Fintech deals in South East Asia hit record numbers in 2016
The total number of venture-backed deals to fintech companies in South East Asia (i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) reached record highs in 2016 according to data released by CB Insights recently. Deals Up, Dollars Down 2016 saw 71 total deals in the region as compared to 55 the previous year, a 29% increase. However, the dollar amount raised fell from $177M in 2015 to $158M in 2016 suggesting the increase in the number of deals was spurred more by smaller early stage funding (e.g. seed and angel rounds). In fact, early stage funding as a percentage of the total number of deals increased from 55% […]
Samsung Pay joins India’s digital-payments movement
As India’s cash issues continue to create incentives for new mobile payment systems, it’s no surprise that Samsung has jumped into the fray with its its Samsung Pay digital wallet. The Apple Pay competitor’s implementation includes support for PayTM and the Unified Payments interface. It has a ton of network financial services partners, though Citibank India is still forthcoming. Samsung Pay will arrive on the Samsung Gear S3 smartwatch shortly, the company added. It currently works on Samsung’s high-end smartphones, though it’s rumored to be coming to the J series in India. Source: Samsung Pay joins India’s digital-payments movement – CNET
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 […]
Coinbase has added margin trading to its bitcoin exchange
GDAX, the cryptocurrency exchange run by Coinbase, has added margin trading to the platform. Eligible traders can now trade up to 3X leveraged orders on Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin order books. If you’re unfamiliar with trading and exchanges, margin trading is when you borrow money from your broker to buy or sell more stock than you can afford. It’s essentially a short-term loan. By buying or selling on margin, traders can increase their leverage and buying power, potentially generating profits beyond what their own cash balance would have supported. This feature is mainly geared toward institutional investors. That’s because Coinbase has launched the feature attempting to fit within the boundaries […]
Goldman Sachs launching robo advice service
Interest in robo advice from financial services giants is ramping up as demand grows for low cost, online and simplified wealth management. In another fintech-powered move towards its non-traditional market Goldman Sachs is looking to develop a robo-advice investment platform aimed at the masses rather than ‘the 1%’. Robo advice is a broad term that encompasses low cost, online investment management mostly utilising passive exchange traded funds (ETFs). While the most well-known names in the robo advice space are independent disruptors to the traditional wealth management market such as Nutmeg and Scalable Capital, large financial services incumbents are also rushing to launch their own propositions. While Goldman Sachs has not […]
Funding Circle close further funding round, valued at $1 billion
Investor interest in the peer-to-peer lending industry shows no sign of slowing; British site Funding Circle have just closed another round of funding, taking their total raise to $380 million. Funding Circle recently closed another round of venture capital funding to the tune of $100 million, valuing the company at $1 billion. The new round was led by DST Global, BlackRock, and Temasek, a fund backed by the Singaporean government. Since its conception in 2010, Funding Circle have become ones of the world’s leading marketplaces exclusively focused on small businesses. The platform has raised approximately £300 million in equity capital, lending more than £2.5 billion to 25,000 businesses in the […]
Everledger uses blockchain to stamp out blood diamonds
Aussie-led blockchain startup Everledger is tapping Watson and other IBM technologies to underpin its tracking of the provenance of more than 1.2 million diamonds globally. The startup, which is led by Australian entrepreneur Leanne Kemp, is emerging as a showcase for blockchain’s capacity to verify the authenticity and origin of a range of high value goods. Globally, about $15 billion worth of rough diamonds is dug up every year, before being cut and sold into an industry worth $72 billion. But the controversial trade is marred by fraud and worse, as rough diamonds are often traded out of conflict zones to fund violent insurgencies in places like Sierra Leone, Liberia, […]
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 […]
