What The FinTech #110 - 11 Sep 2022
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What was the FinTech this week in: 📰
SINGAPORE
DBS enters metaverse in tie-up with The Sandbox to create virtual BetterWorld
KPMG to accelerate embedded finance adoption in Singapore with new hub
Banks in talks with Singapore's DBS to begin real-time remittance system
Singapore hits three-year-high for H1 fintech funding at US$2.14 billion but scores smaller total deal value compared to H2’21
DBS enters metaverse in tie-up with The Sandbox to create virtual BetterWorld
DBS Bank is creating a metaverse virtual world that will allow users to experience building a better, more sustainable world. Dubbed DBS BetterWorld, it will be accessible to members of the public, including non-DBS customers, for free. For this venture, Singapore's largest bank is partnering The Sandbox, an Ethereum-based decentralised virtual gaming world. DBS will acquire a 3x3 plot of Land - a unit of virtual real estate in The Sandbox metaverse - which will be developed with immersive elements such as buildings, plants and animals. Along with The Sandbox, it will also purchase carbon offsets so that the land and production on BetterWorld will be carbon neutral. The metaverse has been hailed as the future Internet, allowing users to interact through characters or avatars, and buy land or goods using digital currencies. Motion-sensing technologies also help to bring these experiences to life - for example, by allowing users to speak to and feel the touch of another avatar.
KPMG to accelerate embedded finance adoption in Singapore with new hub
KPMG announced plans to launch Singapore’s first embedded finance hub to provide incubation support to enterprises and financial institutions by matching participants across the industry and providing knowledge in specific areas of embedded finance. The hub is set to run for at least two years and is expected to provide incubation support to over 120 non-financial enterprises and financial institutions looking to make inroads into financial areas. This could involve working with companies to co-create digital assets to drive developments for payments, gamification of finance, decentralised finance and platforms. Startups can also trial their embedded finance innovations at the hub, gaining feedback from hub ecosystem participants on how to commercialise in Singapore and regionally.
Banks in talks with Singapore's DBS to begin real-time remittance system
At least five Indian banks, including the State Bank of India and ICICI Bank, are in discussions with Singapore's DBS Bank to start a real-time remittance system using UPI as the backbone. The banks are in discussions to start a common remittance platform with the city-state in collaboration with Singapore's PayNow funds' transfer service, reported ET quoting people familiar with the matter. This will make the international funds' transfer process real-time, instead of taking more than one day. PayNow is a fast payment system in Singapore that enables peer-to-peer funds transfer services.
Singapore's fintech funding has hit a three year high for first-half-year (H1) performance snagging a combined deal value of US$2.14 billion across venture capital (VC), private equity (PE) and mergers & acquisitions (M&A), according to KPMG's Pulse of Fintech H1'22 report. Compared to the same period last year, funding shot up 64 percent from the combined deal value US$1.31 billion achieved in H1'21, signalling continued confidence in the potential of fintech developments in driving growth and innovation for financial services. On a half-yearly basis, Singapore's fintech funding saw a 15 percent drop in H1'22 compared to the US$2.51 billion achieved in H2'21 due to greater caution by investors in reaction to market developments. Cryptocurrency funding in Singapore dipped by more than half its value from US$1.3 billion in H2'21 to US$539.1 million in H1'22 – this comes after record crypto investment inflows in 2021.
CHINA
Ant Insurance launches China’s first digital operation platform for insurance companies
Ant Insurance launches China’s first digital operation platform for insurance companies
Ant Group‘s online insurance agency platform Ant Insurance has launched digital operation platform Xingyun (translated as nebula) for insurance companies in China. According to Ant Insurance, the Xingyun platform is the first of its kind in the country. Powered by Ant Group’s technologies, the Xingyun platform can help insurers improve operational efficiency and customer experience through smart digital operation covering the whole business process including sales, operations and customer service. The company says that Xingyun can identify 107 types of verification documents, such as receipts from hospitals, for insurance claim settlements with an identification accuracy rate of above 95%. Insurance companies can also launch their digital storefronts on the Ant Insurance platform through Xingyun to offer services such as user education content and product sales to consumers directly.
ASIA
Biz2X announces partnership with TradeIndia
Bukalapak, StanChart launch their digital banking service in Indonesia
SkorLife gives control of credit data back to Indonesian consumers
Akulaku’s BNPL solution now among payment methods supported by Alipay+
Y Combinator, Global Brain back Tailor, a Japanese headless ERP startup
Biz2X announces partnership with TradeIndia
Biz2X partners with Infocom Network Private Limited (TradeIndia) through its digital platform Maadhyam. TradeIndia to provide financing solutions to the SMEs and the MSMEs in the TradeIndia B2B ecosystem. With this partnership, TradeIndia will provide financial assistance to its B2B SMEs digitally, including loan servicing with facilities like a line of credit, invoice-based financing, and will digitally undertake credit monitoring, repayment, and collections management of these financial products through the deployment of Biz2X Maadhyam. Through Biz2X Maadhyam, TradeIndia will enable an Omni-Channel multi–Lender Digital Lending solution that allows more flexibility to manage complex product portfolios and eliminate IT efforts required for integrating with lender systems for data outflow and inflow.
Bukalapak, StanChart launch their digital banking service in Indonesia
Indonesian e-commerce platform Bukalapak and Standard Chartered announced that they have officially launched their digital banking service BukaTabungan. BukaTabungan is now available on Google Play Store and will soon be available on the App Store. The offering leverages the reach of Bukalapak’s all-commerce platform and the technology of nexus, a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution powered by Standard Chartered. BukaTabungan, a service within Bukalapak’s platform, will offer banking services that are inclusive, easy, and secure to its ecosystem of over 110 million users and 20 million business owners, enhanced by a completely digital, non-face-to-face onboarding experience. Using advanced automation and security technologies employing artificial intelligence, biometric facial recognition and E-KTP (Indonesia’s biometrics-enabled ID programme) validation, opening an account on BukaTabungan is said to be truly paperless.
SkorLife gives control of credit data back to Indonesian consumers
Indonesia’s credit bureaus currently have about 92 million credit records, but the founders of SkorLife say many people have trouble accessing their own data. That’s why they built the app, which not only lets people see their credit histories for free, but also gives personalized advice on how to improve data. The Jakarta-based startup announced today it has raised $2.2 million in pre-seed funding. SkorLife says the private, alpha version of its app has been downloaded more than 3,000 times and is growing organically by 50 to 60 new users a day. That surpasses its internal target by 7x and the app will be available for public download soon.
Akulaku’s BNPL solution now among payment methods supported by Alipay+
Alipay+, a suite of global cross-border digital payments and marketing solutions, has included Indonesian fintech Akulaku’s Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution among its supported digital payment methods. This partnership will allow Indonesian consumers to use the Akulaku PayLater solution at Alipay+’s global merchants. Launched in 2016, Akulaku PayLater has already onboarded 4,000 merchants and aims to serve 10,000 online merchants and over 100,000 offline stores over the next two years. The platform’s BNPL functionality provides individuals who have limited credit history with access to a convenient line of credit as well as manageable instalment plans. Akulaku and Alipay+ are also exploring opportunities to further extend their partnership to other markets in Southeast Asia.
Y Combinator, Global Brain back Tailor, a Japanese headless ERP startup
Tailor, a Japan-based back-end enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, said today it has raised $4.3 million in seed funding from Y Combinator and Global Brain. Founded in 2021 by Yo Shibata and Misato Takahashi, Tailor provides a headless ERP platform, meaning an ERP without a front end, instead delivering data from back-office systems like finance and procurement to other applications via API, Shibata told TechCrunch. Legacy ERPs provided by companies such as SAP, Oracle and NetSuite (which is owned by Oracle) and local players like OBIC, are difficult to customize for users, according to Shibata.
BLOCKCHAIN - CRYPTO - DIGITAL ASSETS - DE FI
The final countdown to the Ethereum Merge has officially begun
DBS bank to expand its crypto services
LG picks lesser-known Hedera blockchain for television NFTs
Terror groups may turn to NFTs to raise funds and spread messages: WSJ
The final countdown to the Ethereum Merge has officially begun
The Ethereum blockchain’s Merge is officially underway and will likely kick in sometime between Sept. 13-16. The Bellatrix upgrade – the network's final "hard fork" before the Merge – was activated on Tuesday, marking the beginning of Ethereum’s long-awaited transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS). The Bellatrix upgrade prepares Ethereum's PoS Beacon Chain – also called its Consensus layer – for a Merge with Ethereum's mainnet Execution layer.
DBS bank to expand its crypto services
DBS bank is looking to expand its cryptocurrency services. Despite the bear market in cryptocurrencies, Singapore’s largest bank says it still intends to boost its digital exchange and provide services to more of its 300,000 high-net-worth customers in Asia. The Monetary Authority of Singapore granted the bank’s brokerage division a cryptocurrency license last year, granting its wealthy and institutional clients invitation-only access to its DBS Digital Exchange. he app would enable DBS to serve more clients while also streamlining and speeding up the process for customers. As of December 2021, DBS’s total assets were S$686 billion (US$488 billion).
LG picks lesser-known Hedera blockchain for television NFTs
Korea-based LG is releasing a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace called LG Art Lab that plugs into the Hedera Network, which LG supports. Television owners with sets updated to LG’s most recent software will be able to buy, sell and showcase their Hedera NFTs from their screens. LG’s strides into the NFT space follow Samsung’s release of an NFT marketplace on three of its TVs, all supported by Nifty Gateway. LG Art Lab will only be on LG TVs. Incorporating LG's mobile crypto wallet Wallypto, users can purchase assets by scanning a QR code to connect their wallets.
Terror groups may turn to NFTs to raise funds and spread messages: WSJ
The first known case of a nonfungible token (NFT) created and shared by a “terrorist sympathizer” has come to light, raising concerns that the immutable nature of blockchain tech could help the spread of terrorist messages and propaganda. In a Sunday article in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), intelligence experts said the NFT could be a sign that Islamic State and other terror groups may also be using blockchain technology to evade sanctions and raise funds for their terrorist campaigns. The NFT in question was reportedly discovered by Raphael Gluck, co-founder of the United States-based research firm Jihadoscope, who found the NFT through pro-ISIS social-media accounts.
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