Fintech helps Chinese SMEs get loans
Small businesses and individuals in China have long found it hard to get loans, as the country’s government-controlled banks prefer to lend to state-owned enterprises. In particular, those living in poorer and less developed areas may not have easy access to a bank. But financial technology, which includes internet banking and has made banking services accessible as long as one has a mobile phone, has become a game changer, said panelists at a discussion at the Boao Forum for Asia. The annual forum in Hainan, south China, touted as China’s answer to the Asian counterpart to the World Economic Forum in Davos, runs from Thursday to Sunday. Mr Li Dongrong, […]
Global fintech regulators promise ‘not to stifle innovation’
Regulators from across the globe have admitted that laws and regulation governing fintech have not moved in sync with technological advancements and steps must be taken to avoid tendencies to “jump in” and “imagine the worst”. Speaking at the ASIC Annual Forum last week on the future of financial regulation, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and member of the Financial Stability Board, Ravi Menon addressed the issue of how regulators must respond to fintech moving forward. “Often when it comes to the risk assessment of fintech there is a tendency to have a fear of the unknown or a tendency to imagine the worst. A degree of […]
eWise and TSWG drive digital banking innovation with new partnership
Leading Australian digital banking FinTech TSWG (The System Works Group), has integrated their Digital Play Platform with eWise Aegis data aggregation technology. The partnership offers banks, mutual banks, credit unions and building societies omni-channel banking solutions, allowing end-users to aggregate all of their financial accounts into a single dashboard. TSWG’s Digital Play Platform (DPP) is a highly configurable and responsively designed online banking solution that enables a financial institution to connect with existing and new customers. Seamlessly integrated with core banking and enterprise systems, as well as third-party systems, Digital Play delivers a comprehensive suite of banking functions. Moving beyond transaction-based, first generation solutions, Digital Play Banking provides new opportunities […]
RBS plans to roll-out robo-advice
The Royal Bank of Scotland expects to be in a position to make a decision on the roll-out of robo-advice for mortgages by the end of the third quarter of 2017. RBS is currently engaged in a trial of the technology, which could help it to cut costs as it strives to regain profitability amid the ongoing fall-out from the financial crisis. Automation is seen by the Financial Conduct Authority as a means of bridging the ‘advice gap’ – providing assistance for people unable to afford the services of an IFA – but there are fears it could lead to job losses in the sector as human advisers are gradually […]
MonetaGo aims for Blockchain without Bitcoin for Banking Sector
The US-based blockchain company MonetaGo plans to create a blockchain without Bitcoin to help banks adopt distributed ledger technology. Bitcoin and Blockchain are synonymous to each other, for blockchain is the popular cryptocurrency’s underlying technology. After Bitcoin, many alternative cryptocurrencies have come up, which still uses a distributed ledger either similar to or derived from Bitcoin blockchain. However, the US-based blockchain company MonetaGo intends to change that for the convenience of central banks. In a recent interview with one of the leading news publication, MonetaGo has mentioned that it is going to separate Bitcoin and blockchain technology. It is still unclear as to how they are going to do that […]
Fintech firms see huge potential in e-commerce in Indonesia
A bright yellow sign at the front of Mr Asep Hermawan’s stall in South Jakarta reads, “We accept KJP for the purchase of school uniforms, books and pencils”. KJP is short for Kartu Jakarta Pintar, or Jakarta Smart Card – a virtual wallet similar to Singapore’s CashCard. It was introduced by the Jakarta government as a welfare benefit for students from low-income families living in the capital. “Pencils and pens are the best sellers, then books and school uniforms,” said Mr Asep. “More and more people are using KJPs to pay.” The KJP system was introduced in 2012 to disperse welfare funds and also to prevent the money from being […]
Growing demand for mobile payment services across Asia
Cashless payments are growing in Asia with consumers lured by an increasing array of services, from smartphone payment apps such as e-wallets to stored value cards and cheap online interbank transfers. Many like the convenience and safety of not having to carry cash. But the growth is not universal, and, in some countries, cash remains king because of fears of identity theft as well as the lack of infrastructure and lack of knowledge of the digital world. Insurance agent Zhang Tong goes out for lunch every day without a dollar on her. She pays for her noodles by scanning a QR code with her phone, which is also how she […]
BBVA opens fintech Olympics
BBVA has amassed a EUR200,000 prize pot for the ninth edition of its Open Talent innovation competition, which the Spanish bank is billing as the world’s biggest fintech challenge. This year’s contest will focus on three distinct categories based on the themes of identity, artificial intelligence and fintech for companies (F4C), supplemented by two additional searches to identify the best fintech ideas to come from female digital entrepreneurs and for ideas that promote financial inclusion. The winner of each of the first three contests will receive a EUR30,000 prize and the opportunity to participate in a week of immersion in Madrid with senior executives of the bank, and a place […]
