When Amadeus’ support programme to mentor and nurture seed-stage startups in Asia Pacific launched in 2015, they set out with the goal of creating better traveler experiences by solving pain points across the traveler journey.

We saw an opportunity to grow the region’s most promising startups by introducing them to our clients that include some of the world’s biggest airlines, airports, hotel groups and travel agencies and providing them with access to our experience and technology, as well as international expansion opportunities.

While a lot has changed over the last few years, particularly in 2020, the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of Asia’s startup founders continues to impress. Indeed, while the US and Europe have traditionally been regarded as the world centres for innovation, this has started to shift.

A recent report by Startup Genome estimates that APAC is now home to nearly one third of the world’s top startup ecosystems, meaning that ideas and innovation are just as likely to emerge in the East and flow to the West as vice versa.

In light of this, we have decided to bring all of our startup programmes globally under one umbrella brand – Amadeus for Startups – to give Asia’s travel technology entrepreneurs more access to international opportunities. Amadeus has had a longstanding interest in the startup community, fuelling the growth of thousands of startups through funding, technology, expertise and partnerships over the past few years. Today, we think this need for collaboration has never been more important.

Indeed, as the travel industry begins to think about recovery, we see exciting growth opportunities for Asia’s startup community.

Four areas for innovation in the COVID-19 era

The sudden, unforeseen changes in how people travel have created the industry’s biggest ever need for urgent innovation. We are seeing the accelerated adoption of many technologies that were previously considered a ‘nice to have’ for the travel sector, and there are also numerous brand-new opportunities to address completely new challenges that have been thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also Read: Lessons from a travel tech startup founder on navigating the pandemic-stricken business landscape

Four areas in particular stand out as being ripe for startup innovation:

Automated health checks

Rapid, automated health testing at airports will be central to borders reopening and reassuring passengers that it is safe to travel again. We see a big opportunity for startups to develop more sophisticated ways of doing this than the simple temperature checks that are currently in use.

The key will be to find ways to implement this on a mass scale, with minimal disruption to passenger processing.

Touch less technologies

Airports and airlines were already dipping their toes into ‘contactless’ technologies before the pandemic hit, to reduce queues and make the whole experience of flying easier and more convenient for their customers.

In our new world, this has become essential for hygiene reasons too. Startups that can find novel ways to reduce or remove ‘contact’ from the necessary steps involved in flying, will be in high demand.

We anticipate much higher demand for these sorts of services in the near future, so startups should look into which other aspects of the check-in and boarding process can be made ‘touch less’ or removed from the terminal altogether.

Movement tracking

Thirdly, we see a big need for technology that can help airports and airlines operate and be more efficient, while ensuring passengers are getting through the gates smoothly and safely.

This technology can also assist with compliance – from making sure that social distancing is being observed, to encouraging the wearing of masks.

Equipping existing cameras and static check points with AI software to monitor this will be key to ensuring passenger processing and enforcing policies more effectively and efficiently than through human monitoring alone.

Disruption management

Finally, with COVID-19 looking set to be a perennial concern, there is a greater need than ever before for innovative technologies that support disruption management in the travel industry too – so that last-minute changes in travel restrictions, flight schedules and re-bookings can be managed easily, for airlines, hotels, tour operators as well as the end traveler.

Also Read: Here are the 5 predictions for Southeast Asia’s travel industry trends post-COVID-19

We are focused on constant innovation in all of these areas, to best support our customers through the challenges of COVID-19, so we are always on the look-out for startups who can innovate in any of these fields.

Key to startup success in travel sector

Whilst COVID-19 has had a huge impact on global economies, through crisis comes creativity, and we see many opportunities for the APAC startups that embrace it with a ‘glass half full’ mentality.

Airlines, airports and hotels are more receptive to quick trials than ever before – so speed to market and agility will be key.

In particular, Asia’s startups should concentrate on developing minimal viable product propositions to quickly demonstrate proof of concept, with the ability to scale at a later date.

Another important consideration that Asia’s travel tech entrepreneurs should bear in mind is that legacy technology and infrastructures are rife across the industry, so ease of installation is a particularly strong selling point for any new technologies.

Lastly, the COVID-19 situation is unpredictable and changing all the time. Being able to quickly adapt in the face of further changes will stand any budding startups in good stead.

Ultimately, travel is vital to the recovery and growth of Asia Pacific’s economies. We continue to be impressed by the innovation and talent in this region and are confident that the startup community will continue to rise to the occasion and play a pivotal role in helping the wider industry rethink travel and reignite traveler confidence.

Together, we can all ensure the travel industry continues to be a key driver of global progress, positivity and prosperity.

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Learn the ins and outs of technopreneurship with Vertex Holdings’ Technopreneur Webinar Series 2020, a series of virtual events designed to help bolster the startup ecosystem by discussing the latest trends and strategies.

The 11-part webinar series features partners from Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India and Vertex Growth who have generously shared crucial insider information and have spoken about their entrepreneurial experiences to audiences made up of founders and aspiring entrepreneurs.

The webinar series covers a range of topics from raising capital to cross-border expansion and even to cybersecurity and everything in between — all of which audiences are able to enjoy within the comforts of their own homes.

But wait, there’s more

The 11th session of the Technopreneur Webinar Series 2020, aptly titled “Keeping an Eye Out for the Exit”, is slated on November 6, Friday, at 1 PM SGT. This session focuses on the delivery of outstanding returns and building valuable business coupled with a viable exit strategy.

This final session will help teach startup founders how to create value while keeping an eye out for their exit. Participants who are interested in this important business topic may still secure their slots by signing up here for free.

Also read: How to tackle fraud and counterparty risk in an increasingly compromised world of finance

“Attendees will be able to better understand the technopreneurship journey and learn about some of the best practices related to various operational aspect of running a startup,” shared Chua Kee Lock, CEO of Vertex Holdings.

Vertex Holdings has invited its portfolio companies’ founders and strategic partners to share their entrepreneurial adventures and experiences in specific areas. Each session is moderated by their leadership from Vertex Growth and Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, many of whom are also serial entrepreneurs and come from leading startups who have been through the life cycle of technopreneurship. Because of this, they are able to highlight the common pitfalls of companies and are able to offer tips to work around challenges.

The onus of the Technopreneurship Webinar Series

“Prior to COVID-19, Vertex Holdings regularly organized events and activities via our Technopreneur Circle community. However, COVID-19 has made it impossible to organize such physical networking events, which is clearly an integral part of entrepreneurship, one that also involves learning from each other,” shared Chua.

He further explained, “hence, as part of our efforts to give back to the wider innovation and startup community, Vertex Holdings decided to bring our mentoring online through this Technopreneur Webinar Series. This series aims to facilitate the sharing of ideas and insights from many startup CEOs and founders. Critically important, it provides aspiring technology founders and leading innovators a fundamental understanding of the intricacies and art of entrepreneurship.”

Also read: 5 inevitable changes to the workplace that are here to stay

Each session covers one key aspect of the startup journey. There are sessions that tackle fundraising, term sheets and legal considerations when structuring VC deals, cross-border expansion and exits.

Vertex Holdings also included four sessions covering industry topics on artificial intelligence, performance marketing, cloud services, and cybersecurity where the team invited industry experts and founders to share their experience and insights on these topics. Moreover, all sessions are free to attend.

Experience as a key differentiator

“Our investment thesis revolves around the objectives of building champions where we devote significant effort in supporting our founders with unmatched operating experience and deep access to the capital, talent, partners and customers they need to build truly global business,” explained Chua who underscored Vertex Holdings’ position as a business builder more than just a pure financial investor.

Chua added, “This series articulates our operating experience and our ability to provide fundamental understanding of the intricacies of entrepreneurship for the benefit of aspiring technology founders and innovators in the startup ecosystem.”

Also read: The future of startup financing in the WFH age

Some of the key learnings from past sessions include the importance of culture and communication when building great companies. There were also important discussions from Vinod about how marketing precedes sales during cross-border expansion. Meanwhile, there were also several discussions around employee stock option plans, due diligence issues, and the key considerations for founders when starting up a new venture, such as crafting a form of “pre-nuptial agreement” for co-founders.

Moving forward

Vertex Holdings will also be running a series of AI and robotics themed webinars that aim to spotlight some of Vertex Holdings’ portfolio companies. The upcoming event will focus on “Intelligent Contract Management @ Work”. For more information on this project and future events, you may visit the official Vertex Holdings site.

The full webinar recording for past sessions is also available for viewing. Request for each session can be submitted here.

The post Become the entrepreneur you dream to be in 11 sessions appeared first on e27.

Much of the world is struggling with deepening political division, economic inequality and ethnoreligious tensions. The growth of the Black Lives Matter movement — the largest movement in US history, and closer to home, the Milk Tea Alliance, are a number of global movements that have risen in response to the growing unrest and dis-satisfaction faced by the general public across the world.

Over in the borderless digital realm, some argue that these rifts will only be exacerbated by the technologies that connect us. Recent trends seem to agree with their claim.

From popular opinion that social media is a misinformation haven that threatens to undermine society to sophisticated tools of digital manipulation such as “Deepfakes”, the odds of misinformation increase as we transition towards digital societies.

This is compounded by the fact that it is intertwined with existing global socioeconomic realities. In finance, for example, most of the global unbanked are individuals living in developing economies in the Global South, and there is debate over whether cashless payments are more inclusive or exclusive.

The rise of the “sharing economy” has also generated a considerable backlash, with fears of a rentier economy taking shape even here in Singapore as more people turn to renting things instead of owning them due to tightening personal finances.

How technology divides us doesn’t stop there either. There’s the whole question of the haves and have-nots: people who are tech-savvy and easily adopt new technologies, versus people who do not understand how they work or are denied access to them, inadvertently or otherwise.

Also Read: Is Japan ready for the digital banking revolution?

The idea that technology only serves to divide society can be hard to dispel, but we should also remember all technology are just tools. Tools that, when in the right hands, can help us embrace a shared future in tomorrow’s digital societies.

Here are some ways in which communities can embrace one shared future in a digital society:

Everyone participates in a digital society

Before addressing how technology can bridge communities in a digital society, we should think about how technologies can connect everyone to the digital sphere first. According to Singapore’s Ministry of Communication and Information, digital readiness involves “providing access to digital connectivity and devices in a widespread, affordable manner”.

It also requires that participants in digital society are “information, media and cyber-literate”.

This carries two implications. One, that new technology that enables people to be part of a digital society should not be cost-prohibitive and designed in consideration for various constraints that confront society as a whole.

Two, that people also need to be educated on how to use these technologies independently and safely, and at the same time be cautioned on propagating toxic behaviours such as doxxing and online vigilantism.

Technologies are designed with society in mind

The effects of privatising public services in some countries decades ago are still keenly felt today. When public functions fall into private hands, essential services like healthcare and disaster relief may become prohibitively expensive and are only delivered to those who can afford them.

The same shadow lingers over technology’s role in influencing and transforming digital society. Companies designing these technologies should consult various stakeholders in society via focus groups and interviews. They should be as diverse as possible when doing so.

Also Read: Surviving COVID-19: How to adapt your digital marketing strategy amidst a global crisis

This is especially true for AI, where the lack of diversity has the entire industry facing “a moment of reckoning”. Human bias and prejudices do not obscure themselves in a digital environment. They are simply recreated, more so implicitly, and potentially amplified under the façade of statistical objectivity.

Technologies broaden and enrich our conversations

On social media, there has been a huge uproar over political advertising, particularly in light of Facebook’s refusal to ban such ads. The trend towards personalised content has also been criticised for fostering “filter bubbles” that enmesh people in a world where only posts that reaffirm their beliefs are shown.

But technology can also widen our horizons and create spaces to talk about things in a freer, less restrictive space. Some EdTech providers like Kialo Edu have learning systems that facilitate debates in a collaborative rather than the competitive manner, and other technologies also enable physically and mentally disabled people to participate in society.

In Singapore, youths have taken to the Telegram chat app to set up “Open Jio”, a group that promotes volunteerism and social participation in the country.

Technology has also been used to promote awareness of Singapore’s sociocultural issues, just as social enterprise Geylang Adventures has done; in the case of Mind Palace, technology in the form of virtual reality is also used to empower the elderly to connect with others even within the confines of nursing homes.

All this goes to show that technology can strengthen social cohesion by not only adding depth to our conversations, but also making sure nobody gets left behind in the process.

Progress is often characterised as the enemy of tradition, but that should not be taken for granted. Technology can synergise both ends of the spectrum to redefine traditions without consigning them to the dustbin of society.

Gyosen Asakura’s audacious fusion of display lighting, disco beats and buddhist chants in Japan’s Fukui prefecture is one such example. By combining the new and the old, Asakura’s work has brought together different generations, all of whom thoroughly enjoy his spectacular light shows.

Laser-cut pop-up cards by Lovepop also prove this point. Inspired by pop-up cards sold by artisans in the markets of Vietnam, founders John Wise and Wombi Rose took a traditional craft and enhanced it by making pop-up cards that feature more sophisticated and refined designs that traditional methods would have found difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.

Also Read: Lesson from the failure of several startups in the sharing economy

Technology not only has the potential to not only blend the old and the new but also bring ethnically diverse communities together as well.

We’ve already seen this happen in Singapore with the 2011 “Curry Dispute”, which culminated in the popular “Cook and Share a Pot of Curry” movement. This whole conversation on race and immigration in Singapore could not have gained traction if not for YouTube (where the controversial video was posted) and Facebook (where the movement was first announced).

Technology has also been used to accentuate cultural festivities such as the annual River Hongbao, Geylang Serai Ramadan Bazaar and Deepavali light up at Little India.

The use of interactive storytelling with digital environments enliven the festive atmosphere and connect age-old cultural practices with people from all walks of life.

Whither stewards of a digital society?

So it’s clear that technology can connect communities and get everyone on board a shared vision of tomorrow. What we should do next is to place them in the hands of responsible innovators who can not only envision but realise a socially cohesive digital society.

That’s exactly what is happening next month with the inaugural Mission:Unite Hackathon. Organised by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) in partnership with StartupX, the Mission: Unite Hackathon aims to bring together individuals of all ages, backgrounds and religions to take action in connecting people across diverse racial and religious backgrounds.

Mission:Unite will also see interfaith champions and society stewards come together to share their thoughts with participants. This hackathon is just the starting point, as the real goal is to have these ideas implemented within society, with up to S$300,000 in grant funding available to help these ideas get off the ground and take shape.

Bridging a digital society will take time and effort — Mission: Unite will provide a powerful launchpad to get inclusive ideas off the ground fast.

How will technology be used to build a socially cohesive digital society? We can’t wait to find out.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

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The post Technology and society: Digital divide or digital inclusivity? appeared first on e27.

Hello e27 community,

We have been flooded with contributions this week. Thanks to all our contributors. Keep em’ coming!

If the election result anxiety is getting to you (like it is to me), spend your weekend resting with a recap of our contributor articles.

There is ample scope for innovation in the real estate and travel industries, say our contributors. Learn how to handle data for better engagement but responsibly; and an investor’s views on how to build a fundable startup.

How to leverage mobile app data to understand your consumers by Christian Henschel, Co-Founder and CEO at Adjust

“Attribution data and in-app analytics are key to understanding user behaviour and ensuring growth. When it comes to app installs, competition is fierce, and today’s consumers have a combined total of close to five million apps to choose from in the Google Play and Apple app store.

That’s why it’s essential to work with an attribution platform where you can measure every channel to find out where your users come from.”

GGV Capital investor Hans Tung shares his definition of a fundable startup by Billy Yuen, founder of Stacktrek

“This week, Billy Yuen chats with Hans Tung, Managing Partner at GGV Capital, focusing on early stage investments in internet and e-commerce ecosystems globally.

Tung is consistently recognised among the top venture capital investors in the world, having been named to the Forbes Midas list eight times from 2013-2020, most recently ranking number 10, and named to the New York Times/CB Insights Top 100 Venture Capitalists list three times from 2017-2019, most recently at number 18.”

Food for thought

Treat your customers like humans, not data by Andy MacMillan, CEO UserTesting

“However, as customer interactions have moved out of the physical world and into the digital, some businesses have increasingly come to see their customers through the lens of data instead of as people to be known, understood and empathised with.”

Technology and society: Digital divide or digital inclusivity? by Jit Singh of StartupX

“There’s the whole question of the haves and have-nots: people who are tech-savvy and easily adopt new technologies, versus people who do not understand how they work or are denied access to them, inadvertently or otherwise.

The idea that technology only serves to divide society can be hard to dispel, but we should also remember all technology are just tools. Tools that, when in the right hands, can help us embrace a shared future in tomorrow’s digital societies.”

How emerging markets can become green economies by Isha Vashist

“Bringing renewable energy to the forefront has both short-term and long-term benefits. The short-term benefits would lead to economic activation and job creation and, the long-term benefits would result in a more sustainable and environment-friendly fuel with lower/zero carbon footprint.

This is why the government in both developed and emerging economies are considering investing in green/renewable energy to stir the economy in post-pandemic stimulus measures.”

The way forward

Why mixed-use is the future of real estate in a socially distanced world by Maarten Hemmes

“Innovation of the real estate industry globally plays a critical role in this development, specifically in urban and suburban areas where a dense and demanding population continues to grow.

With some exceptions for areas that require a dedicated set-up such as industrial, logistics, data centres or high-end and special care residential, it is unlikely that we will go back to the traditional separation between restaurants, offices, healthcare, industrial, residential and retail.

An so, mixed-use real estate is here to stay which is an important conclusion for investors, entrepreneurs and other innovators!”

Why Amadeus believes startups can shape the future of travel in a post-COVID-19 world by Matt James, Senior Manager, Strategic Projects & Alliances at Amadeus for Startups

“Whilst COVID-19 has had a huge impact on global economies, through crisis comes creativity, and we see many opportunities for the APAC startups that embrace it with a ‘glass half full’ mentality.

Airlines, airports and hotels are more receptive to quick trials than ever before – so speed to market and agility will be key.

In particular, Asia’s startups should concentrate on developing minimal viable product propositions to quickly demonstrate proof of concept, with the ability to scale at a later date.”

How edutech startup Snapask is filling the gap for personalised learning in a post-COVID-19 world by Kelly Chen, Head of Singapore, Snapask

“Current school formats in our city-state still largely encompass the following: a classroom of 30 students, a teacher, and a standardised curriculum that culminates in national exams.

While the world has developed significantly in the last decade, with technology making great strides in transforming industries such as healthcare, business and manufacturing, education systems in many countries such as ours, still have a long way to go.”

Trends in the finance world

How revenue-based financing will helping unbanked and underbanked businesses flourish by Jeffrey Liu, Founder and CEO of Jenfi

“Despite the burgeoning startup scene and booming business ecosystem in Singapore and across Southeast Asia, over 70 per cent of the adult population in Southeast Asia is still underbanked. This suggests a substantial market gap in an environment with over 75 million businesses.

This is where innovative financing solutions can step in and help fill the gaps. One such solution is revenue-based financing. At its core, revenue-based financing helps enterprises raise capital through investors who receive a percentage of revenue from ongoing activities.”

How to tackle fraud and counter party risk in an increasingly compromised world of finance by Gunnar Jaerv is COO of First Digital Trust, a Hong Kong-based financial institution

“Only a few years ago, the same bank declared bitcoin was ‘a Ponzi scheme’, but the news of this week highlights the rapid change in perception of these new asset classes across the world.

While these developments are welcomed, we still have a long way to go in ensuring digital assets are appropriately protected. Crypto adoption in traditional systems is moving fast, but as these are newly formed assets, they require the correct infrastructure to protect them.”

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page

The post Top contributions this week: Innovation in the travel world, revenue-financing, and more appeared first on e27.

‘Ant Group’s IPO suspension demonstrates the depth of complexity of investing in China’; For Chinese fintech lending industry, this will mean a trickier path to scalability as 30% of loans they disburse has to be from their own balance sheet fund; This might mean more necessity for bigger funding rounds and leaner operation. e27

Deutsche Bank alumni are helping Masayoshi Son remake Japan’s SoftBank; Their influence is evident in its evolution into a sprawling financial giant; Son set up the US$100B Vision Fund to make VC investments, bought Fortress Investment Group in 2017 and established an asset-management arm; Now, he’s getting into the blank-check frenzy and has contemplated a management buyout of SoftBank. Bloomberg

KOL Speak
Should you start a business with exit in mind?; According to Michael Lints of Golden Gate, the timing and exit strategy are crucial to maximising the returns of the VC firms and founders; Founders and shareholders can explore several avenues, but what is more important is to make sure incentives align across all parties. e27

Where exactly is the funding going in Singapore’s tech and startup ecosystem?; In 2020 so far, over US$3B in funding – across 201 deals – was poured into various industries; The majority of this funding comes from within Singapore itself, but there is also a variety of international sources; The US leads the top three with 33 deals, followed by the UK and Japan. TechInAsia

The meteoric rise of Zoom: Is it sustainable?; In the last week of March, the app was downloaded 3.2M times, far outstripping the growth of Microsoft Teams and Google Meet; Zoom’s revenue grew by 355% between Aug 2019 and July 2020; Analysts predict a further 454 per cent growth in turnover between August 2020 and July 2021. e27

Singapore’s blank cheque firm Tiga Acquisition files for US$200M IPO in US; It may raise an additional US$50M at the closing of an acquisition; The filing comes two months after Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corp. filed for US$225M IPO in the US. DealStreetAsia

SEA will adopt digital banking quickly, but here’s what needs to be addressed first; Most fintechs in SEA aren’t challenging the traditional banking industry; They’re focusing their services on consumers and businesses; This is because markets in SEA have a large unbanked and underbanked population, both on the consumer and SME fronts. Vulcan Post

How to make AI work for your business; While there’s an impression that AI is seeping into every aspect of life and business, for the moment, a lot of organisations are on the fence; Albeit interested, many business leaders are loath to invest in a technology that entails a lot of risk. The Next Web

IT firm Logicalis Asia acquires iZeno; Singapore-based iZeno specialises in digital transformation, application modernisation, DevOps, customer experience and hybrid cloud solutions; It also has ops in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand; iZeno has delivered over 500 enterprise solutions for 300 clients. HRAsia

How BAce Capital helps founders understand tech success models in China; According to its MD Benny Chen, although mobile phone tech, adoption has been largely prevailing in SEA, its depths and density still need a few more years to mature; There’s a huge opportunity to not just adopt but change customer behaviour. e27

How revenue-based financing will help unbanked and underbanked businesses flourish; It helps enterprises raise capital through investors who receive a percentage of revenue from ongoing activities; This means that the royalties that investors earn have a direct relationship with how well the business is doing. e27

Lightspeed launches Extreme Entrepreneurs 3.0 for high potential startups in SEA, India; With neither equity nor fees collected, the sole selection criteria is whether the founders will benefit from, and make the most of, the programme; The programme’s past mentors include Max Levchin (co-founder of PayPal and Affirm), Alex Chung (co-founder of Giphy) and John Thompson (Chairman of Microsoft). e27

KK Fund joins hands with Japan’s IGPI to support creation of new businesses by MNCs in SEA; The two firms will co-launch an accelerator programme, SEA Point, for MNCs to collaborate with regional startups and conglomerates on creating businesses; SEA has 70M+ SMEs and 30% of the world’s top startup ecosystems. e27

Why mixed-use is the future of real estate in a socially distanced world; Over the past several years, industry leaders have been diversifying sources of revenue, pursuing digital strategies and focusing on tenant experience; COVID-19 has accelerated the need for those strategic changes, and highlighted that those that haven’t yet made such investments will probably need to catch up quickly. e27

Irrespective of the winner of the US presidential election, the true winner will be SEA’s startup ecosystem; The region’s tech startup ecosystem has been an investor favourite in the past years even amidst the COVID-19 crisis; Leading names such as Tim Draper and Peter Thiel are making great moves in SEA; But the excitement peaks with the rise of the US-China trade war. e27

Thailand’s Krungthai Bank launches R&D company ‘Infinitas’ for digital innovations in financial products; Infinitas will provide Krungthai, its customers and its business partners with digital solutions, open digital banking and data services; Infinitas was registered with a capital of US$10M.

Digital bank holds promising future in Malaysia, says Ministry of Finance; Digital banks will offer services such as savings and current accounts, withdrawals and transfers and is expected to revolutionise the financial landscape by offering financial services through digital and automated platforms; BNM is at the stage of finalising the updated Exposure Draft on Licensing Framework for Digital Banks issued on March 3, 2020. Bernama

With #BuyForImpact, MaGIC aids social enterprises in overcoming major challenges; The campaign aims to promote a socially-conscious buying behaviour among the general public in Malaysia; #BuyForImpact also connects social enterprises to impact investors, who are looking to scale businesses that can deliver solutions to tackle social or environmental problems. Digital News Asia

Unlocking digital potential through open-source in SEA; Generally, the maturity level of open source adoption throughout the region varies from country to country; In developing countries like Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, open source awareness and adoption levels are vastly and seemingly different. Tech Collective

E-commerce has huge potential in rural areas of Vietnam, say experts; 85% of the e-commerce serves the urban market mostly in Hanoi and HCM City, which accounts for 20% of the population, the rest of the 80M rural people are not yet included in the system; The scale of Vietnam’s digital economy ranks second in SEA after Indonesia. Vietnam News

Study: Digital payments fraud surges during pandemic; The transformation of payments, both in existing and new methods, requires financial institutions to understand all payment entry points; Protecting those entry points from digital fraud is considerably more complicated. Tech Coffee House

The future of online selling services in the Philippines is here; In the new normal, online buying and selling, as well as delivery services, are prerequisites for maintaining a thriving retail business or growing a budding one. Business Inquirer

Penjana e-commerce initiatives hit over US$290M sales; The Malaysian government had allocated US$34M to implement the Penjana micro, MSMEs e-commerce campaign and Penjana Shop Malaysia Online initiative via MDEC as the lead agency to implement the initiatives; The Penjana MSMEs e-commerce campaign has seen over 115K new and existing MSMEs boarded onto e-commerce. MiDec.my

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Image Credit: Unsplash

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