South Africa to establish a strong foothold in Fintech Sector
The next fintech and blockchain revolution is waiting to happen in South Africa. The country is already home for some of the most innovative startups, and with the new fintech wave catching up, more startups are expected to raise their heads by the end of this year. According to a leading regional startup news platform, most of the innovations in the year 2017 will be focused on mobile payments, digital banking, Bitcoin, SME financing, data analytics, real estate and automation solutions. Incidentally, all these priority areas present an opportunity for the implementation of blockchain technology. The developing world is increasingly moving towards mobile payments. The rise of mobile wallet services […]
Wallet packed with loyalty cards? Solve the problem with Stocard digital wallet
Stocard, a leading mobile wallet app, has announced that it will use recently secured funding to expand its reach in the Australian market and launch a new mobile payment function. While digital wallets have been around in Australia for some time, what makes Stocard’s offering unique to existing mobile wallet apps, is the functionality that allows users to store all their loyalty cards easily in their smartphone, rather than in their wallets. Loyalty programs are becoming increasingly popular for Aussie shoppers, with 50% saying they’d be more likely to spend with a store that offers a loyalty program than with one that doesn’t, according to Nielson’s latest Global Loyalty Sentiment […]
Switzerland begins consultation on new fintech regulations
During its meeting on 1 February 2017, the Federal Council initiated the consultation on amendments to the Banking Act and Banking Ordinance in the fintech area. The revision should ensure that barriers to market entry for fintech firms are reduced and that the competitiveness of the Swiss financial centre is enhanced. The consultation will last until 8 May 2017. The proposed amendments to the Banking Act (BankA) and Banking Ordinance (BankO) aim to regulate fintech and other firms which provide services outside normal banking business according to their risk potential. A form of deregulation with three supplementary elements is being proposed: First, the exception provided for in the Banking Ordinance […]
Global online lender Spotcap partners with Heartland Bank, launches in NZ
European-based online lender Spotcap today announces a partnership with NZX-listed New Zealand bank, Heartland, with the bank providing Spotcap’s Australian operations with A$20million of funding. At the same time, Spotcap today launches its New Zealand operations in Auckland, further cementing Asia Pacific as one of the fastest growing regions for global fintech. * Spotcap provides flexible and accessible funding solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with unsecured credit lines and business loans of up to $250,000. Rather than basing credit decisions on historical financials, Spotcap has developed a unique, proprietary credit algorithm which provides deep insight into the financial condition of a business, enabling quick, sound credit decisions. “We […]
The Emergence of Fintech in Indonesia
Financial technology, or more popularly called ‘fintech’, can be defined as a phenomenon in which technology and financial features go hand in hand in altering the traditional financial institution business models and discovering solution alternatives to customers’ financial experience. Like other businesses, fintechs are established to answer consumers’ needs, challenges and wants. In this case, the emergence of financial technology is no exception. There are at least four main challenges surrounding the potential and necessity of fintech in Indonesia. Firstly, the large amount of unbanked population. It is estimated that only 40% of Indonesia’s 250 million population currently have access to banking services. Secondly, the large amount of underserved small […]
Cards, ATMs, POS will be redundant by 2020 in India: NITI Aayog
Amid the big push being given to digital transactions post-demonetisation, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant today said cards, ATMs and POS machines would become redundant in the country by 2020. “….India is in the midst of huge huge disruption in the world of both financial technology and in terms of social innovation (there is) huge huge innovation and this disruption will enable India to leapfrog…,” he said. “…and by 2020 my view is that in the next two-and-a-half years, India will make all its debit cards, credit cards, all ATM machines all POS machines totally irrelevant,” Kant told a session at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017, a three-day mega event of […]
The world is on the brink of having its first ever entirely cashless day
by Sebastian Siemiatkowski – CEO of Klarna How soon will we reach the first cashless day, when all your purchases will be made without a note or coin changing hands? In Sweden, it’s any day now. In 2010, 40 per cent of Swedish retail transactions were made using cash; by 2014 it was down to 20 per cent and it’s still falling. And e-commerce is growing. At Klarna, we make a payment to the retailer immediately – not just online, but in-store too – and customers settle up later, so you can buy anything without using cash. The question is: what’s next? There are three big changes coming in the […]
As India braces for digital payments future, how secure are banks from cyber attacks?
As the government presses ahead with a cash to less cash to cashless economy, the success of the transition will depend on how the battle between bankers and hackers plays out. Bankers must upgrade and fortify their cyber defences as hackers attempt to pinch funds from banks or steal credit/debit card details of retail customers daily. If suddenly the easiest way to buy anything from soft drinks to cars is to use the mobile wallet, a few clicks of the mouse are all that is required to rob a bank. True, in a country with 98% cash in circulation, electronic payments replacing cash will not be easy and will take […]
