Accenture calling for fintech entrants
Fintech startups are being asked to apply for a place in a 12-week program that will see the young companies gain exposure to executives at big global banks. Accenture is taking applicants for its third annual Asia-Pacific FinTech Innovation Lab, a program for entrepreneurs that are developing technologies for the financial services sector. It focuses specifically on new technologies in the areas such as big data, analytics and cognitive computing, security and identity management, risk management and compliance, blockchain technology, and Internet of Things applications. Accenture says investments in Asia-Pacific fintech companies are on the rise, totalling $2.7 billion in Q1, 2016 – representing 51 per cent of the $5.3 […]
Global regulators move closer to regulating fintech
Global regulators have moved closer to regulating the fledgling fintech sector, which includes blockchain technology that supports bitcoin, to ensure the industry’s rapid growth does not pose any risks to the financial system. The Financial Stability Board (FSB), which met in Tokyo on Thursday, has agreed on a framework for categorising different components of fintech and assessing their potential risks. The FSB, made up of central bankers, regulators and finance ministry officials from the Group of 20 economies, is looking at fintech partly in response to uncertainty over whether it will “disrupt” traditional banking. Some big investment banks, including Goldman Sachs , are already investing heavily in fintech to avoid […]
Payment solution: corporates embrace virtual credit cards
For some time now, the dominant theme in digital payments for retail customers has been: “build it and they will come”. It’s a different story for corporates, where the rate of mobile payments innovation and adoption has been much slower, apart from some key emerging niches including virtual credit cards. A virtual card is exactly what the name implies: instead of the traditional plastic, a random card number is generated by software provided to the corporate customer. The 16-digit number can be accessed through an app on a mobile device, or directly by the company for a business-to-business purchase online. In most cases the number is used only once, it […]
Fintech adoption tipped to double in 2016
The level of fintech adoption among consumers is set to grow significantly in the next 12 months, new research has revealed. EY’s inaugural FinTech Adoption Index – a survey of 10,131 digitally-active consumers in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and the US – found that 15.5 per cent had used at least two fintech services (financial services products developed by non-bank, non-insurance, online companies) in the past six months. It also suggested that adoption rates among digitally active consumers could double within the next 12 months. EY Australia’s fintech leader, Anita Kimber, said it is a change that will require traditional financial services companies to revisit their product, […]
Blockchain and how it will change everything
In May, British billionaire Richard Branson invited a select posse of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and technology advisers to his Caribbean residence for an exclusive pow wow on an issue occupying some of the top markets minds in the world. The topic for discussion on the picturesque Necker Island was the “blockchain”. “Every now and then, something comes along that might just change everything. And this is one of those moments,” ASX chief executive Elmer Funke Kupper. In case you’re one of the many yet to wrap your head around the promising technology, blockchain, on a simple level, uses computer code to engender trust in digital-economy transactions. One of the attendees […]
Fintech could close $2 trillion SME funding gap
Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) worldwide are struggling for funding from traditional sources, opening up a significant business opportunity for financial technology (fintech) operators. According to a new white paper from the World Economic Forum (WEF), fintech companies are already leading the way in disrupting the financial services space, and are eyeing up the $2 trillion funding gap that exists in the SME credit market. The paper, which was put together by the WEF’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Finance & Capital, explains that the disruptive tailored services coming from the burgeoning fintech sector include invoice and supply chain financing, equity crowd funding and peer-to-peer lending between SMEs. […]
