as cancer, critical illness and term life insurance will also be added to the platform.
Lee Li Meng
“We are excited to collaborate with our strategic partner to address and plug this crucial gap in insurance coverage for this segment. We believe that it is imperative for the youth and millennials to be adequately insured, in order for them to have a secured head start to life. This is the first of many initiatives to come where we look to further expand our product offerings to better support the needs of the underserved youth and millennials segment,”
said Lee Li Meng, Chief Executive Officer, Razer Fintech.
Khor Kee Eng
“FWD is glad to work with like-minded partners like Razer Fintech to change the way people feel about insurance. To this end, we’ve continually invested in the right technology to make the end-to-end process of getting insured simple, seamless and stress-free for our customers in Singapore, many of whom are also millennials and young working adults. In this regard, we are glad to be able to ride on our customer-led approach to benefit more people,”
said FWD Singapore CEO Khor Kee Eng.

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Regtech

MAS Offers $35 Million Grant to Ease Regulatory Reporting for Smaller Financial Institutions

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 10, 2020

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched a S$35 million Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) for the financial services sector to help smaller financial institutions adopt digital solutions for more streamlined data reporting to MAS.
Supported by the Financial Sector Development Fund, the grant is currently applicable to banks and will be subsequently expanded to include insurers and capital market intermediaries.
The PSG provides funding support for smaller financial institutions, no more than 200 employees, to adopt regulatory reporting solutions from pre-approved managed service providers.
These technologies will facilitate more efficient processes for the preparation and submission of data, in line with regulatory requirements. MAS has released an annex for the list of pre-approved managed service provider solutions.

The PSG will co-fund up to 30% of qualifying expenses for the adoption of digital solutions from the pre-approved managed service solution providers, capped at $250,000 per project for banks.
Eligible banks can now apply for funding via the Business Grants Portal which is a centralised portal for businesses to apply for government grants.
This grant is part of MAS’ recent initiatives to support smaller financial institutions in their efforts to improve productivity. Smaller financial institutions that wish to adopt digital solutions outside of regulatory reporting can also consider the Digital Acceleration Grant (DAG).
The Digital Acceleration Grant was launched in April 2020 to support the adoption of digital solutions to improve productivity, strengthen operational resilience, manage risks and serve customers better.
Mr Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS said,
Sopnendu Mohanty
“The co-funding support for the adoption of regulatory reporting solutions will help smaller financial institutions leverage technology to better meet regulatory obligations. There are now a range of grant schemes specific to smaller financial institutions. Together, these schemes provide strong support for these financial institutions to adopt solutions that improve their operational capabilities in various domains.”

Featured image credit: MAS

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Regtech
Security

MAS Plans to Strengthen eKYC Amid Rising Identity Scam Cases

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 11, 2020

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a consultation paper on the types of information required for non-face-to-face verification of an individual’s identity or better known as eKYC by the industry. These proposed requirements come against the backdrop of rising impersonation scam cases, and seek to address the risks arising from theft and misuse of an individual’s personal particulars.
In the new proposed requirement, it would be mandatory for banks to use one of the following type of information for non face to face verification; passwords or PIN, biometrics, token generated password, or information only known between the bank and customer such as transaction information.
The proposed Notice will also prohibit financial institutions from relying on common personal information such as NRIC number, residential address and date of birth as the sole means of identity verification.
Tan Yeow Seng
Mr Tan Yeow Seng, Chief Cyber Security Officer, MAS, said,

“Personal information such as NRIC number and date of birth are often provided by members of public for various purposes, such as filling in an application form. This information, if fallen into the wrong hands, can be used for impersonation fraud.
Financial institutions already have in place these identity verification practices. The proposed Notice will further bolster consumer confidence in financial institutions by making these identity verification practices compulsory during non-face-to-face financial transactions. Consumers should also play their part by not disclosing their online banking login credentials such as account username, PIN number and one-time password.”

The consultation paper is available on MAS’ website

Featured image: MAS

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Cambodia
InsurTech

BIMA Leverages Mobile Tech to Bring Insurance Products to Developing Countries

									by Fintech News Singapore
August 10, 2016

With over 20 million customers and operations in 14 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America, BIMA is a leading insurtech company that uses mobile technology to deliver affordable insurance and health services, and fuel financial inclusion in developing countries.
Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Stockholm, BIMA aims at disrupting the global insurance industry by bringing mobile-delivered insurance and health services including microinsurance, pre-paid life, personal accident and hospitalization insurance, as well as pre-paid tele-doctor services to low-income families.
In 2014, BIMA launched in the Cambodian market. By mid-July, the firm had managed to secure more than 75,000 Cambodians with its Smart Life Insurance, which is underwritten by BIMA and available to Smart Axiata (Smart) subscribers, adding 10,000 new customers every month.
“We estimate that Smart Life Insurance now accounts for about 40-50% of the total individual life insurance policies in Cambodia,” said BIMA’s country manager Amritha Mani.

Smart Life Insurance works with all types of phones; users are simply required to have a Smart SIM card.
Cambodia’s insurance industry drew US$32.2 million in premiums in the first six months of 2015, a 20% rise year on year, according to the Insurance Association of Cambodia.
“The insurance market in Cambodia is undergoing rapid development, with multiple players offering consumers real choice,” said Mani.
Smart Axiata is one of Asia’s largest telecommunications group, serving over 7.6 million subscribers. BIMA’s partnership with the firm is part of the startup’s wider strategy as to team up with mobile service providers to reach as many people as people.
In developing countries in particular, mobile phones are a lucrative way for signing up new customers.
“We are indeed very happy with our results. Being the first to offer insurance policies via mobile in Cambodia has been rewarding,” said Yap Kokleong, chief marketing officer of Smart.
For the Smart Life Insurance product, BIMA offers two levels of coverage: customers can pay a premium of US$0.80/month for life insurance coverage of US$1,000, or US$1.60/month for coverage of US$2,000.
BIMA Personal Accident insurance on the other hand, is sold in prepaid packages in cash. The premiums breakdown is: US$3 for three months coverage, US$6 for six months (plus 1 free month), and US$12 for one year (plus three free months).
Alongside BIMA, a number of other players are looking to disrupt microinsurance access and delivery in emerging markets, too.
These include UK-based MicroEnsure, one of the most established player currently serving over 42 million customers; Inclusivity Solutions, a South African venture; and CoverNow, a service launched in February by Upstream.

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InsurTech

Singlife and Aviva Completes Merger Transaction at S$3.2 Billion

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 30, 2020

Homegrown insurer Singlife has completed the transaction for its merger with Aviva Singapore at S$3.2 billion. The transaction announced on 11 September 2020 is said to be one of the region’s largest insurance deals and the largest in Singapore.
After the merger, the two companies will be rebranded as Aviva Singlife Holdings Pte. Ltd. which will comprise the Singlife and Aviva Singapore legal entities.
Both entities will continue to operate independently until the scheme of transfer of the Singlife business to Aviva Singapore is approved by the Singapore courts and completed.
Following the transaction, current Singlife Chairman Ray Ferguson has been appointed as the Chairman of Aviva Singlife Holdings, while Singlife Group CEO Walter de Oude is appointed as Deputy Chairman of Aviva Singlife Holdings.

Besides that, current Aviva Singapore CEO Nishit Majmudar will be named CEO of Aviva Singlife upon approval of the scheme of transfer by the Singapore courts.
Nishit Majmudar, CEO of Aviva Singapore said,
Nishit Majmudar
“Aviva has a long history of building trust with people in Singapore and delivering quality advice. With the outstanding support of new investors and partners, and advanced mobile-first capabilities in Aviva Singlife, we will continue building on our customer-centric approach and bring quality savings and protection products to Singapore and beyond.”
Walter de Oude, Deputy Chairman, Aviva Singlife Holdings said,
Walter de Oude
“This deal was made possible with deep collaboration and commitment between all our partners to see a new breed of financial services emerge in a unique and challenging time. We hope to be an example for other entities that are determined to bring positive change to their industries, undeterred by the circumstances.”
Standard Chartered Bank, Moelis & Company and J.P. Morgan acted as financial advisers throughout the transaction, while Norton Rose Fulbright, Latham & Watkins, Slaughter & May, TSMP, and Law Asia provided legal advice to the parties.

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InsurTech

MSIG Introduces Insurance Plan for Gig Workers

									by Fintech News Singapore
December 1, 2020

MSIG Insurance (MSIG) has introduced Freelancer CashPlus, an insurance plan that dispenses daily cash benefits to help gig workers safeguard against income loss during a prolonged illness or injury.
According to the Ministry of Manpower, the number of freelancers stood at 211,000 in 2019 which made up 8.8% of the total resident workforce. This number is likely to trend up as more people go through a career change or seek alternative sources of income through contract or short-term work assignments.
Understanding the unique needs of this underserved segment, Freelancer CashPlus aims to simplify insurance for gig workers with flexible options, affordable premiums and hassle-free policy issuance.
Given the variability in gig work, MSIG has weighed up the potential concerns that customers may have over an annual policy commitment. With MSIG’s Freelancer CashPlus, a gig worker can stay protected with weekly premiums from as low as S$6.89 for a basic plan.

With two plan types to choose from, policyholders can expect to receive daily income benefit of S$120 per day for up to S$7,200 under the higher tiered Elite plan, in the event they are on hospitalisation or medical leave for a prolonged period.
MSIG offers a simple purchase experience for this product which is only available through its website. Approval of cover is instant and there is no medical examination required.
As part of MSIG’s commitment to help Singaporeans tide through this difficult period, Freelancer CashPlus will also expand cover for hospitalisation and outpatient leave due to COVID-19.
Mr. Steven Leong, Senior Vice-President, Consumer and Digital Distribution, MSIG Singapore said,
Steven Leong
“Amidst the changing norms and emergence of digital platforms, a sizable number of workers have turned towards self-employment or flexible short-term model of work. While full-time employees might benefit from paid sick leave and hospitalisation leave, gig workers have no income to fall back on should they fall ill for a prolonged period. These are real challenges that gig workers face, which we hope to bridge through Freelancer CashPlus.”

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InsurTech

SnackUp Partnership with Visa Allows You To Build Insurance Coverage as You Spend

									by Fintech News Singapore
December 3, 2020

NTUC Income (Income) and Visa launched SNACKUP, which allows consumers to build insurance coverage when they spend with their Visa cards, contributed entirely by merchant and participating brands.
SNACKUP is an expansion of SNACK, a lifestyle-based micro-policy insurance model that allows consumers to build insurance coverage linked to their daily activities such as taking public transport, dining out or going for a run.
SNACKUP builds on consumers’ shopping habits and rewards them with stackable insurance coverage in the form of rebates when they pay for their purchases with their Visa cards.
For every transaction consumers make at participating shops, the merchant contributes $100 worth of insurance coverage to the consumer’s insurance portfolio on SNACK as rebates, akin to how merchants would typically reward customers via points or cash rebates.

For UOB YOLO cardholders and Revolut cardholders, they will receive $100 insurance coverage with spend on their Visa cards at any merchant island wide, and an additional $100 worth of insurance coverage if they make purchases at participating SNACKUP merchant brands.
The customer can choose to accumulate their insurance coverage, from merchants either in Term Life (TL), Critical Illness (CI) or Personal Accident (PA) insurance, or all three insurance products. To do this, consumers will have to link their Visa card to the selected insurance products on the SNACK mobile app, which will reflect in real-time, the accumulative sum assured of the insurance coverage as consumers continue to make transactions on their Visa cards at SNACKUP merchants.
Peter Tay, Chief Digital Officer, Income said,
Peter Tay
“Pivoting on the same premise as SNACK where insurance is embedded in an insured’s lifestyle and making it accessible to all, SNACKUP adds a new dimension to how customers engage with, and obtain insurance protection. We are very excited to be collaborating with a strong technology partner, Visa and offer greater value to our customers as they can enjoy instant rebates in the form of insurance coverage contributed by participating merchants every time they transact with their Visa card.”
Kunal Chatterjee, Visa Country Manager for Singapore & Brunei said,
Kunal Chatterjee
“This is the first initiative of its kind globally, where we work with our merchants to offer cardholders insurance coverage tied to their spend and use Visa’s platform capabilities to introduce SNACKUP as a value added benefit for Visa cardholders. We believe our cardholders will embrace this innovative way of building insurance coverage as they spend and earn their rewards.”
SNACKUP’s participating brands currently range from card issuers such as Revolut and UOB, to food and lifestyle brands such as Omakase Burger, foodpanda, Sarnies, and even fresh juice vending machine brand, iJooz.
The launch of SNACKUP comes after SNACK’s debut in June 2020. SNACK is said to have issued more than 80,000 policies to date, covering a total of more than $26 million sum assured across Term Life, Critical Illness and Personal Accident in Singapore.
SNACK has also made insurance more accessible by extending its enterprise model, SNACK+, to corporate partners who aim to offer employees and members upsized insurance coverage on SNACK. These corporate partners include KFC, foodpanda, EZ-Link, National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Lalamove and SAFRA.

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AI
Regtech

UOB Co-Develops AI-Powered AML Solution With Tookitaki

									by Fintech News Singapore
December 3, 2020

UOB has co-developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered anti-money laundering (AML) solution with Singaporean regtech company Tookitaki after more than two years of rigorous validation and evaluation.
The solution is said to be highly accurate in identifying suspicious transactions and connected parties as it combats the increased sophistication in financial crime.
UOB claims to be the first Singapore bank to apply AI concurrently to two anti-money laundering (AML) risk dimensions namely transaction monitoring and name screening.
UOB’s use of AI enables it to pinpoint higher-priority cases from the more-than-5,700 average monthly suspicious transaction alerts flagged and to deploy the necessary resources swiftly to investigate potential money laundering attempts.

Through the solution, UOB can spot more sophisticated transaction patterns and is more effective at connecting data points with entities using the financial system.
Once the AI solution flags suspicious activity, UOB’s compliance officers step in to conduct in-depth investigations into those transactions and to submit reports to the authorities in the shortest possible time, increasing the chances of halting criminal activity.
UOB is using the AI solution to screen all customers and transactions involving Singapore-based UOB accounts and is expanding the solution to cover all UOB accounts globally.
Mr Victor Ngo, Head of Group Compliance, UOB, said,
Victor Ngo
“At UOB, we made early investments in artificial intelligence and began our AML proof of concept two years ago. Our AI solution works concurrently on two AML risk dimensions, which is technically more difficult, but also more fruitful as it helps us to pinpoint criminals trying to pose as customers. UOB will continue to invest in advanced technology to strengthen our AML system to deal with emerging risks.”
Since its implementation, UOB’s new AI solution reportedly has proven an overall true positive prediction rate of 96 percent in the high priority category.
UOB’s initiative is built on the back of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s strong encouragement for financial institutions to leverage technology to combat money laundering and terrorist financing risks.
Mr Abhishek Chatterjee, Founder and CEO of Tookitaki, said,
Abhishek Chatterjee
“Going live with UOB is a testament to our ability to develop and to harness the benefits of new-edge technologies such as machine learning to mitigate real-world problems of money laundering. We were able to showcase the stability of our AI models over time and in dynamic situations, while explaining the decision-making process of the models in a comprehensive yet simple manner through our patent-pending Explainable AI framework.”
Tookitaki is a graduate of The FinLab’s second accelerator programme in 2017. Through The FinLab, UOB provides guidance, resources and mentorship to startups as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help them grow their businesses and expand into new markets. UOB also explores collaborations with these startups and SMEs for the its innovation drive.

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InsurTech
Singapore Fintech Festival 2020

MAS and Ministry of Health Developing Data Sharing Platform for Faster Insurance Claims

									by Fintech News Singapore
December 9, 2020

Insurance is a crucial aspect of every individual’s financial planning, while much of the world has been focusing on how to get more people insured, little discussions have been had surrounding the pain points and inefficiencies of the insurance claim process.
There’s a lot of anxiety during this process, while dealing with his or her medical conditions the individual is also faced with uncertainty over their claimable amount. Hospitals have to access multiple systems to request or provide information to different insurers and what’s worse is that some of the processes are still paper-based.
In recognition of these issues Ravi Menon, Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore said that they are working with the Ministry of Health, and Integrated Health Information Systems to develop a new technology platform to enable data sharing with patient consent.
This is done in collaboration with the insurance and healthcare sector in the hopes creating a more efficient claims processing experience, reduce duplicate claims, manual errors and processing time.

The live pilot for this project will begin next year.
Featured image credit: Screengrab from Youtube

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InsurTech

Carro and MSIG Launches AI-Powered Behaviour Based Insurance to Reward Safe Drivers

									by Fintech News Singapore
December 14, 2020

Carro, South East Asia’s automotive marketplace, has launched a behaviour and usage-based car insurance (UBI) in partnership with Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings (MSIG), a member of MS&AD, a Japanese insurance company.
Drivers in South East Asia will enjoy tailored insurance policies and pricing that reflect their actual driving behaviour. Instead of the traditional packages, the auto insurance premiums will be calculated by applying data science which analyses driver behaviour and distance travelled.
The press release made no mention of whether additional devices will be installed or data of driving behavior will be collected in-app.
The insurance offering inherently encourages safer on-the-road driving behaviour, and Carro will further incentivise drivers with services at the Carro Workshop to reward those who adopt safe driving practices. Over time the technology may even be able to predict the likelihood of a driver getting into an accident in the future.

“While user behaviour auto insurance is more widespread in the US and Europe, it is just beginning to take off in South East Asia. We aim to bring data science and artificial intelligence in the insurance industry through this collaboration with MSIG, who have a significant regional presence and, like us, have also been extensively exploring the UBI space. Within the next year we expect to provide over 2,000 cars with MSIG’s usage-based insurance. We are excited to launch this AI enabled insurance model across South East Asia to help keep our roads safe and reward safer driving practices,”
said Aaron Tan, CEO and Founder of Carro.
The insurance plan will first launch in Indonesia before embarking upon a full rollout to Thailand, Malaysia and the wider South East Asia region.
By introducing this UBI, Carro and MSIG seek to reduce accident and injury statistics in the country by encouraging safe driving behaviour. By the end of 2021, Carro expects to provide over 2,000 cars with usage based insurance in the region and grow the numbers three times by 2024.

Featured image: Aaron Tan, CEO and Founder of Carro

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Indonesia
InsurTech

ZA Tech Forms Insurtech Joint Venture With Indonesian E-Wallet OVO

									by Fintech News Indonesia
December 23, 2020

ZA Tech, the Hong Kong-based technology venture founded by insurance company ZhongAn Online and backed by Softbank’s Vision Fund, announced that it has formed a joint venture with the holding company of e-wallet OVO, to offer Indonesian insurance companies easy and secure access to ZA Tech’s proprietary insurtech capabilities and applications.
Indonesia remains a highly underinsured market, with only 1.7% out of the over 265 million Indonesians currently covered by private insurance. It is also the fastest-growing market in ASEAN especially in the gig economy, with economic growth averaging over 5% in the past three years. Against this supportive backdrop, ZA Tech has decided to partner with OVO Group, which has collated rich user insights, to explore the massive untapped market in Indonesia.

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Under this partnership, ZA Tech will provide know-how in insurance innovation and proprietary technology by offering well-defined platform-based solutions, which are built on the latest technology and capable of processing high volumes of data.
Bill Song, CEO of ZA Tech said,

Bill Song
“We believe that the synergy with OVO Group will allow us to grow together and improve the overall user experience in Indonesia. The current pandemic has further highlighted the need for insurance to safeguard people’s health and welfare. We are confident that this tie-up with OVO Group will fast-track digital insurance adoption and enable easy, as well as, secure access to digital insurance services for the Indonesian people.”
Jason Thompson

“At OVO Group, we are continuously learning and striving to find new ways of accelerating digital transformation and driving financial inclusion. We are excited at the prospect of working with a global leader in insurtech who has experience in many partnerships. Through humble learning, we believe that together we can drive digital transformation in Indonesia for local insurance providers and thereby accelerate insurance adoption.”
said Jason Thompson, CEO of OVO Group
ZA Tech is the platform for ZhongAn Online to grow the international business by partnering with leading internet platforms and insurance companies in South East Asia, Japan and Europe and providing both technical solutions and professional services.
ZA Tech is devoted to digitally transform the insurance industry by partnering with multiple customer tech platforms to design and launch innovative insurance products, as well as providing the digital core system to insurers as the infrastructure for their digital distribution.

This article was republished from our sister page Fintech News Hong Kong.

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Regtech

Silent Eight Bags Multi-Year Partnership to Help HSBC Combat Financial Crime

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 6, 2021

Silent Eight, a Singaporean regtech using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, announced a multi-year partnership with HSBC that will support the bank in enhancing its compliance operations.
HSBC selected Silent Eight to improve its manual processes and existing statistical models to decrease risk while simultaneously increasing efficiency. Following a successful trial period, the solution is set to be integrated into HSBC’s existing infrastructure to provide case adjudications that are explained and auditable.
Matt Brown
“Given the growth in alert volumes, and unpredictable spikes driven by global volatility, we saw an opportunity with Silent Eight that would give us the ability to close alerts quickly and accurately,”
said Matt Brown, Group Head of Compliance Services at HSBC.
Martin Markiewicz, CEO and Co-founder of Silent Eight said,

Martin Markiewicz
“We’re delighted to find a partner that shares our focus on eliminating financial crime. HSBC’s dedication to this project is just one aspect of their tireless commitment to improvement, and to helping drive AI innovation across the industry. We’re proud to partner with them on their mission to make the world safer.”
Founded in 2013, Silent Eight had recently completed an early-stage funding round led by VC firm OTB Ventures bringing the company’s total capital raised to US$15 million.

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Lending
Open Banking

Grab Ties up With Citi to Offer in-App Loans

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 8, 2021

Citi and Grab, South East Asia’s super app, have expanded their partnership in consumer lending with the launch of the bank’s first API-enabled lending capability in Asia Pacific.
Beginning with Singapore with more markets in the region to follow, existing and eligible Citi credit card customers can apply for a personal installment loan or Citi Quick Cash through the Grab app.
Qualified customers who meet Citi’s lending criteria can apply for a loan from Citi through the Grab app, with flexible repayment options ranging from 12 to 60 months at attractive rates to help them manage their personal finances.
Citi Quick Cash enables eligible customers to convert the available credit limits on their respective Citi credit cards into a cash loan that is payable in monthly installments. Currently, most of the Citi Quick Cash loan applications in Singapore are already acquired digitally.

With the API connectivity, eligible customers are able to perform select actions on a partner’s digital e-commerce site or app, using a secured connection developed, controlled and owned by Citi.
When a Citi Quick Cash application is initiated through the Grab app, the information is then sent to Citi through the APIs where the loan will be processed, reviewed and disbursed by Citi.
Source: Grab
The extension of Citi’s consumer lending partnership with Grab follows the launch of the Citi-Grab credit card in June 2019. Citi and Grab’s wider partnership dates back to 2016 when a collaboration was announced across six markets in Asia, including Singapore. Since then, Citi credit card customers have been able to use points or miles earned to pay for services on the Grab platform.
Since 2016, the partners have widened the scope of their cooperation to include additional Grab services including incentives for topping up GrabPay wallets as well as cash back benefits for spending on Grab services.
Sanjay Nambiar
“Citi is proud to be the first banking partner to offer personal loans on the Grab app. Our partnership with Grab has progressed from strength to strength as we continue to expand our presence in digital ecosystems.

We have long recognised that consumers in Asia are inclined to use digital apps for various lifestyle and daily needs, including more increasingly, their payment and lending needs. We are excited to further our strategic partnership with Grab while deepening our engagement with our expanding digital-first customer base.”
said Sanjay Nambiar, Regional Head of Partnerships, Asia Pacific and EMEA, Citi.
Ankur Mehrotra, Managing Director and Head of Lending, Grab Financial Group said:
Ankur Mehrotra
“Grab is committed to serve the everyday borrowing needs of our customers with responsible access to credit. We are excited to partner with Citi to do so, offering a financing solution for qualified users through a seamless Grab app experience for the first time.

With more consumers in Singapore rapidly taking up digital financial services and being more interested in safeguarding their financial health, we hope that this integrated solution will help them manage their finances more effortlessly.”
Grab has been eyeing the lending space since embarking on the journey to acquire a digital banking license by providing local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with quick and accessible funding.

Featured image credit: edited from Flower photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com

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6 Insurtech Startups From Asia to Watch

InsurTech

6 Insurtech Startups From Asia to Watch

									by Fintech News Singapore
August 23, 2016

10

In Asia, interest in insurtech grows as industry experts and observers perceive the region’s fast-growing economies and underinsured population as an untapped opportunity.
While insurtech in Asia is still in its infancy, the sector is growing fast and attracting venture capital. Notable deals so far this year include a US$15 million Series B funding round for third-party insurance services provider Huize.com; and a US$20 million Series B funding round for Xishan Information Technology, the operator of discount insurance e-tailer Datebao.com.
George Kesselman, CEO and Founder of Insurtech Asia
George Kesselman, the former COO of AIG Indonesia and VP Claims Operations of AIG APAC, initiated Insurtech Asia earlier this year, a “platform to jumpstart the insurtech ecosystem.”
With Insurtech Asia, Kesselman seeks to connect industry participants and build a community that will actively collaborate to foster insurance innovation.

Kesselman first tested out the Insurtech Asia blueprint in Singapore, “one of the best locations” for insurtech, prior to the wider rollout across Asia. He pointed out the country’s political stability, strategic location within Asia, and its nurturing entrepreneurship ecosystem, as the main elements that make Singapore a potential key player in the sector.
A recent survey conducted by PwC found that incumbent insurers are aware of the rise of insurtech with nine in ten insurers fearing losing part of their business to fintechs, and 74% predicting disruption of their business over the next five years.
Today, we take a look at who these players might be, with a particular focus on Asia.

Zhong An
Valued at US$8 billion, Zhong An Online P&C Insurance Co. is China’s first complete online insurance company offering a comprehensive range of over 200 insurance products including commercial property, cargo and liability insurance, but also insurance against flat tires and accidents caused by drones.
Founded in 2013 as a joint venture between Alibaba, Tencent, and Ping An Insurance and Zhong An has written more than 3.6 billion policies.
According to IFR, the company is planning an up-to-US$2 billion initial public offering in mainland China later this year.

TongJuBao
Another key Chinese player is TongJuBao (aka P2P Protect), which applies the community insurance model focusing on social risks.
Founded in 2014, TongJuBao is an online platform on which members of the community take the commitment to support within a maximum defined amount. This engagement corresponds to a maximum no higher than 75% of fee already paid, and the community member has no obligation to pay more. When a life accident occurs for a member, he or she will be supported by all other participants.

Policybazaar
Founded in 2008, Policybazaar is an Indian online insurance comparison portal that has raised over US$69 million in venture capital from the likes of Info Edge, Intel Capital, Tiger Global Management, Ribbit Capital and Inventus Capital.
The platform specializes in making comparative analysis of the insurance products of various insurance policies based on price, quality and key benefits.
Policybazaar CEO and co-founder Yashish Dahiya told PTI in July:
“We are growing at nearly 100 per cent in life and general insurance business and expect new businesses, investments, mutual funds and loans to grow at a even rapid pace. These will be the drivers of our business over the next 4 years.”

Coverfox
Coverfox Insurance Broking is an Indian startup providing insurance brokerage services. The platform offers products online for Indian customers across categories like health, care, life, travel and home insurance.
The startup is reportedly in discussions with existing as well as new investors to fuel the company’s expansion plans. Coverfox has sold 100,000 policies, as of February 2016.
In April 2015, the company raised US$12 million in its Series B funding round from Accel Partners, Accel India and SAIF Partners.

DirectAsia
DirectAsia launched in Singapore in 2010 with the goal of changing the insurance business in Asia by providing customers with the ability to buy insurance products directly, cutting out middlemen and brokers.
DirectAsia is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and also serves customers in Hong Kong and Thailand.
In 2014, the company was acquired by Hiscox Insurance, a leading insurer listed on the London Stock Exchange.

GoBear
Singaporean GoBear provides insurance and financial comparison services throughout Asia.
Founded in 2015, GoBear has started expanding to other countries in the region starting with Malaysia in May, followed by the Philippines in July, and has unveiled plans to launch in Thailand.
GoBear primarily focuses on comparison services for travel, car and health insurance products, as well as credit cards and personal loans.

Featured image: Hand of doctor pressing a button on modern medical screen by Creativa Images, via Shutterstock.

Interested in InsurTech in Asia? Join InsurTech 2016 in Singapore this September – a platform where the latest innovations and applications for the insurance industry will be showcased. Participants from more than 40 countries in a close knitted gathering of various players from the insurance industry from across different stages of the business lifecycle. Sign up now at http://www.insurtechconf.com/, key in FNSG10 to get 10% discount!

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InsurTech

What’s Next For Digital Insurer Singlife After Its Merger With Aviva?

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 28, 2021

2020 was a good year for Singapore’s digital life insurer Singlife. The company completed its S$3.2 billion merger deal with Aviva Singapore, the largest transaction ever in the Singaporean insurance sector. It also launched the Singlife Account, a mobile-first insurances savings account, which rapidly gained popularity and now counts almost 80,000 customers.
Moving forward, Walter de Oude, group CEO and founder of Singlife, said during a virtual conversation on Fintech Fireside Asia , that the company will build upon its new ties with Aviva to build “a homegrown, Southeast Asian, technology-enabled and customer-centric financial services company.”
In February, Singlife received a license to operate as a life insurance company in the Philippines, the first market outside of its home country where it’s venturing into.
“We obviously want to do more than what we are currently doing, and we want to do that extensively on a technology-leading, mobile-first basis,” de Oude said. He added that the merger with Aviva will provide it with “a deep, well established customer base,” allowing it to “leapfrog its strategy … hugely.”

Founded in 2014, Singlife provides digital life insurance services, initially targeting private banking customers and high net worth individuals.

In 2018, it acquired the business portfolio of Zurich Life Singapore, a deal that was followed a year later by its purchase of payment service firm Yolopay’s assets. Yolopay is the developer of Canvas, a mobile app that allows parents to control the pocket money used by their children as well as track expenditures on a prepaid card.
De Oude said at the time that Canvas would allow Singlife to “add payment functionality to its core offerings.”
In Q1 2020, it eventually launched the Singlife Account, an insurance savings plan which comes with an accompanying Visa debit card that gives customers instant access to their money and allows them to make overseas transactions without incurring foreign exchange (FX) charges.
This year, de Oude said the company will pursue cross-selling opportunities with the Aviva merger. Singlife also has plans to launch new products.
He said Singlife recently introduced Singlife Sure Invest, an investment-linked policy which has both a life insurance coverage and an investment component. Through Singlife Sure Invest, which is accessible via the Singlife App, customers invest in portfolios that are managed by Aberdeen Standard Investments. There’s no lock-in period, no withdrawal charges, and customers can start from an initial premium of S$1,000.
“From the Aviva/Singlife perspective, in 2021, it will all be about managing … and improving … the experience of all our existing customer base … [as well as] bringing them together … and consolidating them in Singapore over the next couple of months,” de Oude said. “Now we have about 100,000 Singlife customers and 1.5 million Aviva customers.”

When asked about his predictions for the insurance industry down the road, de Oude said he expects digitalization to continue taking over the sector. That being said, he believes human advisors will remain of relevance, especially for new customers.
“There’s a distinction to be made between purchasing and managing. Most people don’t open bank account on their telephones but they do manage their bank accounts on telephones,” de Oude said. “I see insurance ultimately going the same way … I don’t ever foresee that people will fully migrate to a digital buying and purchasing behavior.”
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Australia
Open Banking

The State of Open Banking in Australia in 2021

									by Fintech News Singapore
February 4, 2021

The introduction of the Consumer Data Right (CRM) on July 1, 2020 saw the launch of the first phase of open banking in Australia, marking the debut of a new era in the domestic banking sector.
Now more than six months into CDR and open banking has yet to deliver substantial consumer benefits, illion’s general manager of consumer product Richard Atkinson told Savings.com.au. Part of the reason for that is the red tape and high costs associated with becoming an accredited data recipient.
“The current model imposes a significant cost on an organization to achieve accreditation,” Atkinson said. “There is a clear and present danger that the benefit of CDR will not be realized as the barrier to access the data (in the form of accreditation) is too high, evidenced by the fact that there are only six data recipients accredited after six months – two of which are illion.”
Under the CDR system, consumers consent to a transfer of their data from a data holder (e.g. a bank) to an accredited data recipient.

An accredited data recipient has been accredited by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the lead regulator of the CDR, to receive consumer data and use it to provide enhanced products and services, as long as they can adequately protect the data from misuse.
So far, the ACCC has granted accreditation to just six data recipients: Ezidox, Frollo, Intuit and Regional Australia Bank, in addition to the two illion brands, despite many companies showing interest in joining open banking. Commonwealth Bank (CommBank), one of Australia’s Big Four banks in Australia, revealed last week plans to become an accredited data recipient, a move which CEO Matt Comyn said will help the bank serve up “the most personalized and relevant and differentiated banking experiences to our customers.”
A 2020 study conducted by Australian fintech Frollo and lending technology provider NextGen.Net found a lot of excitement about open banking within Australia’s financial services industry with 71% of respondents, including banks, brokers and fintechs, stating that they intended to use CDR data.
Among the key challenges to making the CDR regime a success, respondents cited complexity/clarity of the rules (54.2%), customer education (50%), compliance (45.8%) and cost (29.2%).

Image Credit: https://frollo.com.au/open-banking/state-of-open-banking-report-2020/

Recently, the ACCC made provisions to the CRM rules to increase consumer benefit, but disregarded the introduction of new accreditations levels, one of the proposals made by the government’s Inquiry into Future Directions for the Consumer Data Right. The proposal suggests the creation of a tiered accreditation system that would enable a faster onboarding process and allow smaller players to be able to benefit from open banking data.
So far, it has not been made clear if further amendments are planned.
In Australia, the introduction of open banking is being done in phases. Consumer data relating to credit and debit cards, deposit accounts and transaction accounts have been available since July 1, 2020. Consumer data relating to mortgage and personal loan data followed suit on November 1, 2020. Banks other than the Big Four – CommBank, NAB, Westpac and ANZ – have until July 1, 2021 to provide access to open banking data. Open banking is expected to be fully implemented by November 1, 2022.
Australia Open Banking Timeline, Deloitte, June 2020
Australia’s open data economy ambitions
Australia launched open banking in a bid to increase innovation and competition in the sector, but the country’s ambitions for the CDR rules goes well beyond finance.
After banking, the CDR will be implemented into other sectors including energy, telecommunications, superannuation, as well as travel and leisure, to establish what has been referred to as the open data economy.
The main goal of the CDR regime is to help customers monitor their finances, utilities and other services and compare and switch between different offerings more easily. The system also aims to encourage competition between service providers, enabling customers to access products and services that better suit their specific needs.
Only businesses that have been accredited by the ACCC can provide services using the CDR system. Accredited providers must comply with a set of privacy safeguards, rules and IT system requirements that ensure that a customer’ privacy is protected and their data is transferred and managed securely.

Featured image credit: edited from Pexels here and here

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InsurTech

Insurtech Startup CXA Sells Brokerage Arm As it Pivots to SaaS Business

									by Fintech News Singapore
February 5, 2021

Singapore-based insurtech company, CXA Group will be restructuring by selling off its brokerage arm to focus solely on the development and global expansion of its enterprise SaaS business.
CXA will be selling its brokerage business in Singapore and Hong Kong to Pacific Prime, a specialist global employee benefits brokers for an undisclosed sum.
Under the new direction, CXA will direct its resources to supporting banks, insurers, and payroll companies to enhance its financial and digital service offerings.
CXA said that by white-labelling its enterprise-grade SAAS platform, corporate and retail customers of banks and insurers can access a range of discounted benefits, health and wellness offerings that are personalised based on each user’s health and life-stage data.

Corporate employees may purchase offerings via the integrated platform by utilising existing flexible benefits provided by their employers in the platform’s e-wallet.
To date, CXA reported successful implementations include digital SME and retail bancassurance platforms in China, Hong Kong and Singapore and an employee benefits and health platform in Thailand.
CXA said that it will be aggressively expanding into new markets across Asia and into Europe as part its new focused strategy.
Rosaline Chow Koo, Founder and CEO, CXA Group commented,
Rosaline Chow Koo
“CXA’s white-label platform gives distributors the ability to digitise their insurance and healthcare services and reduce their time to market. As a result, our SaaS business grew 218% during 2020 and drove 45% revenue growth across CXA.

The stellar growth of CXA’s SaaS business has prompted a new strategic approach for the organisation which focuses entirely on this high-growth, scalable technology.”

Featured image: Rosaline Chow Koo, Founder and CEO, CXA Group, image via CXA

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