Asian fintech hubs are pushing full steam ahead
Rising fintech hubs across APAC, including Hong Kong and Singapore, have been garnering attention with their efforts to promote the industry and encourage innovation within financial services (FS) more broadly. This week, these growing hubs demonstrated their continued efforts to establish themselves as innovation leaders. Hong Kong launched a fintech association. The FinTech Association of Hong Kong (FTAHK), an independent members’ association for FS players including fintechs, incumbents, academics, government departments, investors, and accelerators, launchedon Tuesday. It’s made up of committees focused on specific areas including blockchain technology, AI, big data, regtech, insurtech, financial literacy, and digital banking, among others. Leaders of each committee will educate FTAHK members on their […]
Japan casts a wider net with its latest fintech initiatives
Japan’s fintech efforts have largely focused on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, but now the country seems to be taking a broader approach toward the industry, as two new developments last week indicate: Japan and Australia signed a fintech cooperation agreement. The Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) signed a collaboration agreement to enable the agencies to refer promising fintechs to each other, as well as share information regarding fintech innovation, regulatory changes, and economic developments more easily. Australia has been active in supporting a wide range of fintech segments recently, so it’s likely Japan hopes to gain a more holistic overview of the […]
Credit Suisse develops Robo Advisor
Digital development is gathering pace at Credit Suisse under the guidance of Anke Bridge. Switzerland’s second-largest bank is working on a service that will be based on advice provided by robots. It wasn’t just the sheer size which kept UBS and Credit Suisse (CS) apart, but also their respective approach to innovation – with UBS seen clearly ahead of its cross-town rival. Under the leadership of Anke Bridge, appointed as CS head of digital solutions in December 2016, CS is catching up. Bridge told Le Temps newspaper that CS was a very innovative bank, but agreed that the company should become more active in communicating its current projects. CS Invest […]
Japan lender Mizuho to launch fintech venture
Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group will start a venture next month to create new businesses using “fintech,” an executive said, joining a global race in financial technology that threatens to unsettle traditional players. Japan’s second-largest lender by assets said there were already 20 projects in the pipeline for the venture, utilizing blockchain technology and artificial intelligence programs in areas such as farming and travel. Daisuke Yamada, Mizuho’s chief digital innovation officer, said the challenges were cultural as well as technological, as truly new business models required a break from Japanese banks’ conservative, overly risk-averse attitudes. For that reason, he said the bank would limit its stake in the yet-to-be named venture […]
Three regional fintech winners unveiled at Citi Tech for Integrity Challenge in Dublin
Citi has unveiled three winners from its regional Tech for Integrity Challenge (T4I) Demo Day held in Dublin last week, garlanding Aid:Tech, Paycode and Pole Star with the T4I Award for innovation. The global program aims to promote accountability and transparency in the public sector and beyond by supporting the effective use of financial technology (fintech) solutions and monitoring technology. It is run by Citi’s internal fintech team, treasury and trade unit, and Citi Ventures, its technology accelerator, investment and collaboration arm. Facebook, IBM, MasterCard, Microsoft and PwC are some of the other partners involved in judging the competition. The idea is to support small start-up companies’ applications on beneficiary […]
FSDC urges Hong Kong government to set up fintech office, focus on blockchain
The Hong Kong government should set up a financial technology (fintech) office to better coordinate the city’s efforts in becoming a hub for developments such as blockchain and insurance technology, according to an advisory body. The Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) on Tuesday released a research report suggesting that Hong Kong narrow its focus to five areas within fintech in order to catch up with cities like Dubai and Singapore and to cement its position as a fintech hub in the region. The five areas are cybersecurity, payments and securities settlements, digital identification for KYC (know your client), wealthtech and insurance technology, as well as regulatory technology, with the latter […]
Lockheed Martin bets on blockchain for cybersecurity
Lockheed Martin has contracted Guardtime Federal to provide blockchain cyber security, the defense company announced in a blog post. It’s the first US defense contractor to adopt blockchain as part of its security approach and Lockheed Martin says the partnership will allow it to “realize more efficient and secure software development and supply chain risk management.” A blockchain is a type of secure database that maintains a constantly expanding list of records. Each record, or block, contains a link to a previous block. This makes them inherently resistant to modification by outside sources. “These new cyber security approaches will enhance data integrity, speed problem discovery and mitigation,” said Ron Bessire, […]
Humaniq to use blockchain for social good
A London/Luxembourg start-up is planning to use the blockchain to create a new kind of bank that will help tackle global poverty. It will enable people to use its cryptocurrency to donate or lend money, and bring banking services and income generation opportunities to “the last billion”. Humaniq has been developed by a group of people, many with experience in cryptocurrencies, who have seen the potential of biometrics, blockchain and mobile to help solve a number of social and economic problems. The challenge they aim to tackle is considerable. “Over 2 billion people in the world don’t have bank accounts. About 1.5 billion people don’t have any identification documents. They […]
