Banking Technology March 2017 issue out now
The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.
Asia Pacific
Credit Suisse makes headway in digital space in Asia
Credit Suisse has launched two solutions in the digital space to keep up with consumer expectations: digital client on boarding for private banking and automated account aggregation and reporting.
Mastercard and Singapore’s transport authority test contactless cards while eying mobile payments
Mastercard and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Singapore have teamed up to launch a pilot programme enabling commuters to pay for transit fares using contactless payment cards through an account-based ticketing (ABT) system.
Japan applies AI to market surveillance operations
Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) and Japan Exchange Regulation (JPX-R) revealed that they have been reviewing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies developed by NEC Corporation and Hitachi to improve market intelligence operations.
Mizuho takes another step towards blockchain adoption
Japanese financial services provider Mizuho has partnered with Cognizant to test cross-border document sharing and custom digital currency applications of blockchain – and the cost implications of using the technology. Mizuho says the project was a success and concluded that a tamper-proof distribution database built using blockchain could support a platform to share information and […]
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 22 February 2017
Jargon defeated. Unnecessary words deleted. A brief round-up. Featuring Adel, Bitfinex and crime. If something’s rotten in the state of Denmark, it’s going to get found out. Danish newspaper Berlingske has revealed that police stopped drug traffickers by tracing Bitcoin transactions. It’s not the first time great Danes have done good deeds. Last month, the […]
Thomson Reuters unveils Singapore innovation lab
In the name of innovation Thomson Reuters has officially opened a lab in the Singapore nation. It’s called Thomson Reuters Labs – Singapore, and will do the usual stuff. Namely, collaborate with the government, customers, tech start-ups and universities to “build partnerships and create innovative products and solutions for professional markets” throughout the Asia Pacific […]
IAG to launch insurtech hub in Singapore
Insurance Australia Group (IAG) is looking to build an insurtech hub in Singapore. The new unit, Firemark Labs, will act as an incubator for IAG and help teamwork between start-ups and research and tech partners for new products and services across Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Julie Batch, chief customer officer, IAG, says “customer lifestyles […]
8 Securities launches robo-advisor Chloe in Japan
Asian fintech company 8 Securities has launched Chloe, a robo-advisor that constructs portfolios with exchange traded funds (ETFs) listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). To begin, customers must answer a short survey which will help Chloe set goals and target dates to achieve those goals. Each yen deposited is invested into a diversified global […]
Standard Chartered China teams with Tencent FiT for e-commerce solution
Standard Chartered China is partnering with Tencent Financial Technology Group (Tencent FiT) to launch a new e-commerce solution for corporates. The deal makes Standard Chartered the “first global bank to offer a one-stop online collection solution with WeChat Pay” and combines its cash management offering with the online payment gateway. The bank says it can […]
Japan seeks stronger ties to Iran’s central bank
Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is looking to work closer on banking supervision with the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CBI). The pair have exchanged letters on co-operation and the plan is to examine the performance of their respective duties for the “safe and sound functioning” of banking organisations in their countries. […]
Haier Finance opts for Bloomberg’s FX electronic trading platform
China-based Haier Finance has adopted Bloomberg’s foreign exchange (FX) electronic trading platform (FXGO) and multi-asset risk system (MARS) for trading and risk management. Bloomberg FXGO provides access to liquidity from over 300 providers worldwide and commission-free trading for financial institutions, corporations, money managers and hedge funds across “all major” FX instruments including spot, forwards, options, […]
Data gets greater with new Singapore group
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has set up a new Data Analytics Group (DAG) with effect from 15 March 2017 as it looks to improve the financial sector and digital economy. DAG will use data analytics for insights, “enhance the supervision” of financial institutions, make regulatory compliance better for financial institutions, and improve work […]
Standard Chartered launches open banking API developer portal
Standard Chartered has unveiled its Open Banking Application Programming Interface (API) Developer Portal for transaction banking. The launch is part of its “digitisation agenda” and to increase collaboration with corporates, fintech firms and developer communities. The portal will initially provide a repository of API services focused on cash management and then roll out other API […]
CIBC automates reg reporting in UK and APAC with Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX
Canada’s banking group CIBC is implementing Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX for regulatory reporting across its locations in the UK, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Input Output’s Ouroboros protocol plots Bitcoin 2.0 prize
Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), a blockchain architecture and development start-up, has built a proof-of-stake protocol as it seeks to create a “better” Bitcoin, aka Bitcoin 2.0. The protocol, called “Ouroboros”, is a consensus algorithm designed to be a foundation for blockchains that “improve” user governance, system maintenance, transaction processing speeds and blockchain scalability. IOHK […]
Citi’s institutional clients in APAC can now ditch their physical login tokens
Citi’s institutional e-banking platform, CitiDirect BE, will now use MobilePASS which lets corporate users replace their physical login tokens with their personal mobile devices for authentication.
Brunei’s central bank selects Vizor for financial data revamp
Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD), the central bank of Brunei, has partnered with regulatory fintech vendor, Vizor Software. AMBD will use Vizor’s solution to collect financial data from external entities via a single portal, to generate reports and insights. AMBD says this is a key step to building a sound and dynamic financial system. The […]
Citi analyses VC investments in fintech for fresh insights
Citi’s global perspectives and solutions team has issued a 100-page report on digital disruption in the fintech industry. It has analysed venture capital (VC) investments in the fintech industry between 2010 and 2016, as well as the emerging technologies across the globe.
Siam Commercial Bank to invest $1.1 billion in fintech
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) intends to invest about THB 40 billion ($1.1 billion) in creating, acquiring and developing its technology infrastructure over the next three years. The Thailand-based bank says this investment will help it provide products and services that are better suited to serving its younger and more affluent clients. SCB’s innovation-focused subsidiary, Digital […]
Singapore’s POSB launches banking chatbot
POSB, one of Singapore’s oldest banks and part of the DBS Banking Group, has launched an online virtual assistant. It is powered by the KAI conversational bot/AI platform from a New York-based fintech start-up, Kasisto.
Fintech tour Hong Kong: Blueprint for start-up success
Hong Kong-based tech accelerator Blueprint is calling out to the region and the world for start-up applicants.
Top fintech stories this week – 20 January 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Fintech tour Hong Kong: Ayannah triumphs in start-up final
Philippines-based Ayannah, a provider of financial services to migrants and the unbanked, was the overall start-up winner in the Next Money Fintech Finals 2017 in Hong Kong.
Fintech tour Hong Kong: Park and ride
Park and ride? A visit to the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and an opportunity for fintechs to ride the start-up wave.
Fintech tour Hong Kong: Spirit levels and start-ups
Hong Kong is telling its citizens and the world that fintech start-ups are welcome to do business and capitalise on the nation’s entrepreneurial spirit.
The Monday mindset: 16 January 2017
Fintech zeitgeist! Welcome to the first in a new series of brief reports. Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. Anything goes, so here goes. Rome versus Carthage. Britain versus France. History shows […]
HSBC targets Hong Kong millennials with new social payment app
HSBC will unveil a new payment app in Hong Kong in early 2017 aimed at millennials and offering a social aspect in addition to just payments. Called PayMe, it is “available to everyone in Hong Kong”, regardless which local bank the customer uses. However, the small print says it is only eligible to users with […]
Indonesia issues new fintech law for lending firms
The financial services authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan or OJK) of Indonesia has issued a new law affecting all fintech P2P lending firms in the country. The new law, applicable to all such business units operating in or intending to set-up in Indonesia, is aimed at protecting the consumer. The new law stipulates that such business […]
Japanese start-ups head abroad for innovation programme
The Japanese government is sending 55 SMEs and start-ups abroad as part of its new innovation programme. Called the Hiyaku Next Enterprise programme, it is part of the Silicon Valley-Japan Bridge Project, set up by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). That project was announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in April 2015 […]
Shanghai Prepaid Card Association blacklists 20 merchants
The Shanghai Prepaid Card Association is warning consumers about buying prepaid cards from certain merchants because of “malpractice in managing their prepaid card schemes”, reports Paybefore. According to an announcement on Shanghai’s municipal Website, the notice includes a blacklist of 20 companies in Shanghai for committing various infractions. The association is urging consumers to quickly […]
Top ten fintech features in 2016
Look back at some of the top-read feature articles on all matters fintech published by Banking Technology in 2016.
Microsoft and AMIS launch Asia’s first blockchain consortium
Microsoft has teamed with AMIS and the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan (ITRI) to form Asia’s “first” consortium blockchain network on Azure. They will use AMIS’s blockchain solutions with Azure as the cloud platform – “the only platform with BaaS” (Banking-as-a-Service). Azure will provide public, private and hybrid cloud models; and business and technical […]
Face the ace for NEC and Sumitomo Mitsui cashless payments trials
Tokyo-based IT provider NEC Corporation is conducting trials for cashless payment services using NEC facial recognition technology in co-operation with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and Sumitomo Mitsui Card. The SMBC trials will continue to 30 January 2017, involving around 1,000 employees at the dining facilities of SMBC’s head office. […]
Japan Exchange Group unveils blockchain consortium
Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), Osaka Exchange OSE) and Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC) will form a blockchain consortium of Japanese financial institutions. All three are part of Japan Exchange Group (JPX) and will continue to conduct proof-of-concept (PoC) testing based on past findings and discuss the possibility of applying blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) […]
Sofgen assists Bank of Singapore with integration of Barclays’ wealth business
Bank of Singapore has completed the acquisition of the wealth and investment management business of Barclays in Hong Kong and Singapore. The combined entity has more than $75 billion of assets under management (AUM) and nearly 400 specialist bankers.
Move over, London and Berlin, Singapore’s fintech ecosystem is surging ahead
In her new column for Banking Technology, Devie Mohan, a fintech market strategist, looks at how Singapore has created a fintech ecosystem that is a major threat to the ones in London and Berlin.
Mizuho Bank gears up for new core banking system go-live
Japan’s Mizuho Bank is going to move to a new core banking platform in early 2017, Banking Technology understands. The cost of the project is believed to be JPY 300 billion ($2.8 billion).
IBM and KYCK! go blockchain for KYC
IBM has unveiled a blockchain-powered Know Your Customer (KYC) project with Singapore start-up KYCK! to help financial services providers onboard customers quicker and cheaper. Using the open source Hyperledger Project Fabric, IBM says immutability, traceability and privacy of the information is provided on a permissioned distributed ledger which is “critical” in a highly regulated environment. […]
AmBank in mobile banking “quantum leap” with Backbase
AmBank will be launching “a new phase of mobile banking very soon”, according to the bank’s new group CEO, Dato’ Sulaiman Mohd Tahir. The solution is provided by Backbase.
