We all are accommodated with fintech in this modern era of digitisation. The trend is rising especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also, we face rapid fintech transformations on a daily basis and virtual cards, ATMs, mobile transactions and digital wallets are becoming a new normal. Cutting-edge technologies claim that the fintech horizon is expanding more rapidly than ever in the upcoming future.  

The majority of the businesses faced a downfall when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Only a few of them were smart enough that somehow successfully showed an upward trend and out of them, one was the fintech industry.

Both businesses and customers start utilising contactless payment methods to avoid physical contact with each other. According to a study, there was 72 per cent of evident usage of fintech apps in Europe, especially since the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Following are the top 5 predictions that will take over the world especially in 2021 and later upcoming years. 

Digital banking

Virtual banking services are expanding in the industry of digital banking. Those services include contactless MasterCard, P2P transfer and international remittance with free transaction fees and also with the ability to buy various cryptocurrencies such as ethereum and bitcoin.  

In such a short time period, digital banking gained immense popularity. The main reason for this evolution is that it provides customer due diligence and also eliminates tedious verification processes based on paperwork and visiting banks physically.

According to a report, it was a 36 per cent conversion rate from physical visitors to online bank users from the year 2017 to the year 2022. In 2021, a huge surge can be seen in digital-only banks and this surge will significantly drop the number of physical bank visitors.  

Blockchain

According to Business Insider Intelligence, around 48 per cent of the bank representatives think that there’s a great impact of blockchain technology on financial infrastructure.

The revolution in the fintech industry is because of innovative and rapidly evolving blockchain technology. Transactions can be carried out in a secure and safe manner with the help of this cutting-edge technology. 

Blockchain technology also minimised centralised procedures of online transactions. This technology also ensured customer due diligence and enhanced risk assessment. Also, the customers’ information is secured end-to-end.

Also read: 3 key trends defining the hottest startup sector in Asia: Fintech

Monetary transactions are enabled by many peer-to-peer (P2P) transaction platforms and this technology is invoked in a wide range of financial sectors to deter fraud, reduce expenses, and enhance internal procedures. 

Biometric security systems

Mobile banking, ATMs and e-wallets are becoming a new normal. Integration of biometric security systems with the fintech industry ensures that everything is just one fingertip away. Massive security-related issues are solved by incorporating biometric authentication services in financial infrastructure to control rapidly evolving cyber crimes.

It is mandatory for organisations that involve financial transactions to incorporate all the possible security measures. Keeping in mind threats in cyberspace, biometric identification technology is playing a crucial role to deter fraud.

In the upcoming years, more advancements in AI-based biometric identification systems can be seen to take security to the next level, providing an enhanced customer experience.

According to a study, identity verification solutions that involve physical contact are facing unpopularity. Contactless solutions of biometric systems will take over touch-based fingerprints in the near future.   

AI/ML

Customer identification plays a crucial role in keeping in mind the immense rate of fraudulent activities and illicit money transactions. Thankfully, Artificial Intelligence has managed the increasing rate of cyber crimes and also plays a vital role in enhancing the fintech industry.

It is predicted that by the year 2030, financial transaction and operational expenses will be reduced by 23 per cent because of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Advanced AI and Machine Learning algorithms have made the customer repository in financial infrastructure more accurate and have made the data recording process efficient.

Banks and sectors that involve financial transactions are investing a large amount for incorporating AI and ML-based technological advancements for customer due diligence, and for incorporating cutting-edge technology for customer service such as chatbots, etc.   

RegTech

The advent of technology has risen the risks of fraudulent activities such as money laundering, cyber attacks, data breaches, etc. Regulatory technology, abbreviated as RegTech, is the technology that is used to manage regulatory processes in financial infrastructure.

RegTech technology involves the following main functionalities: monitoring, reporting and compliance. Demand for cloud-based platforms will increase in 2021 to promote a contactless future, especially in COVID-19. 

RegTech is basically a more advanced form of fintech technology, invoked by higher authorities into financial institutions. RegTech empowers technologies with advanced security features to deter fraud and illicit money transactions.

RegTech, in compliance with ML and Big Data, can fight a great battle against data breaches, protects customers and ensures financial stability. 

The rising tide of AI is becoming immense as we move on to 2021. This massive innovation is leading use towards an unpredictable future of social upheaval. Contactless futures are becoming a new normal keeping in view an increasing number of coronavirus patients.  

Also read: Here is the e27 Malaysia Fintech Ecosystem Report 2019

The purpose of advancements in fintech trends is the transparent relationship between business and customer, enhanced customer experience, and risk assessment using biometric solutions, KYC/AML compliance, and digital identity verification.

Integration of fintech innovations with blockchain technology is gaining tremendous transaction in the upcoming era of digitisation. Further disruption can be seen in 2021 and upcoming years in financial infrastructure, especially in the digital banking sector. 

If you are looking for online transaction solutions, make sure that you integrate yourself with such a financial sector that involves enhanced fintech solutions, advanced risk assessment technologies, and also which presume simple, secure and convenient management of financial transactions. 

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Indonesia-based digital investment platform Bibit has raised US$30 million in fresh funding to expand its robo-advisory platform and other services.

Sequoia Capital India joined existing investors East Ventures, EV Growth and 500 Startups in the round.

Launched in 2019, Bitbit’s robo-advisory platform enables users to build customised portfolios based on their risk profiles and investment goals. It was originally launched as Stockbit, a platform for investment news and for investors to share strategies in real-time, before rebranding and pivoting to provide automated investment services.

In a statement released by Bibit, CEO Sigit Kouwagam said the startup has experienced a high growth rate since its launch, with more than a million first-time investors joining in 2020.

Also Read: How to prep the future workforce for a tech-first financial sector

With 90 per cent of Bibit users being millennials and new investors, Kouwagam remarked the growth is a consequence of increased financial literacy and a renewed focus on personal finance management among the younger generation.

Data from Indonesia Stock Exchange and Central Custodian showed that the number of retail investors in the country grew by 56 per cent year-on-year in 2020, with growth mainly driven by millennials, who accounted for 92 per cent of new investors.

“Consumers across the world are moving their savings from low-yielding assets like gold and real estate to higher-yielding financial products,” said Rohot Agarwal, VP of Sequoia India.

“In Indonesia, Bibit has become the most trusted platform for millions of consumers with its well-balanced portfolio that offers the best risk-adjusted returns,” he added.

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Image Credit: Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash

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ProfilePrint, a Singapore-based Artificial Intelligence food ingredient analysis platform, announced today it has closed a 7-figure USD pre-Series A funding round.

Participating investors include Enterprise Singapore’s investment arm SEEDS Capital, Glocalink Singapore, Leave-a-Nest Singapore and BP de Silva Group, as well as other unnamed strategic investors.

The fresh financing will be used to bankroll developments of ProfilePrint’s patented technology, develop analysis solutions on its SaaS platform and expand its team.

Co-founded in 2018 by Alan Lai and Rehan Amarasuriya, ProfilePrint has developed a technology to combine parameters and data into a digital fingerprint that predicts the quality profile of a food sample “within seconds”.

The SaaS startup claims this is possible through the utilisation of technologies such as AI on a cloud-based platform with a portable analyser. This allows various stakeholders — ranging from growers, collectors, wholesalers, manufacturers to retailers — to predict quality profiles without human intervention or destroying the sample.

Also Read: How blockchain can help combat ongoing fraud in the Halal food industry in SEA

ProfilePrint said its solution has taken on increased importance amidst the pandemic outbreak as companies are restricted from sending their staff to farms for sourcing and quality inspections. This has led to an increase in revenue growth and business user adoption for the company, it said.

The startup currently provides its solutions to food brands and manufacturers in countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the US, and China.

Besides its core platform, ProfilePrint also helps organisers of trade shows by creating a virtual platform for its exhibitors and trade visitors to ascertain grade and quality of ingredients online without the need for physical samples.

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Image Credit: ProfilePrint

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Covid-19 has accelerated digitalisation for companies across the globe, forcing many to adapt to a remote workspace during periods of lockdown. Therefore it makes sense that certain sectors and businesses, whose remote teams are working across time zones, have fared much better than their traditional counterparts. Consumer priorities have shifted, along with the way we interact with the world. As a result, global supply chains have slowed down, while the use of virtual services has increased exponentially.

The economic effect of Covid-19 hit traditional sectors the hardest. Brick-and-mortar stores have shuttered, restaurants have turned into food delivery hubs, and airlines have gone bankrupt. As we shift towards more permanent remote work and online consumption, agile startups that have been able to adjust to these trends can thrive and investors should encourage these types of companies in their portfolios.

Also read: ProfilePrint’s AI tool predicts quality profile of a food sample “within seconds”, raises funding

Economic crises breed winners and losers, and 2020 has expanded the gap between both. As the Covid-19 pandemic is one of the world’s largest economic crises ever, digitalisation efforts have also amplified. For example, tech companies that cater to remote needs, such as e-commerce, video conferencing software, and delivery, have grown significantly over the past year. As a testament to this, Zoom’s market valuation exceeded Exxon Mobil’s US $138 billion price tag at the end of October 2020.

Many innovative companies became competitive because of their flexible working arrangements and high level of digitisation. Moreover, rather than traditional office hierarchies, they operate via project-based teams of individuals located in various time zones. This may be unusual for private equity companies to embody, but in setting the example for their portfolio companies, they might also find efficiencies in modernization.

Globalization 4.0

The Covid-19 pandemic has a silver lining; it normalised location-independent forms of work to allow employees to log in and get to work, wherever they are based. In other words, it is the perfect moment to build a global team. Hiring across borders presents an opportunity to bridge gaps in the market by connecting professionals with specific skill sets to the consumers who demand their service or product. Even without physical travel, globalization will continue through international networks formed by apps like Slack, Notion, and Microsoft Teams, which increasingly define the virtual workspace.

Also read: Top 5 fintech predictions that will take over the world in 2021

Dropbox announced it was going virtual-first in early October and has since wholly embraced this new model as the future of work. Remote work has become the primary experience for all Dropbox employees, along with non-linear workdays where collaboration hours overlap between time zones instead of following the standard 9 am-5 pm workday schedule.

Exemplified by Dropbox and many innovative brands, the pandemic spurred a new kind of globalization that is not based on the flow of goods across borders, but on the flow of data. Going global will help VCs and PE firms adopt a more hands-on approach to running their portfolio companies — ultimately increasing the likelihood that their investments will prove successful in a post-Covid environment.

New tools, new normal

A passive approach to managing portfolios remotely limits portfolio companies’ opportunity to capitalise on the investing fund’s expertise. Thankfully, a new set of tools has made it easier for PE firms and VCs to adopt a more hands-on approach.

The normalisation of virtual conferencing means that firms can more easily bridge the gap between their portfolio companies and compliant, trusted partners in their network. As advisors with a collective wealth of experience in scaling companies, increased investor involvement at a strategic level tends to benefit portfolio companies and videoconference software has made collaboration easier than ever.

Another tool available to investors is a partnership with a global Employer of Record (EOR), which brings a geographically dispersed talent pool under one single, locally compliant payroll. By teaming up with an EOR like Globalization Partners, investors can remove the administrative burdens associated with hiring, onboarding, and payroll from their portfolio company’s shoulders and let them focus on growing their business. Thanks to its proprietary cloud-based solution coupled with the company’s unmatched legal and tax expertise, Globalization Partners facilitates global hiring, and provides technology to help the employer efficiently manage their global workforce.

Saving costs while going global

Firms pursuing international M&A transactions traditionally face a unique blend of challenges. Sellers may face setbacks during cross-border employee transfers due to the complexities of international regulations, while buyers face legal issues like benefits matching and disbursing salaries through foreign banks. Resolving these issues can be a drain on financial resources and time.

Also read: How blockchain can help combat ongoing fraud in the Halal food industry in SEA

While firms might use mergers and acquisitions to expand globally, or tap into international talent, doing so without a trusted partner can result in value loss and delays to deal close. With the help of Globalization Partners, startups and investors can navigate employee transfers, onboarding, and offboarding seamlessly and compliantly.

Prepare for Economic Recovery

According to a McKinsey global survey, over 50 per cent of respondents in China, India, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region hold an optimistic economic outlook for economic recovery.

Forward-thinking companies are planning now to take advantage of new global opportunities, however, it can take months or years to expand globally by setting up a local branch or entity, which can prevent portfolio companies from creating value for their investors. Globalization Partners enables companies to grow on a global scale and build international teams in a matter of days or weeks — well in time to catch the recovery wave into a more interconnected future.

Learn more about Globalization Partners.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by 
Globalization Partners

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Indonesian startup giants gojek and Tokopedia are in advanced merger talks, ahead of a planned dual public listing of the combined entity in the US and Indonesia, according to a Bloomberg report.

gojek is concurrently in merger talks with Grab, but the discussions have hit a roadblock amidst reports that Grab CEO Anthony Tan is unwilling to give up some control in the combined entity and disagreements remain over plans to manage the Indonesian market.

Softbank’s Masayoshi Son is reportedly unhappy with the Tan’s reluctance to cede control and is now supporting a merger between gojek and SoftBank-backed Tokopedia.

Also Read: Will a Grab-gojek merger benefit consumers? Experts are divided

The report added the two Indonesian startups have signed a detailed term-sheet and see potential synergies between them. Both are keen to expedite the merger process and close the deal.

With a combined valuation of more than US$18 billion, the merged entity could mark the creation of an unprecedented “super app”, with services ranging from ride-hailing and payments to online shopping and logistics.

A deal between gojek and Tokopedia is likely to face less regulatory pressure than the Grab-gojek deal as government officials have already expressed reservations over the latter.

The companies are weighing their options for a public offering, with two main possible routes — a traditional dual-listing in Indonesia and the US or a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC).

Also Read: What does Peter Thiel-backed Bridgetown’s IPO mean for SEA’s startup ecosystem?

This development comes in the wake of a report last month that Tokopedia had hired Morgan Stanley and Citi as advisers to accelerate its public listing plans. This came off the back of a report that Peter Thiel-backed SPAC, Bridgetown Holdings, was in discussions for a potential merger with the Jakarta-based firm.

In an official statement dated 17 December, a Tokopedia spokesperson wrote:

“Market adoption is accelerating business growth since the pandemic. We are considering to accelerate our plan to go public and we have appointed Morgan Stanley and Citi to be our advisors. We have not decided yet which market and method, and still considering options.”

“SPAC is a potential option that we could consider but that we have not committed to anything at the moment.”

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Image Credit: gojek

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Singapore-based private equity and VC firm Heritas Capital aims to make the initial close of its second fund in the first half of 2021, as per multiple reports.

Launched in December 2020 with a target fund size of US$30 million, Heritas Venture Fund II (HVF II) plans to invest in up to 15 seed and Series A-stage companies in sectors ranging from foodtech to edtech across Asia.

The development comes at a time when verticals such as online learning and alternative food markets are seeing accelerated growth, thanks to COVID-19.

“We are seeing a strong pipeline of attractive deal flows, which are also impactful in terms of enhancing access to affordable quality healthcare and education, and contributing to sustainable growth,” said Chik Wai Chiew, CEO and Executive Director of Heritas Capital.

Heritas recently led a US$3 million Series A+ funding round in Cakap, an Indonesian online language learning platform. Its other portfolio companies include Indonesian telehealth startup Alodokter and Singapore-based mental health firm Holmusk.

Also Read: Cakap bags US$3M in Series A+ funding to expand its language learning platform in Indonesia

Launched in 2017, Heritas Capital has so far invested in 10 startups, including biotech platform Hummingbird Bioscience and foodtech startup Alchemy Foodtech, which specialises in food innovations to fight diabetes and other chronic diseases.

According to reports, the investment firm has plans to launch another PE fund,  Termed Heritas Growth Fund III, with a corpus of US$150 million.

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Image Credit: Photo by Peter Nguyen on Unsplash

 

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Poptron, a lifestyle social commerce platform in Malaysia, has secured US$1 million in strategic investment from an unnamed NASDAQ-listed company.

These investments will be used to develop the platform’s version 2.0 (expected to be rolled out in January 2021) as well as expand the team and begin operations in Singapore by Q1 2021.

The Kuala Lumpur-headquartered tech startup said in a statement that it is planning to raise an additional US$375,000 via pitchIN, a local equity crowdfunding platform, in Q1 2021.

Launched in September 2019, Poptron is a curated e-commerce platform that connects microbrands — selling high-quality, natural and eco-friendly products or artisanal goods — with like-minded global users.

Also Read: A look at the future of social commerce

The firm helps sellers overcome key pain points in customer acquisition, business management and regional growth by using a single platform to handle everything from enquiries to shipping.

Users will also be able to discover, follow and shop with peace of mind through an intuitive user interface while tracking each delivery straight to their doorstep.

Poptron claims that over 100 microbrands with more than 700 different types of product listings have since come on board, ranging from personal care, fashion items, arts and crafts, to pets necessities and home and living products.

Founder Brian Johnson Lowe said: “Before the Movement Control Order (MCO), I used to frequent local arts bazaars and discovered a lot of interesting, high-quality products from small brands and businesses. Due to the pandemic, bazaars came to a halt, so these brands are depending on online sales, usually gathered from various social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Online demand generation became a critical area of focus, and it became quite evident that securing new customers online isn’t as easy as it seems.”

Globally, there are almost 2.2 million microbrands in 2020, with the total available market of US$7.6 billion.

Also Read: What customers really want from brands and businesses in the post-pandemic world

Out of this, the serviceable available market for Poptron is worth US$3.8 billion, which counts for 1.5 million out of the expected 3.79 million global microbrand market in 2025.  Poptron aims to capture US$1.6 billion of the market share with 600,000 microbrands generating its global revenue in 2025.

“With Poptron, we hope to gather all these brands in one place for consumers to discover, our idea is to prove the value of this unique platform and increase the business returns of our merchants first. Being able to make the strides that we have during the course of this year is a testament to the drive and passion of the team,” he added.

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Image Credit: Poptron

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Despite its huge popularity these days, the e-commerce industry remains a fairly new industry. Having made its entrance into the region at the turn of the millennium, the growth of e-commerce only accelerated in the last decade.

As millennials flock to work in e-commerce companies, we would expect to see an adoption of “Gen Z work ethics”, where gender diversity and job satisfaction are highly valued.

iPrice Group, a regional meta-search website, gathered data and released a report sharing insights into gender diversity and job satisfaction rates of the top three e-commerce companies across Southeast Asia.

Here are the main takeaways:

Gender diversity in top-level roles

Despite increasingly strong rhetoric to have women helm top-level roles within companies, disparity is still present due to inherent bias within the society for females to be family-orientated.

The report found that only 31 per cent of women occupy C-level roles within e-commerce companies in the region. Similarly, 62 per cent of Vice Presidents in Southeast Asia’s top e-commerce companies are men, with only 38 per cent being women.

However, the gap is smaller for Senior Vice President (SVP) roles. Close to half of the top e-commerce SVPs are women while 56 per cent are men.

Also Read: How the tech industry can become friendlier for women

Overall, there is a 60-40 disparity between men and women when it comes to being in positions of power. Given centuries of gender inequality and women taking time off for child-rearing, the disparity isn’t as wide as we may have assumed.

Amongst the surveyed countries, Hong Kong had the highest percentage of women helming top-level positions — where 55 per cent of top-level executives are women. Vietnam and Thailand trail behind Hong Kong at 46 per cent and 44 per cent respectively.

Surprisingly, Singapore has the least women in power in Southeast Asia with only 35 per cent occupying top-level roles.

Job satisfaction in Southeast Asia’s top e-commerce companies

Overall data suggest many enjoy working in the e-commerce industry of Southeast Asia. More than half of employees in e-commerce companies would recommend it as a workplace to their friends, while e-commerce CEOs have high approval ratings ranging from 66 to 97 per cent.

Indonesians are the most satisfied with the e-commerce industry as a workplace. According to iPrice’s data gathered from Glassdoor, Indonesians give e-commerce companies a 4.3-star rating. Ninety per cent  of the surveyed employees would recommend these companies to a friend, with 97 per cent of them approving of their CEOs.

Also Read: Startup founders are responsible for their remote employees. Here’s how to fulfil your duty of care

The next most satisfied employees are the Filipinos. They gave their employers a 3.8-star rating, with 76 per cent recommending their companies to friends, and 87 per cent of them approving of their CEOs. This is despite the Philippines recording one of the lowest monthly salaries at US$588, above Vietnam’s US$394.

Despite having the highest monthly salary among the surveyed countries at US$3,116, Singaporeans seem to be the most unsatisfied with working in the top e-commerce companies.

Singaporean participants of Glassdoor only gave an average rating of 3-stars for their e-commerce employers. Fifty-three per cent would recommend their employers to a friend and only 66 per cent of them approve of the CEO.

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Image Credit: iPrice Group

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Singapore-based financial products comparison platform, GoBear, has announced that it will shut down its operations, joining the list of startups that were forced to end their operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This comes amidst an extended period of decreased demand for its financial products and services, with travel insurance hit badly by the pandemic.

“GoBear has made the difficult decision to close the business. Our purpose was to improve the financial health of people across Asia and I’m proud and grateful for the contributions that all our employees and partners have made towards that mission,” said Adrian Chng, CEO of GoBear.

The company further added that it will have adequate financial resources to honour existing contracts with its customers and employees and will work with relevant authorities to ensure smooth closure of the business.

Founded in 2015 by CTO Ivonne Bojoh and Chief Commercial Officer Marnix Zwart (both left the firm in November 2019), GoBear operates a platform for insurance, banking and lending products in seven markets in Southeast Asia.

GoBear was initially meant to be a metasearch engine, before making a transition into financial services. It claimed in May 2020 that it had over 100 commercial partners, including banks and insurance providers, and its services were used by over 55 million people.

The platform has raised US$97 million in funding to date, the latest being a US$17 million round (led by Dutch VC firm Walvis Participaties and asset management firm Aegon) in May 2020. It had also acquired local digital lending platform AsiaKredit in the same month.

Also Read: GoBear grabs US$17M in funding to accelerate its financial services across Asia

In the statement announcing the funding, Chng had claimed GoBear’s digital insurance brokerage segment had seen a 52 per cent increase in average order value in the last three months. It had also registered a 50 per cent year-on-year revenue growth from loan products.

As of May 2020, GoBear had a presence in seven Asian markets, including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

In the first sign of trouble brewing within the company, GoBear announced in September 2020 that it would cut 22 staff across its operations, product, and technology teams — 11 per cent of its global workforce of 200.

Last year, several companies had ceased operations due to COVID-19, including Indonesian e-commerce platforms Sorabel and Blanja and budget hotel aggregator Airy.

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Image Credit: Gobear

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How did emerging markets in SEA fare in 2020?; While COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the region, with 1.38M confirmed cases in SEA as of December 2020, emerging markets such as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar have remained relatively unscathed, with Myanmar suffering the greatest impact among the three. More here

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Nokia selected by Thailand’s dtac as its first 5G partner; The deal will see an accelerated large-scale deployment of 5G on low-band spectrum and high-capacity mmWave technology, as well as enhancements of the existing networks utilizing 2300MHz, 2100MHz and 1800MHz spectrum; This combination will provide superior coverage and faster data speeds to subscribers. More here

Meet Lucy, the digital bank platform that aims to empower female entrepreneurs; Setting itself apart from other digital banking platforms, the startup focusses on female migrant worker and home business owners as its target audience; While the company aims to expand its service to the whole of Southeast Asia, they start out with Singapore first. More here

For Tony Fadell, the future of startups is connected and sustainable; The man credited with creating the iPod and building the iPhone has identified a few really difficult things that he sees as big investment areas going forward; They include the electrification of everything, the digital connection of everything, the rise of biomanufacturing, and the eradication of waste. More here

Korea’s LG signs US$9.8B deal to produce EV batteries in Indonesia; It will construct an integrated electric battery factory from upstream to downstream; Mines, smelters, precursors, cathodes, cars, recycling facilities will be built in Indonesia; The project will be located in North Maluku and Central Java. More here

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