What The FinTech #108 - 31 Jul 2022
Happy Sunday & Welcome back to What The FinTech, your regular FinTech & Innovation Newsletter focusing on Hong Kong & Asia!
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***The newsletter will return in September***
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What you have missed if you've had a long week leading up to your summer vacation.
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Substack Newsletter
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What The FinTech Episode 12
I interviewed Adrien Barthel, Co-Founder of Sleek.
Sleek is the SMEs’ all-in-one digital platform, helping over 6000+ entrepreneurs to start and manage their businesses. Incorporate a company in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and the UK 100% remotely, file requests to your company secretary 24/7, start a business account and sign documents digitally with our eSignature tool SleekSign - all on their secure platform.
To learn more about Sleek, listen to this episode.
The previous interviews are available on podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts.
What The FinTech Episode 13
The next interview with Lavine Hemlan, CEO & Founder of Xccelerate will be about "Learn and Earn" by solving Web3 challenges.
Check out the previous videos here: on What The FinTech, Instagram or Youtube.
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What was the FinTech this week in: 📰
SINGAPORE
Google Wallet is now available in Singapore as a standalone app
Google Cloud and MAS bid to catalyse climate fintech
Fintech funding in Singapore remains strong despite global downturn
Fund managers required to disclose strategies, metrics of ESG funds in 2023
Google Wallet is now available in Singapore as a standalone app
Google Wallet is now available as a standalone app for the Singaporean users as a complementary experience to Google Pay. This digital wallet for Android and Wear OS standardises the way users save and access essential items such as vaccine cards, event tickets, boarding and loyalty passes. The new Google Wallet provides granular settings and Android security features that have already been used to such as authentication, biometrics and encryption so that users can customise their own privacy experience. At launch, Google Wallet can be used to access flight tickets from national carrier Singapore Airlines, e-cards from partners like Watsons and National Library Board, and also store the user’s vaccination certificate.
Google Cloud and MAS bid to catalyse climate fintech
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Google Cloud have launched the Point Carbon Zero Programme to drive the innovation, incubation and scaling of climate fintech in Asia. The programme will seek to use fintech to help the finance sector get access to accurate and granular climate-related data that can be used for more efficient deployment of capital towards green and sustainable projects. To support the programme, Google Cloud will launch a world’s first open-source cloud platform dedicated to climate finance, facilitating the deployment of the technology and its adoption by the financial sector.
Fintech funding in Singapore remains strong despite global downturn
After a record-breaking year 2021, global funding is slowing dramatically in 2022 with fintech companies raising a total of US$108 billion in H1 2022 (KPMG). But despite the current global slowdown, Singapore has nevertheless managed to weather the tumultuos market conditions rather well, with fintech funding remaining strong. Moving forward, the momentum is set to continue, building on favourable new regulations, government initiatives, and a dynamic initial public offering (IPO) market, a report by the consulting firm says. Data from KPMG show that investors’ confidence in Singapore’s fintech sector continues to stand high. In Q2 2022, Singapore’s global market share in deal value for fintech more than doubled compared to 2021, rising from 3.1% last year to 6.4% the past quarter.
Fund managers required to disclose strategies, metrics of ESG funds in 2023
From Jan 1, 2023, fund managers in Singapore will be required to disclose the investment strategies, metrics and criteria of retail funds sold with the environmental, social and governance (ESG) label, under the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) efforts to tackle greenwashing. Unveiling this set of disclosure requirements on Thursday (Jul 28), alongside the release of the central bank’s second sustainability report, MAS managing director Ravi Menon said the new guidelines would help retail investors better understand the ESG funds they invest in. MAS announced in June last year that it intended to set out disclosure standards on retail ESG funds early this year.
CHINA
Tencent launches Tencent Map and Digital Twins units
Huawei and MuRong release mobile payment solution together
China merchants bank scraps 5-year FinTech project with JD
Tencent launches Tencent Map and Digital Twins units
Tencent announced the addition of two new units to its Cloud and Smart Industries Business Group (CSIG) – Tencent Map and Digital Twins – and shut down the Smart Space Product unit and Transportation Platform Product unit (our translation). The new Tencent Map Product unit, led by Zhang Zhidong, will be consumer-facing, while the existing Map Platform unit develops the fundamental tech behind map products. Employees from the two shuttered units mentioned above will join the Digital Twins unit led by Wan Chao.
Huawei and MuRong release mobile payment solution together
Global tech giant Huawei and China-based IT provider of payment export and scenario-based finance MuRong have partnered to release a Mobile Payment and Micro Finance Solution. The solution was presented during the Huawei Intelligent Finance Summit 2022 and reflects the innovation both companies have put into inclusion finance. The new feature helps banks to build a 1+4+7 end-to-end solution, which includes a cloud-native platform provided by Huawei, four types of financial applications operated on the MuRong Inclusive finance service platform, as well as seven specific products. Among the specific products MuRong in collaboration with Huawei will offer, we can count for a super app, Open Banking platform, micro loans, micro savings, digital payments, digital marketing, and digital operations.
China merchants bank scraps 5-year FinTech project with JD
After more than five years of working on a FinTech project with Chinese eCommerce marketplace JD.com, commercial lender China Merchants Bank (CMB) has decided not to move forward with the planned direct banking joint venture. CMB’s board gave no reason for its decision to withdraw an application that would have led to the opening of CMB’s Tuopu Bank with JD, also known as Jingdong Digits Technology Holding. The end of the project has no bearing on CMB’s operations, an unnamed bank executive told the news outlet.
ASIA
Rise of super-apps puts pressure on incumbents
ADDX lists private credit fund managed by Helicap Investments
Carousell jointly invests US$25M to acquire Laku6 to grow electronics recommerce in SEA
Krungsri and Grab launch “Grab First Personal Loan” to capture retail market, focusing on Grab users
Grab digitises Indonesian markets
Indian fintechs find sweet spot in SEA market
Rise of super-apps puts pressure on incumbents
In Asia, big techs and new digital banking challengers are rapidly gaining ground, forcing incumbent banks to rethink their business strategy and become a part of the super-app ecosystem, a new report by Finextra, in association with Infosys Finacle and OneSpan, says. The paper, titled The Future of Digital Banking in Asia 2022, explores Asia’s booming digital banking ecosystem and highlights emerging trends. Super-apps are disrupting traditional methods for engaging underserved market niches and retaining current customers with mobile apps that provide functionality beyond traditional financial services, Samuel Bakken, Director of Product Marketing at OneSpan, wrote in a commentary in the report.
ADDX lists private credit fund managed by Helicap Investments
Helicap Investments has listed its flagship fund – Helicap Fund I – on private markets platform ADDX in a bid to promote financial inclusion in South-east Asia. Since its launch in 2018, Helicap Fund I has disbursed more than US$100 million in loans and has achieved an annualised net return of around 10 per cent, ADDX said in a press release on Thursday (28 Jul). The move by Helicap Investments aims to improve financial inclusion for underserved individuals as well as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Southeast Asia, the company said. The listing will also empower partner institutions to change the way consumers and SMEs access credit.
Carousell jointly invests US$25M to acquire Laku6 to grow electronics recommerce in SEA
Carousell Group has acquired control of Laku6, an Indonesia-based AI-first end-to-end electronics recommerce platform, as part of its vision to make secondhand a priority choice for users. This acquisition is a joint partnership with Heliconia Capital, one of Carousell’s investors, in which they both committed US$25 million to invest in and gain control of Laku6. This move is intended to accelerate circularity in electronics and serve the rapidly-growing secondhand phone market, fuelling growth in the Greater Southeast Asia’s electronics recommerce industry. Laku6’s proprietary AI-first diagnostic technology can remotely inspect the condition of secondhand mobile phones in just under two minutes.
Krungsri and Grab launch “Grab First Personal Loan” to capture retail market, focusing on Grab users
Krungsri (Bank of Ayudhya PCL and its business units) and Grab Thailand jointly reveal the success of their strategic alliance which aligns with the strategy of enhancing the ecosystem and partnership. With the collaboration of Krungsri and Grab, they have provided more than hundreds of thousands of Thai people with the opportunity for financial inclusion. In their latest collaboration, they officially launch ‘Grab First Personal Loan’, a new financial product catering to the financial needs of Grab users which is easy to apply via mobile app, quick to approve, and offer instant cash with a maximum credit line of 100,000 Baht. Krungsri and Grab have exclusively formed a long-term strategic alliance since 2020 and have continuously synergized in the development of financial products and services as well as launching a series of promotional campaigns to fulfill the financial needs of all related parties across Grab’s ecosystem.
Grab digitises Indonesian markets
Grab has partnered with the Indonesian Market Management Association (Asparindo) to help digitise traditional markets across the country. The pair signed a cooperation agreement at Legi Market in Surakarta that will see markets and SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) incorporated into Grab’s GrabMart Pasar programme. The programme will be implemented in cities across the country such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Bogor, Bali, Palembang and Medan. Grab has set a target of digitising 4,600 traditional market SMEs by the end of 2022. The collaboration includes a number of initiatives such as digital market activation, which will give SME partners the opportunity to join the Grab digital ecosystem as Grab merchants and take advantage of digital payment methods. Grab will provide digital training programmes, webinars and education for SMEs in order to improve digital market literacy and help empower digital businesses to increase value.
Indian fintechs find sweet spot in SEA market
The South East Asian (SEA) market has been on the radar of many Indian fintechs as they enter a stage of maturity and gear up for international rollouts. While digital payments (mostly retail PoS) and BNPL (buy now, pay later) are the most popular segments, players in debt collections and supply chain finance are also making inroads. Among major players are Pine Labs, Razorpay, Mswipe, Vayana Network, Infibeam (CC Avenue), and Credgenics attempting to capture a piece of the pie in their respective segments. Firstly, the market has all the right elements—a burgeoning young and mobile-first population, easier government policies, tax benefits, accelerated venture capital investments, favourable demographics, low financial penetration, and so on. With a population of 570 million and a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) expected to reach $4.7 trillion by 2025, the six biggest countries in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, and Thailand) represent one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing regions, reveals a report by Bain and Company, Google, and Temasek.
BLOCKCHAIN - CRYPTO - DIGITAL ASSETS - DE FI
MAS-regulated digital asset exchange SDAX has officially launched
Crypto exchange FTX US expands stock trading, plans options next
FOMO Pay taps Ripple’s liquidity solution for same-day settlements globally
Standard Chartered-backed Zodia Market secures FCA registration
MAS-regulated digital asset exchange SDAX has officially launched
SDAX, an integrated digital investment and trading platform regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has officially launched. The platform offers access to curated institutional-grade investments focusing on real estate and ESG to institutional, accredited and retail investors. The launch follows its S$24 million Series B funding round in late 2021 from PSA International, Straits Trading Company, and New Horizon Global. The digital investment platform provides accredited and retail investors, family offices and institutions with digital investments that are backed by real assets. This is enabled through primary and secondary market mechanisms regulated by the MAS, with both Capital Markets Services (CMS) and Recognised Market Operator (RMO) licenses.
Crypto exchange FTX US expands stock trading, plans options next
Crypto exchange FTX US is expanding its no-fee stock trading service to all US users, including non-crypto investors, in a move to expand its customer base and increase assets under custody. "Our beta users were from a pool of existing FTX US crypto users," Brett Harrison, president of FTX US, said in an interview. "It will be very interesting when we open it to all to see how many FTX US users start to trade stocks, and to what it extent we will be able to bring new users." The company also plans to add options trading, although no specific timeline was provided, he said. Last week, Robinhood Markets launched options trading in cash accounts for eligible customers, calling it one of the most requested features from advanced users.
FOMO Pay taps Ripple’s liquidity solution for same-day settlements globally
Singapore-based major payments institution FOMO Pay announced that it will utilise Ripple’s crypto-enabled enterprise technology to improve its cross-border treasury flows. Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) leverages XRP, the digital asset built for payments as a bridge between two fiat currencies, enabling instant and low-cost settlement without the need to hold pre-funded capital in a destination market. By leveraging ODL for treasury payments, FOMO Pay said that it will be able to get 24/7, all year-round access to liquidity for EUR and USD, thereby enabling same-day settlement globally. ODL for treasury payments allows FOMO Pay to improve internal business cash flows, thereby enabling it to reduce business costs and improve operations.
Standard Chartered-backed Zodia Market secures FCA registration
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has approved crypto brokerage Zodia Market’s registration application on the UK Financial Services Register, allowing the Standard Chartered-backed business to officially launch. Notably, this is the first time a digital asset trading business supported by a leading bank has been registered by the FCA. Zodia Markets operates as a crypto exchange platform that provides clients with electronic trading services. The fintech and ventures branch of Standard Chartered bank, SC Ventures, established Zodia Markets in 2021 in alliance with BC Technology Group, which manages Asian digital assets platform OSL.
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