OCBC says it is the first bank in Southeast Asia to use blockchain for local and cross-border interbank fund transfers. A successful pilot payment transaction was carried out between the bank and its subsidiaries, OCBC Malaysia and Bank of Singapore, using a payment blockchain solution designed by OCBC and local payments firm BCS Information Systems […]
V-Key, a Singapore-based digital security firm, and Ant Financial have teamed up for mobile payments. Under the partnership, V-Key will provide its virtual software solution, V-OS, for Ant Financial to help secure transactions on AliExpress, one of Alibaba Group’s retail ecommerce platforms. (Ant Financial is an affiliate company of Alibaba Group). V-Key will also provide […]
DBS has launched its Singapore innovation lab – DBS Asia X (or DAX) – as it looks to speed up change in its organisation. Neal Cross, chief innovation officer at DBS Bank, says the bank is “not known for taking huge risks or making massive pivots” but now it wants to “inculcate start-up mindsets”. DAX […]
Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, has launched an innovation lab, called ANZ BlueSpace, in Singapore as it looks to work with fintech participants from industry, academia and government. ANZ will tap into Singapore’s “thriving fintech community” and develop capabilities for its institutional customers. David Green, ANZ CEO Singapore and head of South East […]
South Korea’s Shinhan Bank is launching a Bitcoin remittance service between Korea and China, with Hong Kong as an intermediary. The service will be available in December.
Eight start-ups and scale-ups in wealth management, regtech, artificial intelligence (AI), payments, big data, blockchain and cybersecurity are to take part in SuperCharger FinTech Accelerator 2.0.
Byte Academy has unveiled its first international campus with programmes in fintech, data science and Python full-stack development. The new campus is based in Singapore, supported by Standard Chartered Bank, IBM, Thomson Reuters, Microsoft and the Insead business school.
Kasikornbank (Kbank), one of the largest banks in Thailand, is exploring blockchain with IBM, “to save costs and speed up transactions”, the two companies say. The services will be launched in H1 2017, to certify the letters of guarantee (LCs).
Philippines-based BDO Unibank has signed a contract with its long-standing tech provider Fiserv for managed services support of the bank’s IT initiatives.
The name may not be catchy but “The Japan Bank Consortium to Centrally Provide Domestic and Cross-border Payments” has officially launched with 42 member banks. As Banking Technology reported in August, SBI Ripple Asia, a joint venture between distributed ledger tech provider Ripple and SBI Holdings, announced that a Japanese consortium of 15 banks in […]
OCBC has become the first bank in Asia Pacific to let customers send cash through Siri. Users can send money with a voice command via Siri, then use the OCBC Pay Anyone mobile e-payment service. It also offers Apple’s instant messaging service – iMessage. No need to stop texting, payments can be made without leaving […]
Algebra, Asia’s “first Shariah-compliant robo-advisor”, will be launched this December by Malaysia-based Farringdon Group Private Wealth Managers. It will be open to investors from across the globe, with a minimum investment of $200 per month. Funds will follow basic Islamic principles. For example, no stocks may derive income from gambling, alcohol, tobacco, pork products, adult […]
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Korean Financial Services Commission (KFSC) have signed an agreement to foster more co-operation in the fintech space. Under the agreement, MAS and KFSC will explore potential joint innovation projects on technologies such as big data and mobile payments. MAS and KFSC will also discuss issues of common […]
Google has launched its Android Pay service in Hong Kong with support for MasterCard and Visa cards. It works with cards from BEA, DBS, Dah Sing Bank, Hang Seng Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong. Users can add multiple cards and Google says there’s no limit to how many can be added. […]
Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK) has used Bolero’s ePresentation solution for its first-ever electronic back-to-back documentary credit, reducing the time required to help a large iron ore shipment from Australia to China. The transaction was arranged jointly with NAB (National Australia Bank) and China Guangfa Bank.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is withdrawing the merchant bank status of Falcon Private Bank’s Singapore branch for “serious failures” in anti-money laundering (AML) controls and “improper conduct” by senior management at the head office in Switzerland as well as the Singapore branch. MAS is also imposing financial penalties on DBS Bank and UBS’s […]
This time we have a genuine Uber moment in fintech. Standard Chartered and Uber are partnering to offer the bank’s credit cardholders cashbacks on Uber rides. This is the “first ever multi-market partnership” for both of them. The deal is for six markets – Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, India and the United Arab Emirates – […]
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and five local polytechnics have teamed up to get students up to speed for fintech jobs of the future. They have agreed to work on a framework to review and improve the polytechnics’ curricula in the next three years to prepare and equip their graduates with the skill sets […]
Malaysia-based payments solutions provider Finexus is building a new real-time gross settlement (RTGS) platform for banks in Asia Pacific. It has partnered with Volante Technologies, which will provide the MT to MX message transition, via its flagship Volante Designer product.
Tokyo Commodity Exchange (Tocom) has gone live on its new trading system – powered by Nasdaq’s Genium INET technology, as well as Nasdaq pre-trade risk and smarts market surveillance solutions.
East West Bancorp is implementing SS&C’s integrated risk and finance solution, Evolv, to manage reserving under current US GAAP and new CECL accounting standards. The solution is delivered in the cloud. The contract was signed with Primatics Financial, a subsidiary of SS&C. “Preparation for CECL is critical for our business,” Sharon Cheung, controller at East […]
Standard Chartered and SuperCharger are inviting applications from start-ups for its SuperCharger Fintech Accelerator 2.0. For the second year running, SuperCharger says it offers access to market entry resources, mentors, technology advice from industry experts and joint venture opportunities. The selection panel is looking for start-ups for supply chain and trade finance, wealth management, distributed […]
Commerzbank has processed its first transaction settled by a bank payment obligation (BPO) between Germany and China. The BPO covers the export of chemicals between Commerzbank’s customer (the buyer), Trigon Chemie in Germany. The seller is an unnamed customer of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Beijing. Trade business between the two was previously […]
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) have signed an agreement to foster more fintech co-operation. The plan is to share information, support financial innovators, smooth out regulations, and offer more dialogue and secondments. To provide more evidence, FINMA says it is “consistently removing unnecessary regulatory hurdles” – […]
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is planning to launch a regulatory sandbox and innovation hub as part of ambitions to boost its fintech brand. At the Treasury Markets Summit 2016, jointly organised by the HKMA and the Treasury Markets Association (TMA), Norman Chan, chief executive of the HKMA, says it wants to build a […]
They said it. We read it. We edit. A round-up of some key events in funding. Singapore-based MC Payment has raised SGD $6 million ($4.5 million) in a Series B round. The funds will be used to “drive market expansion” into Australia and in southeast Asia, as well as “enhance” its product offerings, including Xaavan, […]
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has released a consultation paper on proposed changes to the payments regulatory framework and establishment of a National Payments Council. Jacqueline Loh, MAS deputy managing director, says this is an “important step for MAS and the payments industry to co-create the future of Singapore’s payments landscape; one where payments […]
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has opened its purpose-built fintech innovation lab – known as Looking Glass @ MAS. MAS says the lab will allow it to experiment with financial institutions, start-ups, and technology vendors. In addition, Looking Glass @ MAS will help consultations between start-ups and industry experts in areas such as legal […]
Hitachi and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) have started proof of concept (PoC) testing for using blockchain in the digitalisation of cheques in Singapore. In this PoC testing, Hitachi and BTMU developed a system in which a blockchain infrastructure is used for issuing, transferring and collecting electronic cheques. BTMU issues and settles them, while […]
SBI Ripple Asia has announced that a Japanese consortium of 15 banks in a new network will use Ripple’s blockchain technology for payments and settlement. Using Ripple, customers of the banks will get real-time domestic and cross-border payments, 365 days of the year. Initial participants include Bank of Yokohama and SBI Sumishin Net Bank (SBI […]
Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) has gone live with Miles Software’s MoneyWare Custody solution. The government-owned bank was recently accredited by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (central bank) to offer third party security custody and registry services. The new deal is part of its growth plans. Josephine Cervero, senior vice-president and trust officer, LBP, […]
South Korea’s SK Telecom and Hana Financial Group have formed a joint venture (JV) agreement to develop and launch a mobile financial services platform. The firms say the deal combines SK Telecom’s mobile technologies and big data analytics with Hana Financial Group’s experience in financial products and mobile financial services. Kim Jung-tae, chairman of Hana […]
Payments provider Ingenico has partnered with Alipay to give Chinese tourists visiting Europe the ability to pay via their Alipay app at any store using the Ingenico solution. With this partnership, Alipay will be imbedded into Ingenico’s in-store payment gateway, which will allow acquirers across Europe to integrate and offer Alipay acceptance to their merchants. […]
It’s probably not farfetched to say you’re time-stretched. To save time here’s a round-up of some events in the (Asian) world of payments. Payments firm Mozido has revealed that 14 banks within the Taiwan Mobile Payment Co (TWMP) consortium have adopted its HCE technology. The remaining 12 banks will launch later this year. Mozido says […]
Ireland-based Fexco has teamed with Electronic Network Cash Tellers (Encash) to launch the “first-ever” mobile cash withdrawal solution in the Philippines. Through Encash’s customer network, Fexco says its EasyDebit solution will be able to serve 75 million BancNet cardholders, allowing them “easier access” to cash across the Philippines. Fexco says the Philippines is a cash-centric […]
It’s all gone wrong in Hong Kong as about $72 million worth of Bitcoin was stolen from the Bitfinex exchange platform. Nearly 120,000 units have been pilfered making it the second-biggest security breach ever of such an exchange. Bitfinex is one of the largest exchanges for Bitcoin, and according to Reuters is known in the […]
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Philippines’ central bank, has issued a PHP 1 billion ($21 million) fine to Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) for cybersecurity failings. RCBC was used by cyber criminals to channel $81 million stolen from Bangladesh’s central bank earlier this year. According to BSP, the fine was “the largest amount it has […]
OCBC Bank’s fintech accelerator programme, the Open Vault, will pilot tests with three start-ups – Fincast, BondIT and CogniCor. The tests involve wealth management and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions and will begin in the fourth quarter of this year, and will last for three months. Samuel Tsien, OCBC Bank’s group CEO, says: “Deploying these solutions […]
Specialist vendor Charles River has supplied its flagship Investment Management Solution (IMS) to Bangkok Bank’s subsidiary, Bangkok Capital Asset Management (BCAP). The IMS front-to-middle office system, supplied on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) basis, has automated BCAP’s investment process, says the vendor, “from portfolio management through trading, compliance, and settlement”. Charles River is also providing its Data […]
Singapore-based DBS Bank has signed an agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to use its cloud technology. The bank envisages shifting up to 50% of its computer workload to cloud within a two-year period. With this deal, DBS will create a hybrid cloud environment “optimised” for rapid changes of capacity and functionality, which is “complementary” […]
