Open Banking

4 Banks in Asia Pacific That Are Winning Open Banking Adoption

									by Fintech News Singapore
October 30, 2018

9561  4

Following the UK banks’ ambitious move towards open banking, fintech hubs across the globe have been following suit, leading to a banking revolution that could fast-track the development of fintech—particularly fintech based on personal wealth and spending habits.
With Singapore’s authorities taking keen note of this trend, it is no wonder that Finastra named Singapore as the nation that is most ready to embrace open banking in the Asia Pacific region. Singapore ranks at 8.1/10 on the open banking readiness index, running ahead its closest competitor, Australia, at a 7.1 score.
Image Credit: Finastra
Singapore’s banks have some work to do in data monetisation before they are deemed truly ready for open banking, but the nation is otherwise setting a good pace in leading the region.
As such, it should come to no surprise that one of Singapore’s banks leads in two areas of open banking readiness in all of Asia Pacific.

Based on the 5 open banking readiness categories named above, Asia Pacific’s best banks in open API adoption are:
1. Citi
Citi announcing 6 new API partnerships in Hong Kong (Image Credit: Citi)
While the bank is technically headquartered in New York, Citi has a significant presence in Asia Pacific as one of the known banks, particularly in the Hong Kong and Singapore regions. Perhaps with bolstering its Fortune 500 roots, Citi’s presence in Asia Pacific has been named as the leading bank application programming interface (APIs) adoption.
This is, according to the report, because Citi has built an ecosystem of innovators through the launch of their global API developer hub in November 2016, one of the first few to do so, and connected to the outside world to gain information.
As such, they were also able to connect external developers to crucial information, such as account management, P2P payments, money transfer to institutions, Citi rewards investment purchases and account authorisation to build customer-facing solutions quickly.
Here’s how they compare to the rest of Asia Pacific:
Image Credit: Finastra
According to the report, most banks in the region need to map out a plan to move both enterprise and business applications to open APIs, as a measure to future-proof their technology. However, the move may be slow as this migration needs to be done potentially one application at a time in many cases.
2. DBS Bank
Image Credit: DBS Bank
Singapore’s regional bank, DBS Bank headquartered in Marina Bay, Singapore receives two recognitions for its role: as the top bank in ecosystem development, and data-based transformations.
For the former, inter-bank collaborations are crucial in the growth of open banking—it’s the ‘open’ in open banking, after all. Therefore, banks are ranked based on number of partnerships, how many of those are fintech partnerships, and the categories in their partnerships.
DBS Bank is said to have started by connecting internal APIs and later created their DBS Developers API developers hub at the end 2017 for external deveoper to build solutions over them.
The difference between them and Citi is that DBS is said to have one of the world’s largest API developer platforms.
DBS Bank has over 155 APIs across 20+ categories and has already onboarded more than 50 companies to develop solutions for consumers. The report opines that banks do not have to release a long list of APIs, but instead only a handful of useful, reusable and in-demand APIs that can integrate with multiple partners.
DBS Banks’ contemporaries in Asia Pacific, on average, fare as per below:
Image Credit: Finastra
DBS Bank was also named as the top Asia Pacific bank in data transformation capabilities, which encompasses their ability to discover and collect data, as well as infrastructure to process said data into usable trends and charts.
Finastra commends DBS Bank’s technology, hardware, data centers, network management and app development that has become 85% insourced, which means that DBS can see it as a bank that owns its own technology.
DBS Bank has also built a robust data infrastructure that allows it to accelerate development of applications based on changing market requirements and conditions.
The report concludes that a robust infrastructure enables banks to accelerate their open banking transformation, and despite how DBS does it, procuring a good API management platform can help speed up the pace of adoption to move towards open banking.
Comparatively, here’s how the rest of Asia Pacific fares:
Image Credit: Finastra
3. Axis Bank
Axis Bank via www.axisbank.com
With the data monetisation sector being one of the Singapore weak links, it stands to reason that Axis Bank of Mumbai holds the top position in this, as one of the largest private sector banks in India offering a suite of financial products.
And of the 6 named models for data monetisation in the report, Axis Bank falls in the last category: platform-building to collaborate with third-parties. Axis Bank not only collaborated with fintechs to build a platform, but also acquired them to expand their network, customer reach, and efficacy.
Image Credit: Finastra
One of their acquisitions is a digital payment company in July last year to gain access to its 50 million customer base.
On the corporate banking side, it formed a trade receivables
discounting platform, A.Treds, which onboarded over 100 SMEs and executed over 3,000 invoices worth more than US$15.3 million within 100 days of launch in July 2017.
4. OCBC Bank

Finally, another Singaporean entry OCBC Bank, has been named as the one with the leading state of innovation—or a bank that is most ready to get new products and services to the market early, for faster adoption of new technologies and enable parallel innovation with multiple partners.
They were named so thanks to their collaborations with multiple external partners. OCBC Bank has started implementing a program around the adoption
of AI, machine learning, robo-advisory, cloud, and blockchain.
OCBC was able to boost its efficiency and product line, similar to Axis Bank, thanks to fintech collaborations. For example, the bank was able to more efficiently identify suspicious transactions through AI, and also launched OneWealth automated advisory platform that uses blockchain to allow interbank payments between banks, even overseas banks, without needing a payment intermediary.
The report also recommends other banks to embrace fintech collaborations.
According to Finastra, it is this section of open banking innovations that Asia Pacific most struggles with:

Image Credit: Finastra

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6 Proudly Singaporean Companies in KPMG’s Fintech100 This Year

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 6, 2018

2534  1

The 5th iteration of KPMG’s annual Fintech 100 list has come out recently, in a bid to highlight dynamic fintechs from around the world that are doing something right in the financial services industry, be it digital payments, lending, insurtech, to the sexier neo-banks.
For the first time since the rankings have been produced, there are up to 6 Singaporean companies among the top 100.
This is more tangible proof that the government’s permissive and open stance to fintech across the globe has helped to bolster even local players in the republic, and lends reason to why Singapore is often named one of the fintech hubs of Asia.
Leading 50 fintech firms
The Fintech 100 list is divide into two. One of them is the Leading 50 fintech firms, ranked based on innovation, capital raising activity, size and reach.

1. Grab

In this particular list, the infamous Grab is the only Singaporean entrant into the category, which perhaps in no small parts thanks to the company’s new drive into its GrabPay app and a mission to bring multiple payment-based functions into one platform.
Grab had its beginnings as a taxi listing app in Malaysia, but once it transitioned over into Uber-style ride-hailing business offerings, the company truly began to flourish across Southeast Asia and eventually absorbed Uber in this region, though that was a contentious business decision.
Now, Grab has made a strong push into its GrabPay e-wallet, especially expanding its multi-use platform to countries like  Indonesia, Malaysia, Phillippines and Vietnam. To top off their seemingly definitive foray into fintech territory, Grab has also launched Grab Financial in March, with the addition of loan and lending services, as well as insurance.
50 Rising Stars
The next entrant onwards are all companies in KPMG’s 50 Rising Stars, which basically refers to up-and-coming companies that is deemed to have high potential. This is because these companies are seen as being at the forefront of innovative technologies, often through pursuing new business models.
2. InstaReM

The first Singaporean on this list is InstaRem, a Singapore-headquartered company that offers cross-country money transfers with a goal of reducing the cumbersome paperwork and multiple touchpoints that increases transfer costs.
When India-born founder Prajit Nanu was planning a friend’s bachelor party in Phuket, the frustrations he felt during the fund transfer process prompted him to attempt to find a solution for international money transfers. The realisation led him to collaborate with Micheal Bermingham, an expert in compliance in multiple regions.
Today, the company is a licensed Money Services Business (MSB) in its hometown Singapore, and also  Hong Kong, Australia, USA, Lithuania, Canada, India, and Malaysia.
The company incorporates the Ripple cryptocurrency in its business model since February and even recently won Blockchain Innovator Awards by Ripple.
3. Kyber Network

It wouldn’t be a fintechs of 2018 list without a blockchain company, and Kyber Network represents this niche for Singapore. Kyber’s name of the game is liquidity, and thus, it’s Ethereum-backed on-chain liquidity protocol allow decentralised token swaps to be integrated into most applications.
Developers utilising the protocol can use it to build payment flows and financial apps, which includes instant token swap services, ERC20 payments, and other financial apps.
Kyber takes on a different strategy from decentralised exchanges that have come into recent favour after the rejection of centralised trading exchanges due to inefficiency, security issues, and bureaucracy.
Instead, Kyber Network tries to innovate by having a large pool of reserves in place for a variety of currencies, which allows for instant exchanges. While Kyber Network aims to offer other platform developers the ability to liquidate quick, the network itself does more or less function as its own exchange.
4. TenX

TenX, essentially, is a cryptocurrency wallet that enables users to actually spend their cryptocurrency on cash, which helps the currency achieve its intended goal of participating in the global economy instead of just another speculative market.
The wallet’s use in real-life is often bolstered by its physical Visa card launched in 2017, allowing for cryptos to be used in places that wouldn’t otherwise accept them, though the conversion model and costs are currently undisclosed.
TenX’s 2017 ICO raised $83 million, and is said to be one of the bigger ones that occurred in the time-span.
However, the company is not without controversy. The first version of their cryptocurrency debit card ended up getting recalled due to non-compliance, and most recently, the company had to temporarily disable logins due to brute force attacks.
5. Funding Societies

From high-profile partnerships to customer service chatbots, Funding Societies is not satisfied to just sit pretty on their laurels. Funding Societies is a peer-to-peer investment platform.
A vetted small business would be able to list on the platform to raise funds if they can’t otherwise get a loan, while investors can diversify their assets and help bolster the small businesses in their regions.
To help reduce loan default rates, Funding Societies provides a scorecard-like assessment of how creditworthy a business is, after an analysis of how its doing financially, the founders’ credit scores and most importantly, its business model.
The company’s strongest branding is perhaps its Indonesian presence Modalku, which helped them raise USD25 million in Series B funding led by Softbank Ventures Korea.
Most recently, Funding Societies in Malaysia announced that they have launched invoice financing, to help SMEs keep their business afloat admist late invoice payments due to entrenched business cultures.
6. Singapore Life

Representing the insurtech spectrum of fintech, Singapore Life’s core offering is the low-hanging fruit of Southeast Asia: digitising the mounds of paperwork usually associated with insurance and taking on a paper-free strategy.
Digital robo-writing and identity verification capabilities allows the platform to help expedite application and approval processes. This lends well to the company’s most recent development: a next-day critical illness claim benefits, which allows its insured to claim payouts within 24 hours.
The platform is a third-party issuer of insurance, and has to onboard existing insurers into its platform. This allows the company to produce a user-friendly dashboard for insurance customers to more easily track their coverage, and get more information more easily thanks to a live chat function (which includes a chatbot).
It doesn’t seem like the company is doing much more than many other insurtech companies in the same field, but there is something to be said about doing something well, perhaps.

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FSI’s Future Is Autonomous, Oracle Wants to Help You Navigate it

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 10, 2018

22   7

Going to the Singapore Fintech Festival? Good. Staying up to date on the latest services and transformative technologies is more important now than ever, because the future of the financial services industry has never before been so uncertain.
A rapidly changing landscape
Distribution has changed from a vertically integrated model to a digital presence model. Fintech organizations are creating entirely new types of services and changing customer expectations.
To those privy, it is obvious this change is not driven purely by ambitious startups, many big tech companies are throwing their hats in the ring.
Big tech companies like Amazon are increasingly behaving more like a bank by offering quasi-deposit services, credit cards and business loans. Further strengthening their play they’ve also secured partnership with the likes of JP Morgan.

One does not have to look far to see these threats closing in, nearer to home, Tencent has deployed a myriad of financial services from WeChat Pay to WeSure and it’s backed by their strong numbers of over a billion active monthly users and 14 billion corporate accounts
Its closest competitor Ant Financial grew out of the shadows of Alibaba, its market cap can easily place it as the 10th largest bank in the world — bigger than Goldman Sachs and Barclays combined.
All this doom and gloom, what now?
Faced with unprecedented innovation and scale, financial services companies must ask themselves what unique value they will be able to offer moving forward.
As one of the global leaders in the banking technology space, we thought it would be worthwhile to speak to Mark Smedley, Industry VP, Global Financial Services of Oracle to get a sense of what Oracle’s game plans are to address this new world.
Mark tells Fintech News Singapore that in recognition of these challenges, they will be putting together events during the much anticipated Singapore Fintech Festival 2018.
Done in collaboration with B-Hive Oracle will be introducing several key events to address these pressing issues namely “Meet the Experts” , “the Future of Regtech” and ” The Accelerated Evolution of the Bank” within the Singapore Fintech Festival 2018
Meet the Experts
Featuring experts from incumbent banks and disruptive startups, visit Oracle’s booth at #3H1J to learn how your bank can form fintech partnerships that will address real digital challenges and create an effective way to monetise for all parties.

The Accelerated Evolution of the Bank
What does the future look like? The experts will tell you (or maybe even scare you) with their prediction, market outlook and effective strategy to navigate this tumultuous new landscape.

The Future of RegTech
Held in the Fintech Hub at Robinson Road, this 2 days session will take deep dive into all things regtech — cutting through the noise and helping you determine the role of RegTech in your digital roadmap. To attend this session you’ll need to register here
Register HERE
A detailed outline of the workshop can be found below:

Mark quipped that, these days it’s hard to tell when your vendor will be your competitor tomorrow, he emphasized that that Oracle will always be there as a transformation partner for the financial services industry and never a competitor.
He added that Oracles hopes to assist the FSI organisations radically change their business and ensure its survival through these events organised at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2018

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16 Innovative Swiss Companies You’ll Meet at Singapore Fintech Festival 2018

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 9, 2018

42  1114

One wouldn’t usually associate Switzerland and Singapore in the realms of fintech, but both worlds are colliding at the Singapore Fintech Festival.
From 12th-14th November 2018, the Swiss Pavilion in the Singapore Fintech Festival this year will be hosting a slew of innovative Swiss firms, with representatives coming from all sorts of fintech spectrums.
Compared to many other nations here, Switzerland’s fintech scene hosts a variety of companies that exist as third-party entities that aim to bring incumbent institutions into the 21st century. This will be your opportunity to brush shoulders with fintech innovators from the region, figure out fintech trends of the west, and perhaps learn a few tricks that can be applied over on the East.
In fact, Those interested to hear from key players in Switzerland can also check out an open stage presentation session titled “Switzerland, The Innovative Fintech Hub” hosted by the Switzerland Global Enterprise (SGE). The event will be held at 4.00pm, at the Sandbox Stage, Hall 1 of Singapore Fintech Festival.

This will be followed by some welcoming remarks at the Swiss Pavillion booth, which can be found in Hall 4, at 5.00pm by both the Ambassador of Switzerland in Singapore, Mr. Fabrice Filliez and guest-of-honour, Jörg Gasser, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Switzerland. There will be a networking session with light refreshments.
In fact, attendees can also look forward to a Swiss Reception, co-hosted by Switzerland Global Enterprise (SGE), the Swiss Business Hub ASEAN, and the Embassy of Switzerland.

For the rest of the time, you’ll be able to catch up with the following innovators in Hall 4 at the Swiss Pavillion (Booth 4B19):
1. Algotrader

AlgoTrader Founder and CEO Andy Flury spoke at the Global Derivatives Conference 2016 in Budapest.
Algotrader, like the name implies, is a Swiss-based trading software designed for quantitative hedge funds. The platform allows the automation of trading strategies in equity, forex and derivative markets, and even allows algorithmic trading automation of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
In March, Algotrader raised CHF1.4 million in late seed funding to invest into their marketing, sales, product development and international expansion. Soon after, the company appointed a new COO to head global sales, particularly an expansion into the USA.
2. Sanostro

Since 2011, Sanostro partners up with quantitative funds to deliver cost-efficient downside risk-management solution to institutional investors—like banks, insurance companies, pensions, hedge funds, REITs, investment advisors, endowments, and mutual funds.
The company offers hedge fund intelligence services, including model-based hedging solutions and tactical asset allocation models. Their goal is to offer risk management without the hefty price tag, using market intelligence technology that is already available to some leading quantitative investment firms, thus in a way, democratising it for use without the R&D costs that usually come from in-house development.
The company has been making a slew of partnerships in the name of diversifying or expanding on their offerings, with one being a partnership with Blockchain Valley Ventures to raise funds for its SYGNAL platform, aimed at becoming a gateway for applied AI, and using blockchain to overcome trust issues related to selection bias, curve fitting and smart contracts.
3. Six

Six operates the infrastructure of Switzerland’s financial center, and stands for Swiss Infrastructure and Exchange. Their key role is to develop and maintain securities trading and post-trading platforms, provide financial information, and sell cashless payment systems. It is among the world’s 20 major stock exchanges.
4. Swiss Crypto Exchange

Following an exchange from the traditional finance world, Swiss Pavillion will also be hosting an exchange from the “future”—a cryptocurrency exchange. The Swiss Crypto Exchange is one of the very few regulated Swiss exchanges for blockchain-based products and, of course, cryptocurrencies.
Most recently, one of its more interesting developments is to team up with Metaco to connect banks to eliminate risks associated with storage of assets on cryptocurrency exchanges, by launching a new exchange and custodial service for digital assets. The exchange will provide liquidity and technology to new ecosystems built by banks.
5. Investment Navigator

This platform is yet another information platform, this time a web-based one geared towards banks and asset managers in particular, offering free-to-use platforms in Switzerland and Hong Kong.
The platform exists so that banks and asset managers can use a modular platform during their entire investment and advisory process to not only improve the quality of advice for client, but also crucially keep up with regulatory or tax-relevant demands.
The company has a global partnership with HSBC Bank as well to boost its offerings.
Compared to many fintech offerings today, Investment Navigator offers the relatively straightforward service of holistic consultancy services, as well as modular tech-driven solutions that can be utilised.
6. Metaco

Metaco, which appeared earlier in this list to collaborate with the Swiss Crypto Exchange, is a company focused on building digital wallets and custodian solutions for cryptocurrencies. Its current crowning jewel is SILO, a cryptocurrency wallet-management system launched just this January offering custody and the ability to process transactions with higher security than the regularly issued wallets for financial institutions.
The name of the game for this company is partnerships, bringing their expertise in secure digital wallets for institutional use to the market.
7. Crypto Finance

This financial technology holding company provides blockchain-based services through three subsidiaries: Crypto Fund AG (Asset Management), Crypto Broker AG (Brokerage), and Crypto Storage AG (Storage).
Its goal though, which reflects in its offerings is to facilitate the implementation of blockchain technology into the global economy, and following the Swiss regulator’s approval, now eyes the Asian market, with Hong Kong and Singapore in mind.
Crypto Finance AG is a financial technology holding company founded in June 2017. The Group provides blockchain-related services through its three subsidiaries: Crypto Fund AG (Asset Management), Crypto Broker AG (Brokerage), and Crypto Storage AG (Storage).
8. Indigita & Bizzozero Partners

Idigita is a regtech company, a joint venture between Bizzozero Partners (BRP) and Orbium, both from the world of finance. The company offers an inData solution, a digitised version of country manuals published by BRP to offer regulatory information for banks and independent financial advisors from across the globe.

It covers 120 countries and can be used with Indigita’s inRules, which crunches the data to develop and deliver tailored cross-border regulation recommendations to individual clients.
Bizzozero Partners will also be at the event, offering know-how acquired from working with supervisory authorities in Switzerland and the UK.

9. ChainSecurity

ChainSecurity offers Smart Contract audits, both blockchain and otherwise, along with security audits and monitoring based in Switzerland. Any company that passes an audit by ChainSecurity is often a newsworthy occasion in the region these days. In fact, Singapore-born Kyber Network is seemingly a satisfied customer of this service.
Besides their products, the company engages in research in the areas of system security, program analysis, and machine learning, having published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers.

10. Axon Vibe

Axon Vive leverages smartphone sensor data to allow partners to deliver effective travel assistance communications to its users, with particular focus on transit agencies. This includes smart personalised messages based on where the users are and what they are doing, seamless ticketing, and ancillary revenue based on understanding users’ preferences and needs based on data collected.
The platform can be integrated via SDKs into existing apps or launched as new white label apps. It’s available in Europe, USA, and Southeast Asia.
11. Axon Ivy

Axon Ivy is a subsidiary of the Axon Group, and its core business is to help other businesses with their digital transformation projects worldwide, via knowledge, tech and resources.
The digital business platform by AXON Ivy solves specific challenges, such as the development of new disruptive business models, establishing missing end-to-end core processes or improving inefficient back office processes.
12. Sygnum

With a presence in both Switzerland and Singapore, Sygnum develops integrated solutions to help securely store, trade and manage digital assets. The company’s vision is the potential of blockchain or distributed ledger technology to impact and change the financial industry in the coming years.
The company is backed by SIX, and Singtel.
The company is aiming for a variety of tokenised assets services, and believes that the system can be adapted for assets like company shares, securities, bonds, and even real estate. It plans to convert all of tehm into tokens to enable either direct transfers between traders or more efficient matching and settlement through third-party platforms, like exchanges.
It is aiming a broad suite of tokenised assets services for institutional investors. The so-called ‘token economy’ space, which digitises a range of financial assets for faster, more efficient trading, is rapidly gaining momentum around the world.
It is believed that the system can be adapted for any form of asset from company shares to securities, bonds and real estate. Putting such tokens on the blockchain promises either direct transfer between traders or more efficient matching and settlement through third party platforms, such as exchanges.
13. Smart Valor

Currently, Smart Valor is a blockchain startup with goals of reinventing private banking, but it is also raising an ICO for a related purpose.
Smart Valor’s ICO aims to open up the capital markets that are usually concentrated amongst a small, elite pool of investors, due to intermediaries, fees and minimum buy-ins. Claiming that traditional alternative investments constitute to a $7 trillion industry, Smart Valor aims to tokenize assets and focus on alternative investments, and of course cryptocurrency.
Currently Smart Valor is raising an ICO, but already has secured significant funding in its earlier stages. It is said that the ICO seems to be more of a marketing gimmick.
14. UBS

UBS is one of the biggest banks in Switzerland and has been around for 150 years. It is a multinational investment bank and financial services company as well. In 2012, the bank refocused its efforts around wealth management, and limited sell-side operations.
Currently, the bank maintains a presence in many major financial centers, and has a reputation for a culture of banking secrecy, and thus, bank/client confidentiality.

15. Swisscom

Swisscom AG is a telecommunications provider in Switzerland, and 51% owned by The Swiss Confederation. Besides that, the company lends a heavy hand into Switzerland’s startup scene, and even releases a startup radar, which are selected base
In fact, Swisscom has set aside CHF 10 million (US$ 9.92 million) to further its targeted investments into promising fintech startups, and launched online bookkeeping targeted at SMEs.
In fact, Sygnum and Swisscom have formed a joint venture for the secure storage of digital assets, dubbed Custodigit.
16. CryptoValley Association
The Crypto Valley Association was established to grow Switzerland’s strengths to build global blockchain and cryptographic technologies ecosystems, support and connect startups to established enterprises through policy recommendations, connect projects across industries, initiating and enabling research, as well as hosting a slew of related events.
Basically, they exist to cultivate the ecosystem and scene in Switzerland.

Featured Image via Swiss Finance + Technology Association of the Singapore Fintech Festival 2017

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Snapshot of Singapore’s Booming Regtech Scene

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 7, 2020

1515  5

Regtech, the younger cousin of fintech has quickly risen out of fintech’s shadow and stand on its own two feet. In Asia, this is perhaps no more apparent than it is in Singapore.
Not purely a compliance play
Regtech involves a whole gamut of solutions which is chiefly aimed at solving regulatory challenges through technology. However one would be mistaken to think that its sole purpose is compliance, in some instances RegTech can actually enable superior customer experience.

Take for example DBS’s new banking service which enables their wealth clients to interact with DBS relationship managers through Whatsapp and WeChat. Developed in partnership with regtech startup FinChat, it is anticipated to save DBS 10,000 man-hours and speedier delivery to clients while meeting rigorous regulatory requirements.

Initiatives from the regulator
Singapore’s commitment to regtech was also reflected in Ravi Menon, Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore’s speech during the launch of the 2018 Singapore Fintech Festival.
In his speech,  he shared the 6 core focus on the developing the fintech ecosystem, half of which are closely related to regtech namely; Identity/KYC, data governance and platforms for innovation. While platforms for innovation is broad category that is not exclusive to regtech, it is likely to contain some elements of it.
On the e-KYC front, Singapore has shown leadership in its MyInfo initiative, which is a digital service that enables citizens to authorize 3rd party access to their data.
Working off the back of this initiative, MAS and Govtech started a pilot with 4 banks last year to enable consumers to open bank accounts using MyInfo. Fast forward to today, Singaporeans can open bank accounts or apply for credit cards online instantly thanks to this initiative. According to Ravi, more than 20 financial institutions are now using MyInfo to provide more than 110 digital financial services.
Since then, several initiatives by industry trade groups have been launched to boost regtech development in the city state. In May 2019, the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) launched a regtech sub-committee to promote the industry and inked a memorandum of understanding with the Australia-based Regtech Association to better engage with the regtech ecosystem in the region. That same month, the regtech committees of the fintech associations of Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan jointed launched the APAC Regtech Network to enhance cross-border collaboration on regtech education and implementation across APAC.
Who are playing in this space?

AiDA Technologies

AiDA Technologies focuses on AI and ML-based predictive analytics and intelligent systems. These systems provide solutions to augment the ability of human experts to make decisions based on large volumes of information.

Apiax

Apiax combines exceptional legal and compliance expertise with outstanding technological capabilities. Together, we build a lean yet comprehensive RegTech solution that makes it radically simple for companies to comply with regulations. Apiax is a pioneer in turning written regulations into digital compliance rules and deliver a product that is perfectly suited for the open banking- and API-economy. Today, Apiax has a team of more than 30 experienced professionals with offices in Zurich, London, and Lisbon.

Apvera

Apvera is a provider of automated threat intelligence solutions which helps organizations detect, prevent and predict real-time behavioral threat anomalies.

Backpack

Backpack offers all-in-one backend office SaaS solutions to help financial services firms maximise operational efficiency and spur revenue growth. Solutions include CRM tailored for financial services, compliance solutions, payment aggregators, marketing software & API marketing, 360 Reporting & BI.

Cashshield

CashShield is an online enterprise risk management company that helps companies manage their payment fraud risks and prevent hostile account takeovers. It utilises real-time pattern recognition and passive behavioural biometrics to screen transactions.

Centenal

Headquartered in Singapore, Centenal is a fintech company providing digital operation and compliance solution for wealth managers. Centenal’s award-winning CRS Expert is the first-of-its-kind regulation engine that transforms the Common Reporting Standard, a complicated international legislation, into a digital regulation rule, saving 98% compliance time.

Compliy

Compliy is an artificial intelligence (AI) web platform built on Asia Pacific (APAC)’s largest financial regulatory database. The solution simplifies and automates regulatory change management by empowering compliance teams with extensive access to multiple regulatory data sources across APAC while using AI to extract and share valuable insights, and then quickly identify key compliance actions. Compliy is headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with an office in Singapore.

Cynopsis

Cynopsis is a Singaporean regtech company that aims to help fintechs reduce the cost of regulatory compliance, in particular anti-money laundering (AML) counter-terrorism financing (CTF) and know-your-customer (KYC), through SaaS products.

Datarama

Datarama uses mapping tools to mine information sources for conducting complex risk profiling and due diligence in emerging markets. Sources are mined to uncover ultimate beneficiary ownership, political links and business development opportunities, for example.

Dathena

Dathena is a provider of data governance software based on machine learning algorithms. By allowing customers to sift through their data, they are able to identify, classify and categorise it, ensuring consistent & accurate regulatory compliance.

Deep Identity

Deep Identity provides a comprehensive and unique solution to address identity governance and administration (IGA), compliance management and data governance requirements. The company offers a layered approach that enables better visibility and controls, ultimately automating compliance management in a cost effective manner. Deep Identity is headquartered in Singapore with an office in India.

EdgeLab

Edgelab empowers private banks to achieve long-term success by providing them technology solutions with unprecedented value. With its extensive risk analytics, compliant with MAS, banks can deliver appropriate investments for their clients and automate regulatory controls and reports. Edgelab’s technology is modular, API-based and fully customizable, creating a simple way to integrate into existing systems. The company has offices in Switzerland and Singapore.

FinChat
FinChat’s compliance monitoring software helps regulated enterprises capture all employee communications conducted via smartphone applications, then store the data in secured servers. This data can be retrieved anytime for the purposes of fraud detection, audit trails, dispute resolution, etc.

GRC Solutions

GRC Solutions is a leader in the online compliance training market in the Asia Pacific region, providing an award-winning compliance training technology, Salt Compliance, which helps hundreds of companies navigate complex legal and regulatory environments and build resilient organizational cultures. The company also produces customized eLearning courses for clients. GRC Solutions has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, New York and Singapore.

IMTF

IMTF, a company founded in 1987, provides fintech solutions and regulatory compliance software to banks, financial institutions and other industries globally. IMTF is one of the most comprehensive providers in the regtech space, offering innovative and reliable software solutions that enable clients to increase efficiency achieving significant cost reductions with assured compliance. IMTF is headquartered in Switzerland with offices in India, Luxembourg, Austria, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Ireland and Singapore.

Jewel Paymentech

Jewel Paymentech develops intelligent risk technologies for the banking and electronic payments industry by using AI, machine learning technology, and predictive analytics.

Merkle Science

Merkle Science is a deep-tech startup based out of Singapore. The company provides infrastructure to help blockchain companies, crypto-exchanges, investment funds, banks, and government agencies perform due diligence on the blockchain. Merkle Science’s risk and blockchain monitoring solution allows companies to detect and prevent illegal use of cryptocurrencies, monitoring all incoming and outgoing crypto transactions to ensure that corporates are not transacting with blockchain addresses linked to illicit behavior.

NetGuardians

Established in 2007, NetGuardians is a leading Swiss fintech and regtech company helping more than 50 Tier 1 to Tier 3 banks worldwide to fight financial crime. NetGuardians has gained worldwide recognition for its fraud detection and risk attenuation solutions developed by experts specializing in risk. Its main innovation is its ability to detect fraud before it happens via behavioral analysis technology. NetGuardians is headquartered in Yverdon, and has offices in Kenya, Poland, and Singapore, with more expansion planned.

Silent Eight

Silent Eight uses Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing to screen customers and monitor transactions  to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

Scalend Technologies

Scalend offers business intelligence software that provides real-time analytics and visual insights for banks and FIs. It provides data-driven analytics solutions for payments, lending, retail banking, insurance, and capital markets.

Tookitaki

Incorporated in November 2014, Tookitaki provides enterprise software solutions that create sustainable compliance programs for the financial services industry. The company has developed solutions to prevent money laundering, terror financing and automate large-scale banking reconciliations. Tookitaki is headquartered in Singapore with offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, the US, and Bangalore, India.

Vasco Data Security

Vasco provides security solutions such as two-factor authentication & transaction data signing for businesses & government agencies. Its tools further secures access to data and cloud applications.

Xendity

Xendity provides automated e-KYC technology which provides electronic verification of subscriber identity.

V-Key

V-key uses cryptographic virtual machine integrated with anti-tamper protections for secure mobile applications

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InsurTech
Lending

It’s Not Just the Ride Hailing Fight That’s Begun with Go-Jek’s Entry into Grab’s Hometown

									by Fintech News Singapore
November 30, 2018

356  2

Go-Jek just announced the launch of its beta app in Singapore, which means that Singaporeans will be able to download Go-Jek on Android and iOS stores starting today. Since Uber’s exit of Southeast Asia, this will be a significant competition for Grab not just on the ride-hailing front, but the fintech front as well.
There are more similarities to both companies than just (ride) hailing from Southeast Asia. Both have launched their own wallets, with GrabPay launching its GrabPay, while Go-Jek has its Go-Pay. Grab’s strategy to grow its wallet seems to focus on expanding its use case between food to groceries, while Go-Jek attempts to grow its own wallet by acquiring three different payments startups in Indonesia.
Grab certainly has home player advantage and the experience of running in their own space, but public opinion on Grab has been rather poor since its merger with Singapore, with netizens accusing the ride-hailing giant of monopoly and some concern regarding its expansion beyond ride-hailing and into fintech. It’s a slim window, but Go-Jek might just be able to take advantage of these cracks to bring Go-Pay to a stronger presence than GrabPay, if they play their cards right.
Where Grab has expressed a bigger focus into the insurtech side of fintech during the announcement of Grab Financial via data, Go-Jek set out instead to partner with peer-to-peer (P2P) lending firms in Indonesia, which is a bigger market for the company considering its Indonesian origins.

Which is not to say that Grab doesn’t have plans towards lending or Go-Jek towards insurtech, this is just a reflection of their initial focus, and perhaps, an interesting glimpse of both companies’ fintech roots.
With the recent announcement however, we will also see Go-Jek, partnered with DBS, competing with UOB-partnered Grab, which will see UOB’s banking services integrated into its app.
As Go-Pay and GrabPay clashes in the future, it will be interesting to see if both banks will get roped into the fintech side of the business as well.
The launch of Go-Jek’s beta app in Singapore kickstarts the regional strategic partnership between Go-Jek and DBS, two of Southeast Asia’s most iconic companies. During the beta phase, access to the app will be granted in batches to balance ride demand and service capabilities. DBS/POSB customers in Singapore will be guided by the app to find out how they can be prioritised on the waitlist, and receive a SG$5 voucher credit for each of their first two rides.
For now there is very little mention on how Go-Jek’s fintech side will present itself in the region, but considering its strong push in Indonesia, we don’t doubt it’s eventual appearance soon.
Featured image via Go-Jek

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AI
Big Data
Blockchain
InsurTech

These Are The 13 Fintech Companies to Watch in Singapore in 2019

									by Fintech News Singapore
December 3, 2018

51662  3

2019 is right around the corner, which means we are near the end of an eventful year of fintech in Singapore. The Singapore Fintech Festival was probably the biggest one here yet, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has made some definitive pushes into big data, artificial intelligence, and the launch of an ASEAN-wide API to answer the global demand for open banking principles.
More recently though, MAS has given an idea of their plans for the future, with a US$5 billion (SG$6.91 billion) worth private market programme allocated as its investment portfolio into the private markets asset class—a move by MAS to anchor global asset managers into Singapore and catalyse more growth in that sector of Singapore.
MAS has also announced a “Sandbox Express” to complement its existing sandbox, which are pre-defined sandboxes so that fintechs can conduct their experiments more quickly than the existing measures.
And all of this does not yet venture into the often volatile, but always interesting startup sector. Fintechnews has identified 13 promising Singapore based Fintech companies which will shake 2019’s direction and purpose, one way or another. (see our selection from 2018 here)

BetterTradeOff

BetterTradeOff, a homegrown company, presented a holistic life-planning solution named Aardviser, which uses advanced statistical models and AI to help individuals make better decisions when attempting to finance their future.  This flexible, modular, white-label solution can capture a client’s financial situation, digitise the traditional data capture with financial advisors, and reduce the time taken for a financial health check to a matter of minutes.
It can dynamically adjust the financial plan of the client via investment products based on financial ambition such as supporting children’s education, purchase of property and readjust after life triggers such as loss of income.
AutoWealth

Following an intensive beta testing period, along with a multi-million dollar valuation and onboarding hundreds of clients since its licensing, AutoWealth recently launched a robo-advisor that is said to mimic a human financial planner.
The robo-advisor automates investing and provides comprehensive investment portfolio rebalancing and management for retail investors. The programme uses a proprietary algorithm to provide financial advice and investment management online. It has created an automated process that cuts down on the processing time and middleman costs while still giving customers customised recommendations on the ideal composition of their investment assets, the initial sum to invest and the periodic investment instalments.
Sqreem

Founded in 2010, Sqreem has a presence in 40 countries and 12 industries, and using their proprietary technology, they didn’t need to know anything about these industries to stake out a presence. This is because the company has been able to create an AI platform that is able to grasp behaviour, context, and logic at levels and scales that the company claims are beyond human capability.
This is because the company utilises nonlinear pattern recognition technology using signals-intelligence algorithms. This means the programs are able to identify links and associations among vast, unstructured digital activities across any platform regardless of format and language, and determine macro-behavioral normalcy versus micro-behavioral abnormality. The company won SG$100,000 thanks to placing on the Singapore Fintech Festival awards.
Finantix Asia Pacific

Finantix enables clients like banks, insurers, wealth managers and financial advisers to digitalise their multi-channel and omni-device strategy by offering flexible component-based solutions that can slot into an organisation’s existing infrastructure and digital strategy.
Finantix’s offering is based on a library of modules and components designed for the financial services industry.
In March, they acquired the startup SmartFolios the creators of quant-enabled investment tools that support the key stages of the digital advisory value chain. This allowed the company to combine forces and launch an AI offering that incorporates Smartfolios quantitative analysis solution to create a wealth management platform with real-time thematic-style analytics.

Accuity

Accuity is part of RELX Group, and they provide a series of regtech solutions, from data and innovations software that controls risks and compliance, to tools that are said to be accurate and flexible in optimising payments processes.
Its products include Fircosoft, Bankers Almanac and NRS.
They announced that they acquired Safe Banking Systems (SBS) in July, a provider of enterprise-wide Know Your Customer due diligence and anti-money laundering solutions. Their solutions offer false positive reduction and risk assessment screening for banks and other financial institutions.
Cardup

Cardup is a proponent for the cashless society, but with cards in mind instead of the more typical e-wallets that come to mind today. Cardup allows individuals to manage large recurring payments with an online service that allows payments made by bank transfer to be shifted to a credit card, regardless of whether recipients merchants allow for credit card payments.
This allows customers to better utilise their benefits, like extended credit card terms and earning rewards points for transactions like paying rent or taxes, and recipients do not need to expend any payments to enable credit card transactions.
Earlier this year, the company received SG$2.2 million (US$1.7m) in funding led by Sequoia India and SeedPlus in order to grow its payments and cash flow management offering to the SME segment.
Bambu

Using developments in artificial intelligence and neural networks, Bambu developed a robo-advisor which it claims can identify hidden insights in financial data, and formulate an investment strategy in response.
Bambu gets data from providers with a standing, like DriveWealth and Thomson Reuters, while offering its services for a lower cost than real life financial advisors. Its services are available to banks or wealth managers.
Beyond Singapore, Bambu was a winner at Fintech Innovate Africa for its “goal-based, white label robo-advisor offering that gives investors a natural and effortless experience in finding the right investment strategy for their client’s needs”. Besides Singapore, the company has a presence in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.
Revolut

This company is the first entry on this list that did not technically originate in Singapore, but they are making a strong foray into the region. Revolut is a neo-bank that allows users to use an app to spend overseas in over 150 countries without fees or holds, and allows users to exchange 24 different currencies in-app. Revolut is also a remittance service that aallows domestic and international money transferes with the real exchange rate.
The company reported that 100,000 customers were on their waiting list from Singapore and Japan collectively. And they have just received a license to run their services in Singapore slated for the first quarter of 2019.
Furthermore, Revolut’s Asia Pacific headquarters will be stationed in Singapore, and the company has even gone on a hiring spree to make this happen.
Grab

Primarily known as a ride-hailing service, Grab has been making a strong push into fintech, beginning with issuing its own e-wallet GrabPay. With it, Grab has linked its over business avenues, even its ride-hailing side, to the e-wallet as well as expressed aspirations towards producing a “super-app”.
Grab announced that it will be launching remittance services both local and international, beginning in 2019 as its most recent confirmed expansion of Grab Financial—the fintech arm of Grab which would eventually offer insurtech data-collection, as well as micro-loans.
Razer

Razer is another traditionally un-fintech household name making their own venture into fintech, and it has a lot of similarities with Grab. Not only is Razer and Grab both affiliated with UOB, both are also in the midst of exploring cross-border remittance—though Razer is doing so via blockchain.
Currently, RazerPay is collaborating with the Finlab to create a proof-of-concept for testing cross-border remittance using blockchain.
Razer has a slew of other partnerships, but an interesting one is its collaboration with NETS Group, which would enable RazerPay acceptance on NETS’ unified POS terminals. This would hopefully enable full interoperability for RazerPay’s launch in Singapore by early 2019.

CCRManager

CCRManager is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tin Hill Capital Pte Ltd, and supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore through the Financial Sector. They invest in and operate technology platforms and financial solutions for the global trade and working capital industry. Services include Trade Asset Management, a module that facilitates buying and trading assets among financial institutions, and Correspondent Services, a module that digitally facilitates various documentation processes.

Cynopsis Solutions

Cynopsis Solutions designed Artemis, an intuitive, cost-effective one-stop automation of a complex regulatory requirement on Know-Your-Customer (KYC) / Anti-Money Laundering (AML) / Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF). Artemis is built specifically to address the ever-changing AML/CTF requirements prescribed by regulators in Singapore and elsewhere and is intended to be used by Financial Institutions, Corporate Services Providers, accountants, and lawyers to assist them better comply with regulatory requirements.
Thin Margin

This Singaporean online money changer claims to be the biggest in the island nation. Thin Margin allows individuals to buy currency at, well, apparently thin margins, and will deliver the currency to users without the need for queuing up.

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InsurTech

Aviva Singapore Partners IMDA for Cloud Computing Training

									by Company Announcement
December 18, 2018

85  1

Aviva Singapore has become the first insurer to partner with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to offer a Cloud Computing training programme to upskill new and existing employees, enhancing the company’s digital capabilities to meet insurance customers’ evolving needs.
This is part of IMDA’s Company Led Training (CLT) programme under the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) initiative, a structured on-the-job training programme aimed at enabling fresh and mid-level Infocomm Technology (ICT) professionals to acquire practical technical skills and specialist competencies for jobs that are in demand by the industry to drive Singapore’s digital economy. The CLT also aims to address the ICT workforce’s manpower and skills shortage by facilitating reskilling or upskilling of individuals, thereby enhancing training and placement opportunities for ICT jobs across the economy.
Under the CLT programme, Aviva will fast-track fresh professionals through a 12-month NexGen Technology Programme aimed at young IT professionals while mid-level professionals will receive upskilling in Cloud Computing capabilities over six months. This effort is in line with the company’s drive to develop a fresh pipeline of IT professionals.
The CLT programme will train up to 60 fresh and mid-level professionals over the next three years. Under the training programme, the company will focus on building professionals’ capabilities in three competencies, namely: Cloud Architecture, Cloud Engineering, and Cloud Operations.Upon completion of the CLT, trainees will be able to develop and use computational models, tools and techniques to interpret and understand data, solve problems and guide decision-making. These new generation of Cloud computing professionals will be enabled to proactively identify customer needs and sustain a culture of service excellence within the organisation with skills acquired.

The inaugural cohort of the NexGen Technology Programme, which targets fresh professionals, will undergo a customised Cloud Computing programme that comprises a blend of on-the-job training, e-learning, and in-person training. Placing their people at the heart of this initiative, Aviva will pair each new hire to an existing employee as a mentor. This buddy system enables co-learning and addresses a common issue that existing employees face: while they are keen to develop themselves, they find it a challenge to juggle their existing workload while attending training at the same time. By embarking on the CLT programme, Aviva hopes to add value to the eco-system of IT professionals in Singapore and empower its growth.
Ms Anuradha Purbey, People Director at Aviva Singapore:
Anuradha Purbey
“As companies continue to compete in the digital age, it is imperative to help the workforce embrace inevitable change and future-proof them. This will help organisations retain talent and strengthen internal capability.
Aviva is pleased to partner with IMDA on the CLT programme to upskill talents for Singapore. Our NexGen Technology Programme creates capacity for our employees to develop new skills while grooming fresh professionals to be future leaders in the IT profession. We have chosen to focus on cloud computing to start, as technology brings about many benefits, especially for data-heavy industries like insurance. With this initiative, we hope to create a robust infrastructure which supports the integration of our business and customer data to meet with our clients’ needs faster, and better.”
Howie Lau
Mr. Howie Lau, Chief Industry Development Officer at IMDA:
“As Singapore advances into Services 4.0, there remains a strong demand for infocomm technology skills and talent, including cloud computing expertise. We are pleased to collaborate with Aviva to develop our local professionals, who are at the heart of Singapore’s industry transformation. Through TeSA, more individuals can upskill or reskill to seize opportunities in our digital economy.”

Featured image credit: Edited from Unsplash

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InsurTech

Singapore Life Gains SG$27.3 Mil Investment to Fund Their Southeast Asian Expansion

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 2, 2019

434  2

Singapore Life received a US$20 million (SG$27.26 million) from New York Stock Exchange listed company Aflac. Aflac’s operating subsidiary—American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus, will also enter into a reinsurance agreement on certain protection products with Singapore Life.
The deal is the second equity announcement in a series of capital raising activities to fund Singapore Life’s growth into Southeast Asia. This series of transactions, once complete, will raise Singapore Life’s total capital raised to USD 70 million.
Walter de Oude, founder and chief executive of Singapore Life said:

“It is part of our strategy to include a number of strategic investors such as Aflac as minority shareholder to provide additional diversity in our capital base, significant capital depth as well as the strategic skillsets that come with these.”
Meanwhile, Aflac will be picking the brains Singapore Life’s management to better understand Southeast Asian markets for potential growth opportunities.

Featured image via Singapore Life

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Open Banking

Open Banking’s Biggest Challenge to Global Acceptance is,  Ironically, Regulation

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 7, 2019

7461  7

The World Payments Report by BNP Paribas and Capgemini highlights some interesting trends when it comes to key regulatory initiatives.
Despite general global interest in embracing open banking, we still have a fragmented ecosystem of regulations and frameworks. This is in part because of how they form as it’s the norm for regulatory frameworks to gradually spread from regional up to global levels. Logistically, all of this makes sense. However, the report recommends that someone must develop standards and interoperability measures to harmonise the fragmented global scene.
We can’t say there aren’t any trying right now, but getting a series of different companies and countries to adopt said standards is its own struggle.
Fragmentisation can serve as a problem, as the open banking focus has expanded beyond just the EU to encompass over 18 countries worldwide, like the USA, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, Japan, Nigeria and India.

With all of these nations at different stages of financial growth, and with their own approaches into fintech, a thoughtful implementation of regulatory framework initiatives becomes key.
Implementation of Standards Proves a Hurdle
Europe is seen as something of a benchmark for open banking, with many regions across the globe using the union’s PSD2 framework as a benchmark for their own open API efforts.
While there is a single entity that oversees regulations like PSD2 and NIS (network and information systems), the European Council level of implementations are subject to the inherent industries of each region, and the culture of each member state—which could result in a general banking direction that is just as bureaucratic as today.
In Asia Pacific, regulatory frameworks like Thailand’s Payment Systems Act, Singapore’s proposed e-payments user protection guidelines and China’s sanctions on new payment apps seem geared towards standards, industry governance and oversight of new players.
Regions like Singapore and Thailand again, along with Indonesia, China and Cambodia are looking at standards and rules to improve the systemic efficiency while safeguarding customers.
It should be noted that many of these systems are not yet at a level of interconnectivity.
As for concrete numbers, the European Payment Council’s SCT Inst scheme is a good example. It was launched in 2017 to help streamline the instant payment system implementation at a pan-European level, as before it, instant payment systems had been developed by certain banks to leverage the infrastructure of national clearing and settlement mechanisms (CSMs).
However, during the publishing of the report only 1,000 banks adhere to the SCT Inst rulebook—equating to only 20% of the region’s banks, though the European Central bank is moving to help fix this issue.
Then there’s conflicting regulatory standards, even though they may aim to achieve the same goals.
Image Credit: World Payments Report 2018
The conflict between the GDPR and PSD2 in Europe provides an illuminating example. Though they  converge around five pillars: enhanced customer and data protection, enhanced data compliance (use must comply with the law), data quality (including accuracy, consistency, and lineage), enhanced user experience, and enhanced competitiveness, there may be inconsistencies during implementation.
The main difference between the GDPR and PSD2 is that while the former is a regulation, the latter is a directive and is open to interpretation by individual member states.
These conflicts could, if left to go on,impede industry participation, so a regulatory hand might be needed here to set things straight.
There is also issue behind trust. The Chinese government, for example, wants western countries to open up their markets to firms like Alipay and WeChat, but western countries in turn want access to the Chinese market before they would make a move.
All a Part of A Cycle Between Standardisation and Innovation of KRIIs
While observing the regulatory push and pull, the World Payments Report 2018 noted that we are simply in a phase of a cycle that shifts and ebbs between innovation and standardisation.
As it stands, we seem to be at the tail end of a trend towards innovation, and moving into standardisation.
Most of the regulatory frameworks announced in the 2017 and 2018 period focused on standards started in Asia Pacific, a trend that came from the spread of regulatory activity in the developed markets in the markets in the west.
To answer this trend, regulators in Asia Pacific countries also recognise the need for data privacy and protection to mitigate payments risk and boost digital payments volumes. As digital payments volumes and innovation continue to flourish in the region, they are introducing data protection regulatory frameworks that are based on initiatives in Western countries.
Following this an increasing number of standardization- focused regulatory frameworks are being introduced. While the earlier frameworkss were aimed at ensuring a level playing field, recently introduced ones facilitate a balance between regulatory supply and market demand. This is being seen in Asia Pacific where regulatory frameworks, such as Cambodia’s new PSP licensing rules, and China’s sanctions on mobile payments apps, have been developed for the mutual benefit of customers and financial institutions. Further, as new solutions introduced during ramp-up and consolidation phases need to be rationalised, regulators have to jump in to regulate the earlier initiatives where new demand appears.
Image Credit: World Payments Report 2018
Based on the figure, the report names the UK as the pioneer in banking and payments. Since the launch of FPS 2008 following the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, regulators focused on systemic risk reduction and financial stability that impacted upcoming regulatory frameworks.
Asia Pacific is witnessing much traction in regulatory activity and as the region’s regulators adapt and implement ideas they see from other countries.
Some reactive countries, such as Brazil and Thailand, have conservative regulators that have started few or no forward-looking initiatives and have reluctant demand-side institutions.
Meanwhile countries such as Singapore, Australia, the UK, and Sweden have proactive regulators and enthusiastic demand-side institutions ready to embrace regulatory initiatives. China is an interesting case; if the industry does not embrace the supply-side push from the government, the country will remain in a dormant space, like India. It is only when regulators are proactive and market participants are ready to embrace regulatory frameworks, that countries will exist in an ideal state.
Fragmentation Impedes on Developing Standards

Image Credit: World Payments Report 2018
The report sees an impact on the roll-out of ISO 20022 XML: the ISO standard for electronic data interchange between financial institutions describing a metadata repository containing descriptions of messages and business processes, and a maintenance process for the repository content.
The standard is said to be progressing slowly throughout regions, despite European regulators making it mandatory domestic payments as the introduction of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), large-value and cross- border payments continue to use legacy formats.
Meanwhile, in the USA, it’s the banks’ own formats that are dampening efforts to deploy the ISO 20022, and holding back the goal of a common messaging standard.
The report sees hope in further payments modernisation initiatives, IP systems and the adoption of ISO 20022 by corporates bringing the industry towards its global payment messaging goal though, despite these hurdles.

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InsurTech

In Yet Another Funding Round This Month, Singapore Life Raises US$ 13 Million

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 15, 2019

225  3

Insurtech firm Singapore Life has received a US$ 13 Million investment from Aberdeen Standard Investment. This makes it the second round of capital injection Singapore Life has received this month alone.
Singapore Life has previously received a total sum of $US 26 Million from NYSE listed AFLAC, an American based insurance company.
Upon completion of this round Singapore Life will have a total of US$ 83 Million raised, according to data from Crunchbase.
Commenting on the investment, Aberdeen Standard Investments Co-CEO, Martin Gilbert noted that the industry is undergoing digital transformation, he added that technological innovation will be a key differentiator.

Featured image credit: Unsplash

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Open Banking

How DBS and OCBC Global Leadership Shows Singapore’s Success in Open Banking

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 16, 2019

9438  10

Singapore’s DBS Bank and OCBC are regional leaders in fintech and pioneers in open banking according reports from Accenture and Innopay Open Banking Monitor. The positioning of these banks gives us a good sense of where Singapore stands in the global arena of Open Banking
Innopay Open Banking Monitor
DBS Bank was the first bank in Singapore to dive into open banking, launching in mid 2015 the Innovation Plan with 1,000+ experiments in API, cloud computing, microservice, architecture and machine learning.
Today, the bank has a platform of over 155 APIs across 20+ categories which it developed late 2017 through its API developer hub, DBS Developers.
Third-party developers can access the APIs for functions such as real-time payments. DBS Bank offers five different ways of payment/transfer methods and extensive payment management options. The bank is also a leader in data transformation with technology, hardware, data centers, network management and app development that are 85% insourced.

Whereas OCBC began pursuing open banking in 2016 with the launch of Connect2OCBC, the first open API developer platform in Asia. The bank has announced a data-sharing partnership with telecom services provider StarHub that allows cross-selling to their respective customers.
OCBC ranks amongst the regional leaders in innovation as it builds its operations around the steady adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, robo-advisory, cloud and blockchain technology.
Open banking, a business approach in which value creation results from sharing, providing and leveraging access to bank resources through APIs, is set to transform digital experiences through compelling value propositions developed by third parties leveraging access to bank data, ultimately adding value and putting the customer more in control.
A global research report by Accenture found that 90% of large banking in APAC plan to provide open banking services for their commercial clients with half of the banks in the region expecting open banking to help them grow their revenues up to 10% and another one-third expecting it to help them grow their revenues up to 20%.
Singapore, Asia’s open banking pioneer
Open banking was pioneered by the UK and quickly spread across Europe. Countries across Asia are now following suit with Singapore rapidly emerging as the region’s leader, driven by regulators’ desire to embrace the trend.
Open Banking Initiatives Timeline, Singapore, Accenture
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) was the first regulator in Asia Pacific (APAC) to release an open banking guidelines in 2016, which set the gold standard for regulatory advice on the topic in Asia. The playbook set out a comprehensive framework introducing governance, implementation, use cases and design principles for APIs together with a list of over 400 recommended APIs and over 5,600 processes for their development.
MAS significantly ramped up open banking initiatives in 2017 with the launch of the ASEAN Fintech Innovation Network (AFIN) in partnership with the International Finance Corporation and the ASEAN Bankers Association. AFIN launched its Industry Sandbox, an interoperable and scalable infrastructure acting as a method to standardize banking infrastructure and data, in late 2018.
Last year, the government launched API Exchange (APIX) to serve as a centralized data-sharing platform, allowing government agencies across the country to share data securely through APIs. It also established the Financial Industry API Register, which tracks APIs by functional category as they are launched.
Number of API functionalities per region, Innopay
According to the same Innopay report, Europe is leading the open banking development in general and embracing the trend beyond the mandatory PSD2 APIs. Banks in Singapore are also quickly adopting open banking and are currently offering the most functionalities. Meanwhile, Oceania and the Americas are lagging behind in the variation of API functionalities in comparison to the offering of banks in other regions.

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InsurTech

Grab Works with China’s Insurtech Giant to Offer Insurance by Mid 2019

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 16, 2019

17921  6

Grab announced that it’s partnering up with ZhongAn, one of the biggest insurtech drivers in China, to establish a joint venture company for the digital insurance distribution business in Southeast Asia.
The goal is to deliver a digital insurance marketplace for products in a range of categories with lower premiums, directly on the Grab app. The joint venture will collaborate with global insurance partners to develop products tailored for the Southeast Asian lifestyle.
As part of the agreement, ZA International, the entity for overseas business development under ZhongAn, will bring technical assets to build the platform and insight into internet ecosystems to the joint venture. Grab will launch the digital insurance platform through its mobile app and tap into its wide user base and insights to deliver customised insurance products to millions of users.
The platform will first launch in Singapore in the first half of 2019, before being rolled out in other markets. One of its stated goals is to offer insurance products through mobile phones for populations that are uninsured and underinsured.

Users would be able to browse through the Grab app for insurance without going through an agent or broker. The hope is that their mobile app would address some usual pain points of getting insurance, like insurance discovery and unaffordable premiums, while allowing users to add automatic deductions from GrabPay as another payment option.
Grab will start off by offering drivers’ insurance products to its drivers in Singapore, protecting them from loss of income from illness or accident.
The move into insurance is part of Grab’s play for markets outside of ride-hailing, and a facet of the company’s Grab Financial venture that last year, saw the announcement of cross-border remittance services across different Southeast Asian markets.
Featured image via NUS Enterprise

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Healthtech
InsurTech
Philippines

Philippines: New VC Fund Gobi-Core Debuts Investments in Healthtech Startup MariaHealth

									by Tom Noda
January 22, 2019

5410  1

A recently-launched venture capital fund by Philippine-based VC company Core Capital and Malaysia-based VC Gobi Partners made its first two investments in a healthtech startup MariaHealth and an edutech firm called Edukasyon.ph.
The VC fund Gobi-Core Philippine Fund (PH Fund) is a $10 million fund for seed-stage and pre-Series A companies in the Philippines launched last October. Amounts of the two funding rounds in the local startups were undisclosed.
Other investors in MariaHealth’s seed round include Wavemaker and Hustle Fund.
Founded in 2015, MariaHealth has partnered with insurance practitioners PhilCare, Maxicare, AsianLife, and MediCard.

MariaHealth serves as an online portal designed to enable people to easily compare what healthcare brands have to offer and confidently shop right after.
The startup noted only 4 per cent of the Philippine population have healthcare and the process of getting information from providers is still long and dated.
MariaHealth co-founder Vincent Lau said they will use the fund to further improve the company’s brand, the customer experience in using its portal, and to become the best marketplace for health insurance.

“We’ll continue to invest in our supply side partners that include HMOs, insurers and clinics to access new markets and most importantly leveraging our data to bring new products to market,” Lau said.
“This year a big focus is to continue to digitize and simplify a traditionally tedious and offline process so that our service is scalable to millions. We’ll be doubling down on automation and working on tight knit integrations with select partners to streamline the customer experience,” Lau added.
He also noted that as of 2018, MariaHealth has serviced over 14,000 Filipinos across group insurance, individual insurance and the startup’s prepaid business. To date it sold over US$1 million in health plans and are confident to grow this to five-fold this year.
Jason Gaisano, one of Core Capital’s co-founders, will be part of the board of MariaHealth. He said Core Capital recognizes the problem the healthtech startup is addressing, while Gobi envisions MariaHealth’s business to be scalable on a regional level.
“One of Gobi and Core’s partnership strategy stemmed from the idea of combining local knowledge and expertise with international credibility and validity. We believe the health sector to be one of the most verifiable and understandable need in this country,”
Gaisano said.
He said Gobi-Core Fund PH is looking into industries that provide solutions to problems specific to Philippines as well as scalability that fits other markets similar to the country.
“Currently, the industries that easily verifies these criteria are health related, fintech, education, logistics, IT services and entertainment,” Gaisano added.

In cover photo are (from left): Core Capital managing partner Kenneth Ngo, MariaHealth co-founder and CEO Vincent Lau, and Gobi Partners founder Thomas Tsao.

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Regtech

Revolut Enlists London-Based Regtech for Help in Complying With MAS’ Regulations

									by Fintech News Singapore
January 29, 2019

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Revolut, a digital-only bank from the UK, announced that it has signed an agreement with ClauseMatch. Following a trial period, Revolut is adopting the regulatory technology also from London to streamline management of internal policies, controls and regulatory compliance—including the startup’s upcoming launch in Singapore.
The neo-bank anticipates a Singaporean launch within Q1 of 2019, along with other Asia-Pacific regions with nearly 100,000 customers on the waiting list hailing from these regions.
Revolut is currently working in multiple jurisdictions with different rules applied to financial services companies. And across these jurisdictions it faces different financial regulations, creating challenges for a company looking to comply. The company’s CEO and Founder has noted that one of the main reasons the company was able to scale so fast is due to its serious approach to compliance.
Nikolay Storonsky, Revolut CEO and Founder said:

“Compliance is something that a company cannot get wrong. That’s why it is incredibly important to evaluate the process constantly and innovate where possible.”
“We strongly believe in innovation and technology. Some companies build compliance function by hiring hundreds, sometimes thousands, of mature professionals. We decided to double-down on technology, as it’s a scalable approach that will help us as we grow and expand globally. Regulatory technologies such as ClauseMatch does indeed help us achieve it.”
ClauseMatch will be helping Revolut to map regulations to policies and provide continued evidence of robust compliance with multiple regulatory obligations applicable to them in relevant jurisdictions. According to Revolut, this task otherwise would typically take thousands of hours when done manually.
Previously, Revolut was granted a Remittance License by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, as well as Stored Value Facility approval, which will allow them to operate in the city-state once launched.  Revolut is also working with the Singapore regulator to shape the upcoming Payment Services Bill thanks to its experience in Europe, which has passed in Parliament earlier this month.

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Open Banking
Personal Finance Mgt (PFM)

With Britain Done, Can Revolut Convince Asians to Try Neo-Banks?

									by Fintech News Singapore
February 14, 2019

5023  8

Founded in 2015, Revolut is one of Britain’s fastest-growing fintech players, now valued at US$1.7 billion, serving its Apple-levels cult following of 2.8 million users across 28 markets in Europe.
Revolut claim to fame is a payments card that offers radically lower fees when spending overseas. With a funding, the company introduced more and more additional features, from insurance, investing, cryptocurrency trading and current accounts, all accompanied with analytics of one’s financial activity with the platform.
The company has been described as trying to be “a bank by the back door”, and lately are trading TransferWise as competitors for the likes of Monzo and N26 (which has incidentally lapped Revolut for valuation).
Now the company has expressed interest in expanding into regions outside of Europe. With an Asia Pacific office parked in Singapore which implies bigger ambitions than just the stated Singapore, India and Japan, and 100,000 customers on the waiting list from Asian regions, can this challenger bank replicate their success in Asia?

A Freemium Bank
A slide from Revolut’s old pitch deck.
The secret sauce to their success in the UK is probably its freemium business model, where the company will offer more features based on paid tiers. Naturally this means that the company will burn a lot of cash in the beginning. Thus, it’s no surprise that the company just announced that it has broken even just February last year, just as it was gearing up for regional expansion, and still not profitable yet.
Offering freemiums will certainly increase a neo-bank’s users in sheer numbers, and allow for even the most reticent users to at least give it a shot at first. Many regions here, like Singapore is already familiar with the concept of e-payments and mobile wallets, so Revolut might get at least a decent foothold with their core offering, as Singaporeans take an average of 5.2 trips in a year.
Regions in Southeast Asia and India are known as fertile breeding grounds for fintech, with its high mobile phone penetration and a thirst for financial services that are accessible and cost-effective: both characteristics of Revolut.
Meanwhile Revolut was drawn to Japan thanks to archaic banking models there that the company seeks to disrupt.
Moving Quick to Stay Ahead of Local Competition
Neo banks in Asia
Unlike its progress in Europe, Revolut will be ready to launch in Asia with many of its secretly-a-bank features fully-loaded: as long as it’s sifted through regulatory filters first.
Learning from past mistakes, Revolut teamed up with a London-based regtech company to help their expansion plans. The company has also set up a dedicated in-house global licensing team to aid international expansions.
This is all in the spirit of quick expansions, which CEO Nikolay Storonsky claims could be their winning ticket to staying ahead of local competition like Alibaba and Line.

“Our big advantage is that we are not afraid of expanding outside, while Asian companies are much more conservative,” Nikolay said in an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review.
“Be as fast as possible and always stay ahead of the competition. You always have to have in the pipeline certain things no one knows about, and when they copy you, you are doing new things.”
The CEO continued to say they prefer to launch fast, and with a strategy of building partnerships, like with the aforementioned regtech and one with Rakuten that would allow them to launch without having to obtain a banking license, Nikolay definitely puts his money where his mouth is.
And with VC funding behind their backs, the not-yet-profitable company is ready to bleed more money to ensure that they gain a significant slice of the market share.
Marketing Could be Their Breaking Point

Revolut, and fellow neo-banks Monzo, N26 are known for intelligent marketing, and the way we look at it, Revolut branding themselves a travel companion has served as a fantastic introduction to its British users.
A normal user might not be too keen on the idea of a fully-digital bank, but if they are instead told that it is an app to make travel exchanges cheaper, then that’s something infinitely more palatable and interesting. As far as we can tell, while their global reputation is that of a challenger bank, Revolut will still be introducing themselves in the same way to Japan and Singapore: cheaper multi-currency exchanges.
Revolut is also great at building hype. Their waiting lists come to mind, as frequent stars of headlines regarding them, as it would drive curiosity as to what is so great about them by those not in-the-know.
In fact, the Revolut cult that was built in the UK was also built via reputation; banking on social proof as a driver of consumer adoption by building product in ways that drive consumers to tell their loved ones about it.

Featured image via Revolut

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Top 10 Insurtech Leaders in Asia

InsurTech

Top 10 Insurtech Leaders in Asia

									by Fintech News Singapore
February 12, 2019

15714  1

Who are the top InsurTech leaders in Asia?
Insurtech Asia Association evaluated 215 candidates for a combination of impact, influence and potential.
2019 is shaping to be an amazing year for InsurTech in Asia and the following 10 outstanding individuals are relentlessly pushing things forward in the region. (Quote from Insurtech Asia Association via Linkedin)
Source: Insurtech Asia Assocation via Linkedin

Top 10 Insurtech Leaders in Asia

Connexions Asia – Rosaline Koo

Rosaline Koo is the Founder and CEO of CXA, a Singapore-based employee-focused benefits platform. Founded in 2013, CXA was bootstrapped by Rosaline with $5M of her own savings, and $5M of debt. The startup has now raised $33M in funding to date, with marquee investors such as B Capital Group, EBDI, and Openspace Ventures. Rosaline was awarded “Women Entrepreneur 2017” from MediaCorp and the Ministry of Education for her efforts in furthering the insurtech industry. Prior to starting CXA, Rosaline was a Global Innovation Leader and Senior Partner at Mercer Singapore. She received her bachelor’s degree from UCLA, and an MBA from Columbia.

Singapore Life – Walter de Oude

Walter de Oude is Founder and CEO of Singapore Life, one of the newest full licensed direct life insurers in Singapore, and the first licensed local insurance since 1970. Singapore Life provides life insurance products to HNWI’s. The company has raised a total of $83M in 3 years, a remarkable feat for a relatively young startup. Walter is a career insurance/actuary specialist, most recently serving as the CEO of HSBC Insurance of Singapore for 4.5 years, and prior to this was a consulting actuary at Willis Towers Watson, and Swiss Re. He received his Bachelor’s of Economic Science at the University of the Witwatersrand
ZhongAn Insurance – Wayne Xu Wei

Wayne Xu Wei is the COO of Zhongan Insurance, the brainchild of Ping An, Tencent, and Alibaba. Zhong An was the first and largest insurance company in China to sell insurance products through the internet. After listing on the HKSE in 2017, the company is now focusing to build out its product lines and improve profitability. In an interview with Nikkei Asian Review, Wayne said, “We do think [that] with benefits from big data and artificial intelligence-powered data analysis, we will be able to keep improving our claims ratio in the future”. A former product manager at Google’s HQ in Mountain View and in Beijing, Wayne received his Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Nanjing University of Post and Telecommunications, and an MBA at Tsinghua University.
Munich RE – Arabella Eunju Kim

Arabella Eunju Kim is a Senior Client Manager and Digitalization Lead for Southeast Asia at Munich Re, one of the leading reinsurers globally. Eunju leads business development and the creation of new products at Munich Re’s Singapore office, with a mandate to cover Vietnam and Singapore. An active member in the startup scene, Eunju serves as an Insurtech mentor at Startupbootcamp Fintech, and as an Expert Mentor at Ping An Cloud Accelerator. She received her Bachelor’s of Science in Physics at Ewha Womans University, and executive education at Stanford GSB and LBS.
Grab – Tom Duncan

Tom Duncan is the Head of Insurance at Grab. In the titan’s latest push towards becoming Southeast Asia’s super-app, Grab partnered with Zhong An insurance last month in a joint venture. With more than a decade of experience in the fintech and insurtech space, Tom is now leading Grab’s efforts to provide insurtech products and solutions across its platform. Prior to joining Grab, Tom headed digital partnerships for Chubb APAC, and was responsible for Chubb’s partnership with Grab in Southeast Asia.
Crossbordr – Robert Collins

Robert Collins is the CEO of Crossbordr, a multinational insurance broker based in the U.S. Robert started his career focusing on global insurance at Capgemini, and AON. A top 50 global insurtech influencer, Robert mentors insurtech startups at Ping An’s Cloud Accelerator, and is an advisor of InsChain (SG), an insurance startup utilizing blockchain and AI technology. Robert is also a global panel member of MIT Technology Review, an author of the InsurTECH book, and an Adjunct Professor at Hult International Business School.
Tune Protect – Ai Lin Khoo

Ai Lin Khoo is the CEO at Tune Protect Group in Kuala Lumpur. Tune Protect provides diverse products for personal protection, and is listed on the KLSE. Appointed to group CEO this January, Ai Lin stated, “I look forward to working closely with the group’s management team to accelerate expansion of international business while continuing to strengthen the Group’s strategic pillars such as being a leader in product innovation, expanding distribution channels and delivering exceptional customer experience.” Formerly the CMO at Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd and GM at Hong Leong Assurance Bhd., Ai Lin has a wealth of experience in the insurance industry.
Pasar Polis – Cleosent Randing

Cleosent Randing is the CEO and Founder of PasarPolis, the pre-eminent insurtech startup in Indonesia offering custom insurance solutions through both B2B and D2C distribution channels. PasarPolis announced its presence in the region with a bang after raising a Series A in 2018, with backing from 3 Indonesian unicorns: Go-jek, Tokopedia, and Traveloka. A serial entrepreneur, Cleosent founded digital performance agency Valuklik in 2012, which was later acquired by Dentsu Aegis Network in 2017.
Muang Thai Life Assurance Public Company Limited – Nadia Suttikulpannich

Nadia Suttikulpannich is the head of Fuchsia Innovation Center, at Muang Thai Life Assurance. In 2016, Nadia set up Fuchsia to kick start innovation at Muang Thai Life Assurance, focusing on improving MTL’s present business lines, integrating and innovating new technologies, and testing high-risk, high-reward projects. Nadia works with a select startups in the insurtech industry such as Health at Home, and Nutrigenomics DNA. Prior to joining MTL, Nadia was a senior brand manager at Unilever Asia and a Strategic Planner at Lowe Asia-Pacific.

Peak Re – David Cabral

David Cabral is the COO of Peak Re, the global reinsurer based in Hong Kong. As a veteran of the reinsurance industry, David serves as an advisor to multiple companies globally such as Ticinum Aerospace (Italy), Insurercore (UK), Smart ECG Tech (UK), and Inzsure (SG). Prior to his advisory roles, David was a serial entrepreneur, founding Artemis Specialty and a founding member of Endurance Specialty Insurance Ltd.

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InsurTech
Thailand

Thai Insurtech Startup Raises US$ 10 M Funding, Eyes Expansion into Singapore

									by Fintech News Singapore
February 25, 2019

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After successfully raising a US$ 10 Million series A led by Vertex Ventures, Thailand-based insurtech startup Sunday is eyeing expansion into Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. This new funding round puts Sunday among the top-funded fintech startups in Thailand
Sunday is a digital insurer who claims to differentiate itself based on “risk-prediction model driven by AI and machine learning” the startup also claims to use more variables than any insurer in South East Asia.

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Cindy Kua
“At Sunday, we believe the only way to solve this is to own and simplify the entire value chain using data and technology. We want to create a platform where people are able to find any insurance for themselves and their businesses at anytime and anywhere. There is more than one way to reach customers now and in the future which is why we have built capabilities to also integrate our solutions into various businesses and ecosystems,”
said Cindy Kua, co-founder and CEO.

Sunday has since launched over a hundred variations of products and platforms to cover niche risks such as extended warranty and flight delay to more complex coverage such as auto and health insurance.

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Funding
Indonesia
InsurTech

Insurance & Indonesia: What Grab’s New US$1.46 Bil Brings to The Table

									by Fintech News Singapore
March 6, 2019

11210  1

Grab has been accused of being the most capitalised startup in Southeast Asia’s history, and with this recent closing of a whopping Series H we find it hard to disagree. Grab opened this round round since June last year, and at its close, sees participation from quite a few big names: returning investor Softbank Vision Fund, Toyota Motor Corporation, Oppenheimer Funds, Hyundai Motor Group, Booking Holdings, Microsoft Corporation, Ping An Capital, and Yamaha Motor.
With Softbank Vision Fund’s injection, the total financing secured in Grab’s Series H totals up to over US$4.5 billion (SG$6.11 billion).

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As usual, Grab expressed interest in furthering its “super app vision” in Southeast Asia, which refers to their efforts into a multipurpose app—for ride-hailing, financial services, deliveries, food delivery and even media content.
Grab revealed a few things that it would like to embolden with the new fund injection; like expanding on its existing verticals, and rolling out new services that it announced in 2018 like on-demand video, in-app digital healthcare, mobile insurance, and hotel bookings. Grab also mentioned that it plans on investing a significant portion into its Indonesian market.

Out of the many plans that Grab has with the funding, here’s two things we’re interested in:
Doubling Down on Insurtech
Slated for a mid-2019 launch in Singapore, Grab announced a joint venture with ZhongAn, one of China’s insurtech giants to launch a digital insurance distribution platform for Southeast Asia.
They will start out by offering drivers’ insurance to its drivers in Singapore, but the overall goal  is to offer a variety of mobile insurance products for underinsured or uninsured populations.
Another affected party could be Ping An, without coincidence, one of the investors to Grab’s new round.
In August last year, Ping and and Grab announced that they will establish a joint venture company, looking to offer a variety of integrated medical services like AI-assisted medical consultations, medicine delivery and appointment bookings through the online platform.
Driving Competition in Go-Jek’s Home Turf, Indonesia
In particular, Grab plans to invest a significant portion of fresh proceeds in Indonesia, where company claims that its revenue has doubled in 2018.
Grab gave particular attention to growing GrabFood and GrabExpress in the region, though it did also mention that it is part of the payments ecosystem in Indonesia thanks to partnerships with OVO and Tokopedia.
Seeing as Grab is in the middle of a stiff Southeast Asian competition with Indonesia-based Go-Jek, we won’t be surprised if Grab has aspirations towards giving the Indonesian platform a run for its money; especially since Go-Jek has also expressed similar “super app” interest with Go-Pay at its center.
Featured image via Grab Thailand

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Funding
InsurTech

Insurtech Startup CXA Raises US$ 25 Million  — Eyes Expansion in Asia-Pacific

									by Fintech News Singapore
March 14, 2019

468  2

CXA Group, a one-stop, predictive and data intelligence platform for better health, wealth and wellness choices, announced today that it has raised US$25 million in its latest round of funding.
CXA’s new group of strategic investors include HSBC, Singtel Innov8, Telkom Indonesia MDI Ventures, Sumitomo Corporation Equity Asia, Muang Thai Fuchsia Ventures, Humanica and Heritas Venture Fund, underscoring the company’s aim to be the leading health ecosystem platform addressing escalating healthcare costs across the region.
With chronic diseases hitting people in Asia earlier than in the West and healthcare costs escalating , the company found that the antiquated pen-and-paper, one-size-fits-all approach to managing these costs was systemically wrong. This situation, if left unaddressed, would only get worse and become economically unsustainable over time.
The company has introduced a self-service platform that allows employers to give their employees access to an ever-widening range of health, wealth and wellness offerings, personalised based on the individual’s health and life-stage data.

Employees can purchase offerings by drawing down on existing insurance policies provided by their employers and using funds that are then released into the platform’s eWallet to make transactions cashless, fast and easy.
Through the aggregation, anonymisation and analysis of digitised health and life-stage data, CXA helps employers get to the root cause of their workforces’ health issues and design specific interventions – such as corporate wellness and disease management initiatives – that will have the greatest impact on cost and health improvement, for reductions in tomorrow’s chronic disease and healthcare spend, today.
Headquartered in Singapore, CXA achieved revenue growth of 65 percent in 2018 and is expected to double that in 2019. This latest funding round follows US$33 million in total funding from Series A and B in 2015 and 2017 respectively. Other investors in CXA include B Capital Group, Openspace Ventures, Government-linked strategic investor EDBI, BioVeda Capital, FengHe Asia, Philips and RGAx.

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