Tag: FIntech

Singapore – Global cross-border payment network Thunes has announced the expansion of its acceptance payment network to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand to enable global merchants to accept payments via local payment brands.

The network expansion will enable European and international merchants to receive and settle payments from SEA consumers in their currency of choice.

Thunes’ expansion aims to solve the problem of differences in payment methods, with US and European consumers using credit cards as the main transaction method while SEA consumers use alternative payment systems like mobile wallets, ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’, and ‘Real-Time Payment’ schemes.

With the expanded acceptance network, global businesses can now accept payment from local payment brands in Indonesia (Alfamart, DANA, OVO, QRIS, and ShopeePay), Malaysia (DuitNow, Boost, GrabPay, Maybank QR, ShopeePay, and Touch ’n Go), and the Philippines ( Cebuana Lhuillier, GCash, GrabPay, InstaPay, Maya, PESONet, ShopeePay). 

Furthermore, its acceptance payment network also extends to Singapore (Atome, GrabPay, PayLater by Grab), and Thailand (Bangkok Bank, Bank of Ayudhya – Krungsri, KBank, Krungthai Bank, SCB, PromptPay, Rabbit LINE Pay). 

Andrew Stewart, executive vice president of Account Management and Network at Thunes, said, “While Southeast Asia’s rapid growth offers a remarkable and enticing opportunity, the speed of change in this region can pose a daunting challenge for merchants. In order to keep up with ever-evolving consumer preferences, businesses must be agile and provide a range of local payment options.”

“At Thunes, we’ve hand-picked the most relevant payment brands in Southeast Asia to help merchants in gaming, eCommerce, and marketplace platforms enter new markets and expand their footprint. Through our extensive acceptance network comprising 300 payment methods in 90 countries, businesses can easily tap into the vast digital-first consumer market, creating instant connections with millions of potential clients,” he added. 

Singapore – Global cross-border payment infrastructure company Thunes has announced that it has extended its series C funding to US$72m, which comes after a US$60m funding from hedge fund Marshall Wace, alongside Bessemer Venture Partners and 01Fintech.

The extended funding was made possible by investments from global financial service company Visa, alongside EDBI and Endeavor Catalyst.

Thunes aims that through this extended funding, it can support its mission to address the inefficiencies of moving money internationally and create a next-generation payment system that is secure, instant and transparent.

Previously, Thunes and Visa have entered into a partnership in October 2022. In the partnership, Thunes B2B payments platform offered a send-to-wallet capability to 78 digital wallet providers globally. Using an API integration with Visa Direct, Visa’s customers can enable consumers and small businesses to send funds to eligible digital wallets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, powered by the Thunes global network.

Peter De Caluwe, CEO at Thunes, said, “We’re proud to close Series C with such a strong roster of influential investors. Support from Visa, EDBI and Endeavor is a powerful endorsement of our strategy and capabilities, providing us with additional resources to develop innovative solutions to face industry challenges.”

He added, “By leveraging the insights and support of our investors, we will expand our network and offer businesses and consumers an unparalleled cross-border payments experience. I’m delighted to see an even deeper collaboration with Visa. Together, we will pave the way towards a global payment ecosystem that is inclusive, efficient and ubiquitous.”

Australia – Local fintech HelpPay has tapped content management system (CMS) platform Storyblok to aid in the fintech’s brand visibility through a revamped website. This was also done in collaboration with local digital consultancy Revium.

Revium took charge of rebuilding HelpPay’s website on Storyblok. Leveraging Nuxt.js as the development framework, Revium integrated key components and performed essential integrations, including Segment by way of Customer.io for marketing automation workflows.

Rowan Wild, co-founder of HelpPay, said, “We chose Storyblok as our CMS because it is user-friendly, flexible and has the ability to seamlessly integrate with our website, mobile app and social channels. It allows us to easily create and manage our digital content in a centralised location, saving us time and resources.”

Meanwhile, Chris Newton, head of front end delivery at Revium, commented, “Given the nature of Storyblok as a headless CMS, coupled with the flexibility that the platform offers, we completed the rebuild in just over three weeks.”

Revium’s development team initially prioritised content-heavy elements, enabling the HelpPay team to populate the site whilst refining other components. 

Dominik Angerer, co-founder and CEO of Storyblok said, “HelpPay’s website transformation journey exemplifies the value of embracing modern digital solutions. By leveraging Storyblok’s headless CMS, HelpPay has not only enhanced brand awareness but also created a seamless user experience for its customers.”

He added, “We are proud to have played a role in empowering HelpPay to make a meaningful impact in the social fintech space. It’s inspiring to witness businesses like HelpPay thrive in today’s fast-paced digital landscape where innovation and user-centricity are key to success.”

Singapore – Nium, an international payments company, has opened a new Singapore headquarters. Under the direction of Pratik Gandhi, co-founder and COO at Nium, the new headquarters act as a strategic hub for servicing clients in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.

In addition to Gandhi, Anupam Pahuja, who was recently named executive vice president and general manager for Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East, will oversee the headquarters and draw on his experience growing global companies like PayPal to keep Nium moving ahead.

Nium is developing measures that will help the larger regional fintech community demonstrate its commitment to Singapore. It intends to work with the public and private sectors to create a Singapore centre dedicated to finding, developing, and fostering ‘BizTech talent. This new classification of employment recognizes the growing necessity of fusing technical proficiency with business acumen.

Prajit Nanu, co-founder and CEO at Nium, said, “When I started Nium, I had big dreams for what it could be – none of which would have been possible without the support of the government, investors, and clients that are part of the thriving fintech community in Singapore. This headquarters will be home to our growing regional team and the door will always remain open for entrepreneurs looking to solve the next set of global challenges with innovation.”

Philippines – Plentina, a fintech startup headquartered in Silicon Valley launched in 2020, has strengthened its mission to unlock more financial opportunities for Filipinos through a recent virtual event that saw it shining light on financial wellness in the workplace.

Last May 3, 2023, Plentina hosted a seminar to share the results and highlights of its latest study on the relationship between finances and employee well-being.

“In emerging markets like the Philippines, fintechs have an important responsibility to work toward the democratization of finance,” the company said.

‘Beyond the Paycheck: Tackling Financial Health in the Workplace’ was a virtual event held through Zoom. Plentina’s Customer Retention Head, Kat Valencia, shared Plentina team’s findings on the current state of financial wellness in the workplace, particularly in the Philippines. She discussed the impact of financial stress on employees and businesses and shared different initiatives that employers can take to help improve the financial disposition of their employees. 

Plentina’s Co-founder and Chief Business Officer, Earl Valencia, also shared his insights on the opportunities for businesses to make a significant impact by increasing financial awareness and harnessing technology to improve the financial services available to emerging markets.

In response to the pain points identified in the study, Plentina shared it has been working to launch its own financial benefit program to help employers in the Philippines improve their employees’ workplace satisfaction and get closer to their business goals.

The Philippines – Commercial banking company Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) has unveiled its Open Finance Innovation Hub, the first-in-industry program that will provide an open digital ecosystem for innovation and co-creation in the country.

According to UnionBank, the Open Finance Innovation Hub will provide a platform where various organisations can work together, learn from each other, and create cutting-edge solutions that will drive progress and transformation in the fintech industry.

Last April 13, The Fintech Business Group of UnionBank launched its Open Finance Innovation Hub at the UnionBank Innovation Campus in San Pedro, Laguna. This program promotes open innovation by offering a digital ecosystem that breaks down silos and encourages trust and collaboration. 

The first phase of the Open Finance Innovation Hub starts with a 12-week capacity-building program for start-ups, incubators and accelerators, and venture capitalists to create the innovation ecosystem, whilst the second phase consists of creating an open-source platform.

In this space, collaborators from different industries can publish and consume problem statements, data, and models, becoming the perfect tool to co-create new ideas for innovation.

UnionBank kicked off the launch with contract signing ceremonies that sealed the collaboration between the bank and its first two batches of partners. AHG Lab Chief Operating Officer and Founders Launchpad Program Supervisor Rene Cuartero, LaunchGarage Chief Operating Officer Jojo Flores, Foxmont Capital Partners Managing Partner Franco Varona, and Animo Labs Executive Director Frederico Gonzales make up the first batch of partners.

Meanwhile, Aboitiz Equity Ventures Chief Transformation Officer Emilie Sydney-Smith, UBX Business Lead Mark Gorospe, and Philippine Stock Exchange Chief Operating Officer Atty. Roel Refran comprises the second batch of partners.

“Overcoming the challenges of open innovation requires a willingness to foster a culture of collaboration, to overcome the silo mentality that often inhibits innovation. It requires us to build trust and relationships, because trust is required between partners, which can be built through effective communication, transparency, and a mutual understanding of the end goal,” said UnionBank Fintech Business Group Head Erika Dizon-Go.

“Innovation is in UnionBank’s DNA, and this is why we created this space, to bring together the enthusiasts and experts from different industries, put our heads and minds together, and create ideas and solutions,” said UnionBank Chief Human Resource Officer Michelle Rubio.

Rubio added, “Open innovation matters more now because there is really a need to drive progress and transformation not just in our business, but society in general.”

Singapore – Property technology company PropertyGuru has announced the appointment of Manav Kamboj as the new managing director of its fintech business. Kamboj will retain his role as the chief technology officer of the company.

In his expanded role, Kamboj will lead the business, leveraging technology, data, and analytics to drive further digitisation of the home loan process and operational excellence. He has been working closely with the Fintech team since it was established which also helped him in gathering insights into his new role.

Kamboj has extensive experience in the consumer internet industry across eCommerce, mobile applications and technology consulting. Furthermore, he has led cross-functional teams in retail lending, product management and customer acquisition strategy.

Kamboj started to join the PropertyGuru group as chief technology officer in 2017, leading a distributed team of engineers, software developers and data scientists who deliver technology solutions to address the ever-changing needs of home seekers, real estate agents and property developers across the region. 

He also spearheaded the inauguration of PropertyGuru Group’s technology Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, India, which marks the Group’s sixth country office alongside offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. 

Before joining PropertyGuru, he was with e-commerce platform Snapdeal as vice president of technology where he shaped the product and technology roadmap for buyer platforms.

Hari V Krishnan, chief executive officer and managing director at PropertyGuru Group said that Kamboj’s strong skillset in technology and finance will help the company’s Fintech ambitions, including digitisation of home loan process in Singapore.

Kamboj expressed his excitement as he takes a new role in the company because of new opportunities to help the consumers.

“Our focus will be on developing products and solutions for the mortgage market that guide the home buyers’ financing needs and that are more often than not the biggest hurdle in their home ownership journey,” he added.

Last month, PropertyGuru also appointed Disha Goenka as its new chief marketing officer.

Manila, Philippines – Leading fintech app in the Philippines GCash has appointed its new chief marketing officer, ex-Lazada Neil Trinidad. The marketing veteran shared the announcement on a personal LinkedIn update. 

Trinidad brings with him a strong background in marketing, general management, and sales across the industries of FMCG, tech, fintech, and e-commerce. Previously, Trinidad also held the CMO position for the Philippine leg of top e-commerce platform Lazada for over 2 years through 2022. 

Transferring to the GCash team right after his CMO stint in Lazada, Trinidad first assumed the position of VP Head of Business of the fintech. 

Other notable marketing leadership under his belt include heading the businesses of Google Philippines and Unilever. In 2017, he also co-founded the e-commerce health food delivery business The Feel Good Food Group. 

Singapore – Financial technology giant Ant Group officially launched its Alipay+ D-store solution last November 3 at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2022. The solution intends to support the service industry and brick-and-mortar businesses to boost efficiency by digitalizing their operations.

Alipay+ D-store allows businesses to build digital stores across various digital platforms in a fast, scalable, and cost-efficient way. It will also give businesses a suite of toolkits to digitalize merchants’ payments, operations, services, and marketing efforts. 

The solution also gives its partners the ability to build digital stores on digital platforms in the form of mini programmes. These digital stores could also be developed as H5 pages and can be easily embedded in social media and online platforms to reach consumers.

Partner platforms of Alipay+ D-store include Chope, Alipay, Touch ‘n Go eWallet, and AlipayHK, among others. Food and beverage industry companies such as Burger King, Koufu, and more than 2,000 brands in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong SAR, China, and other markets have already adopted Alipay+ D-store in their operations.

“We welcome more digital platforms to collaborate to accelerate the digitalization of the global service industry together,” said Dr. Cherry Huang, global head of Alipay+ D-store.

She added, “Leveraging digital solutions is critical for the service industries to boost operational efficiency and adapt to the fast-changing market conditions. The Alipay+ D-store solution is developed with the goal to make it easier for brick-and-mortar businesses to go digital at scale, so that businesses can better serve and engage digital-savvy consumers by providing a seamless omni-channel experience.”

Moreover, Ant Group also announced that Alipay+ merchant coverage has more than doubled to over 2.5 million. 

Angel Zhao, president of international business of Ant Group, also revealed that Alipay+ rewards, the digital marketing platform developed by Alipay+, are already adopted by mobile payment apps such as GCash (Philippines), DANA (Indonesia), Kakao Pay (South Korea), Touch ‘n Go eWallet (Malaysia), TrueMoney (Thailand), and AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR, China) to help global brands better engage with consumers worldwide through digital coupons and exclusive deals.

Ant Group has previously expanded its partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board, which aimed to promote tourism in Singapore through a series of digital and marketing campaigns for the next two years.

Manila, Philippines — UBX, the fintech venture studio of the Aboitiz Group, will be leading the multi-sectoral initiative, ‘Digital Transformation ng Pilipinas’ (#DigiPinas), that aims to drive the accelerated digital transformation in the Philippine government to help bring essential and critical services closer to Filipinos. 

On 27 October, UBX officially introduced the #DigiPinas initiative, a multi-stakeholder advocacy group that will work closely with all relevant stakeholders towards the digital transformation of the country.

A response to the call of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, #DigiPinas is composed of platforms and solutions providers, local chief executives, policymakers, national government agency representatives, members of the academe, and people organizations. 

Together, #DigiPinas members will champion digital transformation in government, supported by enabling laws, policies, and regulations, including Republic Act (RA) 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act; RA 8792 or the Electronic Commerce Act; Executive Order (EO) 170 or the Adoption of Digital Payments for Disbursements and Collections; and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) National Strategy for Financial Inclusion and Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap. 

“One of our core values and advocacies in UBX is to include everyone and even though we have come a long way towards a more inclusive Philippines, there is still much more to be done. #DigiPinas is our response to the call for an accelerated digital transformation in government to help bring essential and critical services closer to Filipinos,” said UBX President John Januszczak. 

The Philippines is facing obstacles in achieving digital transformation such as low digital adoption, lack of awareness, gaps in access, digital skills gap, and complex regulations. #DigiPinas intends to help the government in the development of technologies that transform everyday experiences, particularly government services and transactions. 

#DigiPinas will be identifying national government agencies and local government units that it can support through digital transformation, equipping each government partner with digital tools and solutions to bring their services closer to their constituents. 

#DigiPinas Spokesperson Mikan Leachon added, “Digitalizing government services will help reduce inequalities and inequities, as the Internet, as they say, is the greatest equalizer. But we are still far from the new digital world that we seek. #DigiPinas takes a multi-stakeholder approach to address barriers and challenges and help hasten development not only in major cities and provinces, but in rural towns and far-flung areas.”