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 […]
Schwab adds a human side to its robo-advice services
The robo-advice wars heated up again last week, as T. Rowe Price began marketing its first digital-investment offering, and Charles Schwab released Intelligent Advisory, a human-assisted version of its original robo service called Intelligent Portfolios. Robo advice is evolving rapidly, but the basic product is a low-cost, semi-customized portfolio meant for “mass affluent” investors with $100,000 to $1 million in assets. Clients typically go online, answer a handful of questions about their age, assets, income and risk tolerance and get a highly diversified portfolio of regular or exchange-traded mutual funds. Thanks to technology, this self-driving portfolio is automatically rebalanced to maintain the client’s desired mix of stocks, bonds and other […]
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 […]
Stockholm Fintech Hub sets up shop at No18
Stockholm Fintech Hub launched in late 2016, now has a permanent home in No18. The new space will act not just as a collaborative workspace but will also allow Fintech companies to hold events. “Over the last 6 months, we have looked at many potential offices in Stockholm. When we walked into No18, we knew we had found something special. We met Michel and his team and an immediate meeting of minds,” says Matthew Argent, CEO of Stockholm Fintech Hub. “We have had a huge response following our launch and have already laid much of the foundation for collaboration in the Fintech community. Now we can open our doors and […]
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 […]
Vista to acquire D+H for fintech merger with Misys
The US buyout firm wants to create a ‘global fintech powerhouse’ by merging an existing portfolio company with its new acquisition Private equity firm Vista Equity Partners has struck a deal to acquire D+H, a Canadian financial technology provider, with an eye to merging it with UK-based Misys to create a financial software company with $2.2 billion in revenues. US-based Vista said in a statement today that it will pay C$25.50 per share in cash for D+H, including the assumption of debt, in a deal that values the Toronto-listed firm at 4.8 billion Canadian dollars. The buyout firm acquired software provider Misys in 2012. The combined company will be privately […]
How secure is your mobile wallet?
Owing to ease of use, digital payment or mobile wallet apps have seen massive uptake in recent past. But how secure is your digital money? Demonetisation in the last quarter of 2016 pushed citizens of India to use digital payments instead of cash transactions. Owing to ease of use, digital payment or mobile wallet apps have seen massive uptake in recent past. But how secure is your digital money? We checked out the security levels of some of the popular mobile payment apps below. Read on. Paytm Paytm, synonymous to mobile wallets in India, has single factor authentication by default. That means that once you have logged onto the app, […]
Dublin startup Touchtech Payments makes plans for international expansion
One of the first financial technology companies in Europe to develop a solution which uses fingerprinting and retinal scanning to authenticate online payments, Dublin startup Touchtech Payments is making plans for international expansion. Operating in a market where an EU directive will require all banks to improve security by introducing a two-factor authentication by the end of 2018, Touchtech co-founder and head of products, Niall Hogan sees an opportunity to make the most of the early mover advantage. Up until now, the market has been dominated by major players offering payment authentication solutions using passwords and text messages. “There was very little innovation in this space until the fintech revolution […]
