Asia Pacific


Japanese regulator and banks plan shared ID system on blockchain

The Financial Services Agency of Japan and some of the nation’s banks are planning to develop a shared identification system on blockchain. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, consumers will be able to open accounts at multiple banks and financial houses without having to re-enter personal information. The first step will see an administrative body […]

Japan embraces fintech’s hard-boiled wonderland

Banks and politicians in Japan are getting ever more energetic for fintech with grand plans for APIs, artificial intelligence (AI), digital currencies, blockchain, funding for start-ups and an easing of regulations. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) will launch a website on Monday (25 September) for makers of smartphone […]

Hitachi creates IoT focused big data company Vantara

When we hear Hitachi two things come to mind; 80s style radio and construction vehicles. This might be a perception the team will want to address as Hitachi enters the internet of things (IoT) world, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Combining the capabilities of three separate brands, Hitachi Data Systems, Hitachi Insight Group, and […]

Doreming brings it for Lien Viet Post Bank retail banking ambitions

Doreming, a Japanese financial inclusion firm, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Lien Viet Post Bank to build a solution for managing and paying wages to workers in Vietnam through the bank’s Vien Viet non-physical card. Doreming provides businesses with an HR platform that enables workers to receive pro-rata payments, “easing cash flow […]

Fintech alliance round-up: 15 September 2017

The power of love, a force from above, cleaning my soul – flame on burn desire, love with tongues of fire, purge the soul, make fintech alliances your goal. Our latest cuddly round-up features the Securities Commission Malaysia, Dubai Financial Services Authority, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Taiwan Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. The Securities Commission Malaysia […]

BitFlyer competes for Japanese Bankers Association’s blockchain experiment attention

Tokyo-based Bitcoin exchange BitFlyer has been selected as a partner vendor to provide an experimental environment for the Japanese Bankers Association’s “collaborative blockchain platform”. BitFlyer’s proprietary blockchain technology – Miyabi – will be used and the platform is scheduled to begin operation in October. Miyabi is a private blockchain “exclusively” for enterprise users. The experiment […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 14 September 2017

Arguments, exchanges and something getting launched. It’s our blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Features JP Morgan Chase, the Financial Services Agency of Japan and Wish Finance. There will be blood. Sort of. JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon got plenty of attention with his scepticism and criticism of Bitcoin – calling it a “fraud”. Using the […]

Swift’s gpi powers DBS cross-border payments tracking debut

Corporates and SMEs in Singapore and Hong Kong can now track their cross-border payments via DBS, using Swift’s global payments innovation (gpi). DBS says it is the first bank in the two countries to execute cross-border payments with end-to-end tracking, “helping corporates and SMEs become more efficient in their cash management”. In the past, DBS […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 7 September 2017

From immaturity to security, our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up features the European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, the People’s Bank of China, Bank Hapoalim and Microsoft. It’s happened before and it will happen again, but distributed ledger technology (DLT) has come into some criticisms in relation to payments. In a dark duet, the European […]

Fintech alliance round-up: 5 September 2017

What the world needs now is love, sweet love. And fintech is on hand to deliver with a pair of co-operation agreements. Features the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Chongqing; and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority and Israel. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Chongqing Financial Affairs Office and the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative […]

Bambu wins strategic investment from Franklin Templeton

Singapore-based B2B robo-advisor Bambu has completed a funding round, featuring a strategic investment from Franklin Templeton Investments and venture capital funding from Wavemaker Partners, part of the Draper Venture Network.

Japanese start-ups fire up in force

The land of the rising sun is seeing a rising number of start-ups power up as they hunt for fintech glory. According to Nikkei Asian Review, 46 tech companies have gone public in Japan so far in 2017, with the full-year total seen reaching 80 to 90. The highest tally in the last decade was […]

Singapore’s Payments Council seeks road to common QR code

The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) new Payments Council plans to set up interoperable electronic payments and has unveiled a taskforce to develop a common QR code for the city-state. As reported earlier this month, the Council launched and comprises 20 people from banks, payment service providers, businesses, and trade associations. MAS says the setting […]

Dubai and Hong Kong hug for fintech innovation

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong have entered an agreement to establish a framework of co-operation for fintech innovation. Both authorities will share information on developments and the agreement “also intends to encourage both regulators to refer innovative firms to one another’s markets and to […]

Mizuho primes for financial crime with IBM Watson time

Mizuho is testing out new ways of risk management and dealing with financial crime by using IBM Watson’s cognitive technology. The plan is to use the Watson-powered software, which runs on the IBM Cloud, to analyse a range of data sources, including retrieving news sources and extracting data using screening technologies, that were previously done […]

Symphony Communication Services makes its Asia debut

Hong Kong-headquartered capital markets and investment group CLSA has deployed Symphony Communication Services collaboration platform across its entire business. The roll-out of Symphony to CLSA’s 1,900 employees is its largest deployment to date by an Asia-headquartered firm. CLSA joins a community who connect on Symphony, comprised of over 220,000 corporate users from 190 firms. CLSA […]

Taiwan goes in big on AI craze

The Taiwanese Ministry of Science and Technology has put its money where its mouth is to make a mark on the world of artificial intelligence (AI) with a TND $16 billion ($527 million) investment, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The AI craze is very quickly gathering pace in every aspect of our lives, and […]

Hong Kong regulator grins thanks to financial inclusion wins

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is in a happy mood as the region’s financial inclusion initiatives are progressing well. Norman Chan, HKMA chief executive, visited three retail bank branches in northern Tin Shui Wai area of Hong Kong today (17 August) to understand the situation of branch services from bank representatives and staff, and […]

LGT in regtech revamp with Wolters Kluwer

Liechtenstein’s private bank and asset manager LGT is working on a regtech project with Wolters Kluwer. LGT is implementing the vendor’s OneSumX platform for the regulatory reporting and risk management of its Asian operations – in Singapore and Hong Kong.

CFTE brings fintech education initiative to Asia with MAS

UK-based Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) is looking to expand to Asia and plans to set up its first international hub in Singapore. The newly launched organisation says it “has been working closely with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to formalise plans to expand CFTE’s education initiative to ASEAN”.

Linedata acquires outsourcing firm QRMO

Linedata has expanded its outsourcing business into Asia with the acquisition of Quality Risk Management & Operations (QRMO), a provider of outsourced middle-office, shadow accounting and risk monitoring services to the asset management and securities industries.

Bank Islam plans digital Islamic banking roll-out

Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad is working with consulting firm Cognizant to lay the foundation for its digital banking platform roll-out across its entire network. Encik Khairul Kamarudin, CEO of Bank Islam, says the move will bring “greater accessibility to our customers as well as simplifying and improving their banking experience with us”. According to the […]

Monetary Authority of Singapore plans payments council

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) says it will establish a Payments Council with the plan to create an “e-payment society” for the city state. The new council will comprise 20 people from banks, payment service providers, businesses, and trade associations. Members are appointed for a two-year term. MAS says the setting up of the […]

Fujitsu in blockchain-powered payments breakthrough

Fujitsu Laboratories says it has accelerated transaction processing for Hyperledger Fabric, one of the Hyperledger blockchain frameworks hosted by the Linux Foundation. In its latest development, Fujitsu says the processing of communications between applications and the blockchain platform, which had been the source of bottlenecks, is now “more efficient”. In a trial where this technology […]

Three more Chinese banks join Swift’s global payments innovation

Three local Chinese commercial banks have joined Swift’s global payments innovation initiative (gpi), bringing the number of Chinese banks involved to 16, the most in the world, according to Xinhua. The new trio are Yinzhou Bank and Bank of Ningbo in eastern China’s Zhejiang province; and the Bank of Jiangsu, in the eastern Jiangsu province […]

Abu Dhabi and Malaysia make friends for fintech fantasia

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the International Financial Centre of Abu Dhabi, Labuan International Business and Financial Centre (Labuan IBFC) and Labuan Financial Services Authority (Labuan FSA) have partnered to boost their financial ecosystems in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi. Labuan is a federal territory of Malaysia – and its capital, Victoria, is used as an […]

Hong Kong kicks off fintech career accelerator scheme

Fintech is coming on strong in Hong Kong with the unleashing of a career accelerator scheme to tap into the juicy veins of young blood. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) have launched their Fintech Career Accelerator Scheme (FCAS) induction day today (27 July), […]

Visa expands with data centres in Singapore and UK

Visa is expanding its transaction-processing capabilities with two data centres in Singapore and the UK, reports Paybefore, Banking Technology‘s sister publication. The new global processing hubs will “increase the speed, resilience and geo-diversity of Visa’s infrastructure, while strengthening the company’s ability to deliver new and more sophisticated ways to pay in today’s hyper-connected global economy,” […]

Visa Expands with Data Centers in Singapore, U.K.

Visa Inc. is expanding its transaction-processing capabilities with two data centers in Singapore and the U.K. to “increase the speed, resilience and geo-diversity of Visa’s infrastructure, while strengthening the company’s ability to deliver new and more sophisticated ways to pay in today’s hyper-connected global economy.”

Ant Financial Forms JV with CIMB Subsidiary for Digital Financial Services

In another step to expand its global footprint and promote financial inclusion, Ant Financial Services Group on July 24 announced it’s entering into an equity joint venture with CIMB Group Holdings Berhad subsidiary Touch ‘n Go Sdn Bhd (TNG). The JV will introduce a “world-class mobile platform for payments and other financial services,” the companies said.

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