In 2018, Asia made a run at the US as the top market for fintech deals with a surge in early-stage and mega-round investments. The region recorded the biggest boost in fintech deals, raising US$22.65 billion across 516 deals, including Ant Financial’s US$14 billion investment, which accounted for 35% of global fintech funding in 2018, according to CB Insights’ 2019 Fintech Trends to Watch report. 2018 was a key year for the Asian fintech industry. In particular, Southeast Asian fintech startups attracted bigger financings and foreign investors with notable deals that include Thailand’s Masii US$2.4 million Series A, Vietnam’s Momo…

When one considers China’s influence on the rest of Asia, it is often seen as a benchmark; how China’s dramatic move into a cashless society has financially emboldened more of its populace, created more financial inclusivity for the underserved thus inspiring many other Asian nations to strive towards similar cashlessness. Time and time again, the republic proves its fintech caliber. Despite rising tensions with the USA, China took the lead in global fintech investments in 2018, retaking the same title they  held in 2016. However, China’s influence in Asia extends more than just as a role model. For many fintechs…

According to a study conducted by JD Power, 54% of customers don’t fully trust their primary banks, which the study marks as notable sinceconsumers often consider banks their trusted adviser for financial planning. The study finds that four in five (83%) customers say their bank representatives do not spend enough time identifying their specific needs before offering products and services. The cause and effect here seems apparent, as level of trust is at 69% for those whose needs were identified, in contrast with the 43% for those who do not experience the same. Furthermore, with hyper-personalisation as a big factor…

HSBC’s PayMe announced the launch of a beta test programme for PayMe for Business, a new person-to-merchant (P2M) payments app in Hong Kong. The beta test will involve 15 businesses from a diverse range of sectors from food and beverage, fashion and beauty, arts and crafts, to living and design. PayMe for Business has been developed in Hong Kong to meet the needs of local businesses and is initially available to HSBC Business Banking customers in Hong Kong. It offers a way to accept digital payments from PayMe users via a mobile device. The test also provides consumers with an…

Perhaps in response to the call by IMF Chief Christine Largarde for nations to look into central bank backed digital currencies, Bank of Japan is now exploring the concept of central bank digital currency (CBDC). Published this month by the bank, the working paper on “Digital Innovation, Data Revolution and Central Bank Digital Currency” examines how a CBDC would make or mar the country’s current financial system. The paper has analysed two categories of CBDC – one, being used by general public for day-to-day transactions, and the other, for large-sum settlements based on central bank deposits and adoption of nascent…

WeBank just signed a collaboration agreement with the Macao Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT), established by the Macao government. Together, the two parties will collaborate in the development of Macao as a Smart City. With fintech at front and center, the two parties embark on a long-term partnership to jointly promote urban development of Macao—in fields such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, and other technologies deemed vogue today. While the partnership is with the Macao government-linked FDCT, the enhancements planned are also geared towards the Greater Bay Area, a collection of nine mainland cities, Hong Kong…

The Fintech Association of Hong Kong’s Blockchain Committee has launched its mapping of the city’s companies engaged in blockchain. The map was built by contribution of many of the organization’s members and lead by a working group of the committee. In recent years, Hong Kong has emerged as an important international blockchain hub. In 2017, Charles d’Haussy, fintech lead of InvestHK at the time, stated that “blockchain is a very high priority for us […] what we are looking at building here in Hong Kong is an infrastructure for new businesses and existing businesses, to make sure the technology and…

Taiwan’s newly formed fintech regulatory sandbox has approved EMQ a cross border remittance startup as its first participant. As the first fintech startup to be accepted into the Taiwan’s Regulatory Sandbox, EMQ will within the Financial Supervisory Commission prescribed timeline, provide a more convenient and lower cost remittance services for migrant workers sending money home to Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. “Remittances provide a lifeline for millions of households in developing countries with US$528 billion remittances sent in 2018, according to the World Bank. Migrant workers in Taiwan have facilitated over US$3 billion outbound remittances in 2018, according to the…

South Korea’s fintech industry remains small compared to the likes of China or Singapore but the sector is expected to grow significantly in the years to come supported by the government’s commitment to boost development and establish a favorable environment for the industry to thrive. South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) is currently working on a financial regulatory sandbox set to launch in April which will let firms test their services with regulatory exemptions for a certain period of time. Choi JongKu, chairman of the FSC, said in January that the regulator “will spare no effort to support fintech companies…

Retail banking, also known as consumer banking, is on the cusp of a new era of amazing growth and opportunities. Asia will reach over US$900 billion in retail banking revenue by 2020, growing at about 14% per year, according to McKinsey & Company, and is expected to be the second largest wealth management region globally after the US, with more personal financial assets residing in Asia than Europe. But in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, consumer banking is being dramatically revamped by changing consumer behaviors, faster adoption of new technology and the growth of the middle class and urbanization. Here are…

Fintech companies focused on wealth management continue to gain popularity over traditional advisors. Also referred to as wealthtechs, these companies are tapping into untapped markets within the wealth management industry and focus on customer’s demands for higher returns and transparent fees. Today, wealthtech companies are present all around the world, including in East Asia, offering an alternative to traditional wealth management firms and technology-enabled tools. This includes full-service brokerage alternatives, robo-advisors, self-service investment platforms, asset class specific marketplaces, and tools to keep up with the changing dynamics in wealth management. East Asia is the eastern subregion of Asia, which can…

 FinFabrik, a Hong Kong-based fintech startup focused on issuance, market making, and trading of digital assets has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding. BitMEX Ventures, the investment arm of Seychelles-based HDR Global Trading Ltd., is the lead investor. FinFabrik allows business owners to digitise and fractionalise their tangible and intangible assets, raise capital, and reach investors via the company’s proprietary blockchain and machine learning technologies. Alex Medana, FinFabrik Co-founder and CEO, said: “The successful closing of our seed round is a major milestone for FinFabrik. With this vote of confidence and continued support from our key partner BitMEX Ventures, we are…

It is becoming more apparent that the financial services industry is being reshaped by bigtechs, or the big technology players such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Alibaba, which are leveraging data and consumer insights to offer a unique, personalized user experience to fully engage consumers, putting increasing pressure on traditional financial institutions. Facebook in particular have been seen doubling down on fintech and blockchain of late. Facebook Jumps into the Blockchain and Crypto Bandwagon Image Credit: Flickr | Thought Catalog One area in particular where Facebook has increasingly been focusing on is blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The firm recently hired…

Apple Pay have emerged as the most popular mobile wallet in Hong Kong with about 29% of residents saying it was their main mobile wallet, according to the 2018 Hong Kong Retail Banking Satisfaction Study by JD Power, a global marketing information services provider. The study, based on responses from 2,371 retail banking customers in the city and conducted between November 2017 and January 2018, found that although Apple Pay was the preferred mobile wallet in Hong Kong, residents rated WeChat Pay as the best mobile payment app in terms of satisfaction. After Apple Pay, Octopus O! ePay was the…

gini, a Hong Kong-based smart spending-tracker announced that it has completed its seed round with a $1.6 million investment from both international institutions and Hong Kong-based Vectr Ventures, the early stage fintech venture capital firm. The co-founders, CEO Raymond Wyand and COO Victor Lang revealed the funding will support a global roll out plan; and help with gini’s aim to be compatible with over 3,000 overseas banks in 60 countries by the second half of 2019. They’ll be starting with approximately 60 banks across Hong Kong, France, Switzerland and the UK. Raymond Wyand continued to say: “We are Hong Kong…

Bitspark, a cryptocurrency money transfer platform, has launched Sparkdex.HKD. The company claims that is the world’s first market-ready cryptocurrency pegged to the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD). “Until now, US Dollar stablecoins have dominated the market but there are other national currencies in the world, like the Hong Kong Dollar. We are proud to have pioneered this landmark first for both the cryptocurrency and traditional finance industry, and anticipate that this will lead the way for much-needed diversity among other currencies within the stablecoin sector,” said George Harrap, Co-Founder and CEO of Bitspark. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that are backed by and…

Fintech continues its momentum in Asia. In the first half of 2018, fintech companies in the region raised US$16.8 billion in funding with China and India dominating the top 10 deals, and blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) remaining key priority areas for fintech investors in addition to insurtech and regtech. With many developments taking place in that part of the world from both the public and private sectors, it has become critical for financial professionals to keep up with the rapidly evolving fintech landscape. Thankfully, several conferences and fintech events in Hong Kong and fintech events in Shenzhen has be…

In the past years, Asia Pacific has seen strong growth in its fintech ecosystem, rapidly catching up with the US and Europe. In Japan, Tokyo has witnessed the development of a vibrant fintech network and regulators have recently launched fintech-friendly laws around blockchain and APIs, along with initiatives to support new fintech startups. Meanwhile, in South Korea, the fintech startup ecosystem has grown rapidly, now hosting some 400 fintech companies, some of which globally recognized. In Taiwan, fintech has been named a top priority for the government which alongside the private sector has committed significant resources to establish dedicated organizations…

Mobile payments is rapidly becoming a dynamic market in Japan as the government pushes to increase cashless payments to 40% of transactions by 2025 from 20% in 2016. Japan is a highly cash-dependent society with cash in circulation amounting to about 20% of Japan’s gross domestic product, by far the moat in the world, according to a Bank for International Settlements report. A report compiled in April 2018 by an industry ministry panel said that more cashless payments could help ease the country’s labor shortage and benefit foreign tourists, and that if current levels are maintained, it could cost the…

With the Chinese New Year (CNY) period fast approaching, outbound travel from China is expected to see strong growth in the Asia Pacific region. In fact, a Hurun report found that 64% of affluent Chinese planned to travel overseas during the CNY period this year. Right in time United Money just struck a partnership with Germany-based Wirecard to offer Visa-enabled multi-currency cards targeted towards China nationals looking to travel. The goal is to digitise the payment process a more convenient and online-based solution to replace the outdated traveller’s checks and cash. The card should be usable in most retail locations that accepts…