Digitalisation is the name of the game, having experienced a dramatic acceleration during the COVID-19 outbreak. In Asia Pacific, consumers are moving to e-commerce, contactless and electronic payments and in response, many businesses jumped onto the digital bandwagon too – if not, it will be difficult to survive.

The past few years saw significant developments in the payments industry, many spearheaded by fintechs. Fintechs play a significant role in addressing challenges and opportunities in areas like data security, fuelling growth for blockchain and data encryption, and building mobile and tech expertise to answer to consumer demands for convenience and easy navigation.

What are the key opportunities in 2023 for fintechs, and how can you scale your business in tomorrow’s hyper-digitalised world? Here are five trends we think fintechs should absolutely look out for.

Also read: China Mobile International launches iSolutions Carnival

1. Web 3.0
   

   Imagine a universe where payments run on blockchains and digital currencies are used widely to purchase goods and services. The reality isn’t that far away. Innovations are already rapidly scaling up in Web 3.0 and the metaverse, where banking is decentralised and where money can be moved quickly.

   As Web 3.0 comes into maturity and with the rise of the metaverse, more use cases will develop. Connecting and engaging digitally will only become easier and both businesses and consumers will also experience a proliferation of payment methods in virtual reality.

   Other than digital currencies, non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) may also gain wider acceptance as a form of payment, as they are a way to transfer value securely.

2. Global money movement
   

   Cross-border payments will not be unfamiliar to many, from sending remittances, buying or selling in social media platforms or eCommerce, working and getting paid in the gig economy, or simply just travelling abroad, we would have crossed paths with cross-border payments many times before.

   In the coming future, all eyes will be on digitalising supply chain payments and government disbursements, and gaining traction are new buzzwords — Treasury-as-a-Service and Payment-as-a-Service, where banks and other financial institutions offer their customers advanced payment or financial management solutions through cloud platforms.

   These developments matter because it impacts the build of national technical infrastructure to facilitate global money movements.

3. Embedded finance
   

   We are looking at a very near future where individuals nor businesses may never need to interact with a conventional bank ever again. Gone are the days when a bank or financial institution is the place to apply for credit, with embedded finance becoming another talk of the town. Simply put, fintechs are putting payment and finance experiences into a single seamless, convenient, and easy-to-use customer journey.

   Embedded finance embodies the integration of financial services like lending, payment processing, or insurance into non-financial businesses’ platforms. On the consumer end, users will be able to access the services they need wherever and whenever they need it. Imagine being able to shop online and collect consumer loyalty and rewards points on the same platform as you would use to purchase and get credit, buy travel insurance and manage store inventory.

   The evolution of embedded finance will fundamentally change experiences in commerce and impact merchant and consumer behaviour.

4. Merchant and small business enablers
   

   It cannot be understated that small and medium businesses (SMBs) are key drivers of economies globally. They may be small, but they pack a punch — SMBs represent about 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide.

   For SMBs to thrive in the digital economy, they must evolve their operations and platforms with new payment experiences that will enhance the customer experience, be it face-to-face or online. Omni-channel retail is essential for businesses of all sizes, because customers expect to be able to seamlessly move from browsing on a mobile device to picking up their ordered item in-store without a hitch.

   With the current economic uncertainty, capital is getting more expensive, with lenders and investors deploying their funds with more scrutiny. With new payment innovations, SMBs can gain access to more efficient working capital that can free up liquidity for other essential business obligations.

5. Open banking

   Open banking has immense potential to enhance user experiences through improved credit decisioning, expedited on-boarding experiences and digital identity, by making crucial financial data accessible to promote more transparent relationships among consumers, businesses, and banks and also allow third parties to offer more customised financial services.

   Regulators across Asia Pacific are also seeing the potential of open data and open banking. Leading the charge in the region is Australia, while other central banks in the region are starting to make good strides in developing open data frameworks that will shape future open banking practices. Think of this as paving the way for more potential new digital bank launches in the future, as well as introduction of more financial solutions embedded into consumer platforms such as marketplaces and super-apps.

Also read: Achieving a sustainable future by harnessing IoT and data

Visa Accelerator Program: A gateway to digital payments

The payments landscape is ever-evolving and opportunities are abound for the year ahead. Startups and fintechs must arm themselves with the right tools and knowledge to maximise their business potential. A wealth of support, resources, and expertise are available through myriad of corporate innovation programs in Asia Pacific to help startups unlock the next big breakthrough in payments.

On the Visa Accelerator Program as one such opportunity for startups and innovators to become a catalyst of change in the payments industry, Kunal Chatterjee, Head of Innovation, Asia Pacific, Visa says, “We want to help startups unlock their growth potential and scale across the Asia Pacific region, and our six-month program is designed with broader market reach, product solutions, technical integration, and rapid commercialisation in mind. In fact, many of our startups have uncovered new commercial opportunities with Visa and our client partners during, and even after completing the program.”

There are many reasons to apply for the program, including rapid testing, access and partnership, exclusive mentorship, and business scaling. During the program, startups will collaborate to address challenges and explore opportunities in the digital payment field. Participants will also have the chance to receive mentorship from experts while co-developing, testing, and iterating new solutions.

Application to the program is ongoing and will run until January 10, 2023. Learn more about the program and how to register here: https://www.visa.com.sg/apaccelerator

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Visa

We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

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Eratani, an Indonesia-based agritech startup that provides end-to-end farm management solutions for local farmers, announces the close of their oversubscribed US$3.8M seed funding round led by Singapore-based VC firm TNB Aura and with commitments from AgFunder, Trihill Capital, and B.I.G. Ventures.

In a press statement, Eratani said that with the new funding, it aims to further scale its operations as they continue to digitise agricultural processes, perfect its farming management programs to best suit farmers’ needs, strengthen the team’s core operations, and expand to new areas in Indonesia.

Eratani will also be maximising its ongoing collaborations with the government. Through their involvement with the Ministry of Communications and Informatics’ Startup Studio Indonesia and through their partnership with the Agricultural Ministry of Indonesia and the Indonesian State Logistics Agency (BULOG), the team is set to receive further support in developing Indonesia’s agricultural ecosystem, strengthening their mission to enable food independence in Indonesia.

Through this funding, it projects to empower more than 50,000 fostered farmers by the end of 2024.

“It has been amazing to see the impact Eratani is already making in the lives of our very own farmers. With the traction, funding, and support we’ve received, the Eratani team is eager to continue our journey in building the ecosystem our country’s farmers deserve,” stated Eratani CEO Andrew Soeherman.

Also Read: The opportunities and challenges Singapore’s agritech sector faces

The startup said that the agricultural sector in Indonesia remains highly fragmented, with farmers still managing their own farmland while working with limited access to finances, quality supplies, and the market. Locally, according to the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics, around 75 per cent of Indonesia’s farmers continue to practice traditional cultivation methods.

Eratani was founded by Soeherman, Kevin Laksono, and Angles Gani.

It accompanies farmers from the beginning to the end of their farming process. Using field data statistics collected by the Eratani team, they are able to help increase farmers’ productivity. This data-driven farming management technology includes scientific agri-inputs instruction, agricultural education with selected agronomists, and the distribution of their agri-output for commerce.

Vicknesh R Pillay, Founding Partner of TNB Aura, said that “due to the highly fragmented nature of the agri value chain in the region, TNB Aura believes Eratani’s farmer-centric approach led by a mission-driven team is key to accelerate the transformation of sustainable food security in Indonesia.”

Since its 2021 launch, Eratani said that it has managed to onboard more than 10,000 fostered farmers across the island of Java, managing a total of 8,000 hectares of land and supporting the production of more than 52,000 tons of rice within a year of operating.

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Handprint, a Singapore-based technology platform that is building the regeneration infrastructure for the digital world, today announced that it had secured further investment from Singtel Innov8, the corporate venture capital fund of Singtel.

The additional investment takes Handprint’s total seed funding to over USD$3 million. The seed funding was first announced in March 2022.

In a statement, the company said that the new funding would enable Handprint to continue building technologies that help companies create certified, positive impact and turn sustainability into a competitive advantage which it dubbed as a revolution in corporate sustainability as we transition towards a regenerative economy.

In addition to announcing the funding round, Handprint also announced the launch of its new product Handprint for Impact Partners, a SaaS platform designed to make it easier for NGOs of all sizes to digitise their regenerative efforts, promote their impact projects to corporates and measure and report their verified impact in just one platform.

Also Read: Preference for green jobs is the “most exciting” climate tech development: Lightspeed

The platform will empower NGOs to manage and report the impact they create in a quantified way, providing continuous assurance to the businesses that back them.

It also enables NGOs to receive recurring funding, with no upfront cost, and digitise their processes for more transparent reporting of their impact and finances.

Handprint said that earlier this year, the World Economic Forum identified 15 key limitations to well-intentioned corporate sustainability pledges. Among them were the lack of trust in the verifiability of projects and their reported impact, as well as the over-focus on decarbonization and offsets at the expense of other important environmental challenges, like the depletion of species and destruction of natural habitats.

Launched in 2020, the Handprint platform was created to solve these challenges. Through the Handprint platform, companies can select from a range of verified climate, nature and social projects and embed that positive impact into their products and services, helping companies become truly planet positive.

Handprint said that its platform can also cut up to 80 per cent of the intermediary costs traditionally associated with impact projects thanks to the use of technologies like satellite imagery and machine learning for verification, solving for two key challenges facing companies and NGOs: value and trust.

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Digital Entertainment Asset (DEA), operator of the PlayMining NFT gaming platform, announced that it had raised a US$10 million investment from Los Angeles-based LDA Capital, a global alternative investment group.

The funding was meant to further accelerate its business and market expansion and to help optimise the development of PlayMining.

“DEA is very pleased to receive funding from LDA Capital, especially in the current bear market conditions,” said DEA co-founder and co-CEO Naohito Yoshida.

“We have been rapidly building out our catalogue of Play-and-Earn (P&E) NFT games, now enjoyed by 2.6 million users. This fresh funding will help develop our platform and drive market expansion even further, as we continue to actively form more strategic partnerships that broaden our ecosystem and to consolidate a leading position in the Web3 entertainment landscape.”

DEA is a Singapore-based global Web3 entertainment company launched in 2018. It manages intellectual property (IP) monetisation for content creators and operates the PlayMining platform, which comprises a growing selection of P&E games, the PlayMining NFT marketplace, the in-development PlayMining Verse metaverse and the DEAPcoin ($DEP) token.

Also Read: Singapore gets an NFT-gated Web3 co-working space Metacamp

LDA Capital is a global alternative investment group with expertise in complex cross-border transactions. Founded in 2018, it provides dynamic financing solutions to high-growth and capital-intensive businesses.

The LDA Capital team has collectively executed over 250 transactions across the capital structure in both public and private markets across 43 countries with aggregate transaction values of over US$11 billion.

Last month, DEA raised a minority investment from Rakuten Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of Japanese e-commerce and internet services giant Rakuten Group.

A separate Web3 partnership was also signed which sees the two companies.

DEA has users from all over the world, but has an especially large stake in Japan, with DEP being the first P&E token officially approved by Japan’s Financial Service Agency.

DEA also recently entered a business alliance with Japanese television station TV Tokyo to collaborate on content that educates the mainstream Japanese audience about Web3 technology.

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We are in the final lap of 2022 and look forward to a brand new year.

If you’re thinking about starting an e-commerce business, now may be a perfect time. But how do you know where to start? I’ve got your back.

Here are 10 great ideas for e-commerce businesses in 2023.

Dropshipping store

Dropshipping is an e-commerce business model wherein entrepreneurs do not need to hold the physical inventory of the products sold on their website or social marketplace. As a Dropshipper, you will work closely with a supplier, who will be responsible for procuring, packing, and shipping the products to your customers on your behalf.

Here’s how you can start your Dropshipping store from scratch.

Top Dropshipping niches to consider for 2023:

• Coffee
• Pet supplies
• Gaming accessories
• Baby products
• Oxidised jewellery
• Beauty products
• Gifts for all occasions

Artisanal foods

This is a hot trend that’s only going to get hotter.

Unlike mainstream and mass-produced foods, they are made using traditional methods, often by hand, in limited quantities. Artisan food is crafted without ‘nasties’ — ingredients that include preservatives, colourants, or chemicals, which can make them a healthier alternative.

Artisanal products are also highly sought, and there is massive scope for growth.

The market for artisanal foods in Australia is worth over US$1 billion and is predicted to grow by 20 per cent per year in the next five years.

Consumers are looking for quality and transparency, and food is no exception. Start an online store selling locally sourced artisanal foods and beverages.

Print-on-demand store

Print-on-demand, or POD, is an order fulfilment method where designs are printed on items as soon as an order is received. While POD stores share many similarities with Dropshipping businesses, the vastness of the business requires it to be categorised separately.

You can start on-demand printing services without needing to hold any inventory in reserve. You don’t even need the printing machinery to start a POD store. Tie up with a fulfilment partner like Printful or Printify, and you are good to go.

Fashion or costume jewellery

This is another hot category that has a lot of potential. Shoulder dusters, drip earrings, sculptured silver, Hammered dangle earrings, Shells, crystals, and rhinestones are all popular jewellery items that have dazzled in Spring 2023.

Also Read: A walk through the growth of e-commerce in Singapore

Whether you want to start selling fashion or costume jewellery, if this is the market you’re looking for, then it’s worth considering starting an e-commerce business in 2023.

Natural organic products

Consumers have become more conscious about their life choices, and hence they have become increasingly interested in natural, organic products.

The market for natural organic products is expected to reach US$87 billion by 2024.

Start selling daily items for cleaning, beauty, and personal hygiene using clean and safe ingredients. If you like to formulate safe, organic cosmetics partnering with a private-label manufacturer is ideal.

Virtual assistant services

E-commerce business is not just limited to selling products and items, it also includes selling services.

Virtual personal assistant services help business owners, executives and entrepreneurs outsource their time-consuming tasks and responsibilities.

You can set up various services, including bookkeeping, email management, social media engagement, and more. These services can be especially helpful for small business owners who don’t have the resources or time to devote to these tasks themselves.

For busy entrepreneurs, you can also help with administrative tasks such as scheduling appointments, booking travel, and researching information.

Now, isn’t that a good idea?

Sell NFTs

NFTs or Non-fungible tokens can represent ownership of unique items such as art, collectibles, or even real estate. Simply put, NFTs are digital files that can be bought and sold online.

You can use your online store to sell your NFT projects under various categories:

• Games
• Concept arts
• Videos
• Music
• Photos
• Event tickets, and more…

Sell ebooks

Do you have a flair for spinning stories? eBooks cover a variety of categories, from non-fiction to fiction content. If you are a blogger and specialise in writing about gadgets and other tech products, you can curate all your helpful articles and self-publish an eBook that could prove beneficial for your readers.

eBooks can be published on giant publishing portals like Amazon’s kindle direct publishing, more commonly known as KDP, or you can sell the eBooks directly on your e-store as a downloadable product.

Meal delivery

You can start a meal delivery service without even creating a website. If you are selling home-cooked food, all you need is a direct channel like WhatsApp for businesses to receive orders from your customers and keep them informed about the delivery timeline.

Here are some ideas for meal delivery services to get you started:

• Mid-night food delivery
• Healthy meals delivery
• Daily essentials delivery
• Food delivery for pets
• Meal kits or set meals

Wedding services

No. We are not asking you to play cupid. When we say wedding services, we mean bringing all vendors to your website or platform to provide a comprehensive wedding planning service.

From event planners, photographers to caterers, and decorators, you can bring all your local vendors under one roof.

Also Read: Why do most online stores fall flat and how you can improve it?

And there you have it! 10 viable e-commerce business ideas that you can start in 2023. Before you are on your way to starting your online business, think about how you can stand out from the millions of other e-commerce players.

Tips to scale your e-commerce store sustainably

Upgrade your digital experience

Customers don’t just land in a store, purchase an item and leave. They take their time, explore their options and find out everything they need to before adding an item to the cart. Take the opportunity to proactively engage with these shoppers and guide them through the buying process in your store.

Don’t rush the customers. Add a CTA button under the product description page to allow your customers to connect with product experts who could assist them over live chat, call, or even video call.

Tailor product pages to match customers’ needs

Improve product page experience to match your customers’ expectations from your store. Here are some tips for doing that:

• Use high-quality product images, write descriptive information about your product, and allow your customers to see the product from all angles.

• If possible, make use of AR or augmented reality and allow the customer to experience the product in their regular environment. For example, IKEA allows users to virtually place a true-to-scale 3D model of their furniture in their environment.

• Provide real-time stock updates to your customers. If an item is out of stock, then place a ‘notify me’ CTA button to alert the customers when the product is back in stock.

Create a seamless omnichannel experience

Your customers are everywhere. Just updating your social media feed with daily promotional posts isn’t going to cut it. You also need to open the channels for dialogue to flow seamlessly between your customers and your business.

From Facebook Messenger and Live Chat on the website to providing self-assistance through IVR and the option to reach your customer support team over the call or video, you need to be equipped with the right CX solution to create opportunities for your business.

Personalise customer experience

Most businesses fail to make a personal connection with their customers as they adopt the town crier’s communication approach of carpet bombing their customers with announcements and promotions without opening the door for dialogue.

Your website may receive thousands of website visitors, but it is imperative for your business to create an individualised experience for every one of those visitors to stand a chance to retain their interest.

You can do this by engaging with your customers proactively, optimising their buying experience, providing real-time personalised communication through live chat, and offering additional discounts via pop-ups that get automatically triggered when a visitor decides to bounce or abandon the cart.

Final thoughts

You don’t need to be a millionaire to start an online venture. You can easily monetise your skills or work with third-party suppliers and vendors to fulfil on-demand orders and run a functional e-commerce store from the comfort of your home.

This leaves you more time to concentrate on your core competencies and create exceptional shopping experiences for your customers.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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The collapse of several high-profile exchanges and the contagion effect that followed them have plunged the crypto industry into a longer, deeper winter. When the FTX house of cards came tumbling down, they destroyed whatever minute hopes many of us might have harboured about the crypto market being well on its way to recovery.

While it may be tempting to demonise now crypto’s volatility and the space’s lack of regulation, we must bear in mind that FTX’s collapse was caused not by crypto as an asset class but by the company’s shocking lack of transparency and corporate governance. 

The full extent of the damage caused by FTX’s demise is still unknown, but one thing is for sure: the industry now has to work much harder to regain both retail and institutional investors’ trust.

So, is winter the best time to do so? For us at Bitstamp, there is no doubt the answer is a yes. 

Warming up to regulators

With spooked investors pulling funds from crypto, analysts are saying that more pain is bound to come our way. In short, the “crypto winter” is about to get even more bitter.

However, some say that this winter is also doing the industry a favour: flushing out players who have taken advantage of their customers’ trust in them to misuse funds and who have little to no regard for risk.  

The FTX saga demonstrated the importance of consistently placing your customers first. At Bitstamp, customer assets are held separately from corporate assets, and we do not, and will never, lend or stake any funds without our customers’ permission.

As the crypto winter draws on, we at the world’s longest-standing crypto exchange believe it is time for crypto players to reassess their values and implement more compliant and transparent business practices.

Crypto is growing, and to solidify its investment use case within the ranks of securities, properties, and other investment-grade assets, working with regulators becomes inevitable.

For firms that are serious about their offering and how they can drive mainstream adoption of crypto, there is a lot of incentive to innovate and work within regulatory frameworks designed to create a level playing field for a market to thrive.

Also Read:  Temasek says FTX could have duped it

To deliver top-rated crypto services, it certainly helps to have a global regulatory footprint and the appetite to invest in growing one. This has always been a major investment for Bitstamp. In our 11 years in business, we have always sought out licenses in the markets we operate in and currently have 50 licenses globally.

Deliver on your education agenda

Even as regulators worldwide are increasing their scrutiny of crypto, market participants must not think that regulation equals a sure return on their investment.

It is worthwhile mentioning here that retail participants need to have a balanced view of regulation, how it mitigates some of the risks they face, and what self-responsibility they also need to take.

Crypto education goes beyond basic investment know-how and the fundamentals of blockchain technology. It is also about understanding what regulations can and cannot achieve. When discussing crypto literacy, we must also consider inculcating the right frame of mind towards the asset class.

To achieve consumer protection outcomes, it is essential to help customers be aware of the risks and understand the investment thesis.

Many investors may have entered the market under the wrong impression that crypto could be their ticket to getting rich quickly. Crypto companies must correct this.

In Bitstamp’s last Crypto Pulse survey, 38 per cent of retail investors cited “they really don’t know enough to get started” as a barrier to entering the market.

Crypto and Web3 should not be an exclusive playground for the tech-savvy or investors from a certain demographic. At the end of the day, the company that succeeds in educating the average person on the street about crypto will win because education drives trust, and trust drives adoption.

Turn on your crypto now

When the market is down, running and taking cover is tempting. However, one cannot ignore the macro shift happening before our eyes. Increasingly institutions include crypto as part of their offerings to their clients. Those who wish to be part of this growing movement should undoubtedly take the opportunity to build their crypto capabilities. 

Also Read: What you should know about the correlation between crypto and the macro environment

The journey to operationalising your crypto business can be daunting and resource-heavy, from tech to KYC processes and regulatory requirements. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Access to crypto can be easily achieved with white-label solutions that include KYC capabilities and the necessary licenses. 

And here’s where it is important to find the right partner. When looking for a crypto partner, it’s important to identify one with a proven track record, strong compliance history, and a customer-centric approach.

By adopting the right white-label solution, companies can continue evolving their capabilities while owning the customer relationship. 

It’ll be too late if your business waits until the next bull market to start building your crypto offering. Don’t underestimate the time and effort it will take to create products and services that are safe, secure, and user-friendly.

Adopting a plug-and-play solution such as Bitstamp-as-a-Service could dramatically speed up your institution’s crypto adoption. 

The road ahead is long, but…

We must remember that markets, including the crypto market, are cyclical. That means that when the markets are down, it’s time to build. Business leaders should be preparing to meet the demand for Web3’s next boom.

By investing in a compliance-forward strategy, building out your capabilities, and educating your customers, you’ll be well-positioned to emerge from this crypto winter stronger and better able to capture new markets in the months and years ahead.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

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‘Focus on your north-star vision’: 30 startups speak of their learnings in 2022
What these Southeast Asian companies did do to weather the many crises that defined the year 2022 and still stay relevant

Is Singapore the ideal place for Web3?
Singapore provides stability and easy access to traditional finance and funds, but takes a tough stance against speculative assets

Does Malaysia have the potential to become a 5G hub of SEA?
A major innovation with 5G is fixed-line networking being integrated into wireless standardisation, enabling end-to-end connectivity.

How are data science and AI are fuelling smart city goals
The key feature of a smart city is intelligent use of data to enhance lifestyle and improve the livelihoods of the communities.

How Dubai is competing with Singapore in the Web3 race
Dubai has the upcoming infrastructure, regulation and, most importantly, access to banking for Web3 projects.

Lessons from the collapse of FTX and why self-custody is of utmost importance
As the saying goes, “not your keys, not your coins”, security is important; this article talks about three key factors to consider when securing coins.

A review of Singapore’s business and tech landscape for 2022: who are the winners and losers?
As the year ends, let us look back at the good, the bad and the ugly in the tech and startup scene that has greeted our shores.

India-based D2C wellness brand banks US$10M in Series B round
Wellbeing Nutrition aims to be a one-stop shop for organic products, whole foods, and multivitamins. The company is headquartered in India.

AnyMind delays Tokyo IPO citing ‘risks and disclosures’
Previously, the company announced a listing date of December 15 after receiving approval from the bourse.

China e-commerce firm Vipshop launches in SEA
The New York Stock Exchange-listed firm’s Southeast Asian unit is based in Singapore and currently has 46 employees, according to its LinkedIn page.

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As the digitalisation trend continues to advance across the world, information technologies such as cloud, 5G, and computing services, which power the digital transformation are in exceptionally high demand. For example, iResearch predicts that the size of the edge cloud market in China will reach 55 billion in 2025 and increase to 250 billion in 2030. In addition, research firm Research and Markets projects that the global 5G core market will grow to nearly $9.5 billion by 2025.

In terms of computing power, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China reports that China’s total computing power has exceeded 140 EFLOPS, ranking second in the world, with an average annual growth rate of more than 30% in the past five years.

Also read: Achieving a sustainable future by harnessing IoT and data

To meet the surging market demand for digital transformation across different industries, China Mobile International (CMI) offers a one-stop enterprise solution, iSolutions, which covers cloud, network, data centre, Internet of Things (IoT) and integrated information and communications services. CMI’s iSolutions is known for “Professionalism, Innovation, and Mutual Benefits”. It greatly contributes to CMI’s digital and intelligent strategy and provides cross-industry enterprise solutions with seamless computing, 5G, and cloud integration.

CMI iSolutions Carnival is launched from November 3^rd to December 31^st, 2022, with the theme of “Embrace the Digital Universe”. The campaign aims to share CMI’s insight on transformation and offer incentive programmes to support enterprises and partners across industries in their digital transformation journey next year.

Enterprise customers can visit CMI’s product page to access the integrated online sales promotion programme and experience iSolutions EXPO online exhibition which offers a series of cloud service privileges, free-trials, gifts, and other benefits.

Free trials of diverse solutions with special offers

CMI leverages its rich resources including 80+ terrestrial and submarine cable resources, with a total international transmission bandwidth of over 117T, and a total of 227 PoPs (Points of Presence) covering 86 countries and regions, to tailor solutions for different industries. During the iSolutions Carnival, CMI iSolutions runs a series of special offers that allow enterprise customers to experience comprehensive iSolutions services that seamlessly integrate cloud-network, IoT, industrial solutions, and other leading technologies.

To serve industry customers with innovative services, CMI iSolutions has also offered customers who place orders for cloud-network products free cloud consultation support and free MSP professional services. These services cover a wide range of cloud services, including cloud pre-sales consultation services and cloud experience services, and are worth up to 10% of the total annual project amount. Free trials of cloud management tools such as cloud security, edge computing, and more are also provided to customers who have ordered cloud-network products.

Also read: Airwallex: making business transactions easier than ever with physical cards launch

Customers have a chance to win up to US$2,400 multi-cloud service vouchers* which cover the world’s major cloud service providers.

Customers can also leverage a “Try First, Buy Later” program which allows customers to enjoy up to 60-day free trials of cloud connection and SD-WAN services, 30-day free trials of application acceleration (AAN&AAS) services, 2,000 Cloud SMS free trial packages, and free trials of IoT cards and applications.

Customers who place orders will also receive iSolutions gift pack, which includes unique iSolutions NFT and other online gifts such as gift vouchers from JegoTrip and Uber as well as membership card from Baidu Netdisk and iQIYI.

Diverse range of solutions to satisfy business needs

Since enterprises have diverse business needs, CMI iSolutions, as a reliable service provider, offers a series of innovative solutions to penetrate the markets of different industries quickly.

CMI iSolutions have more than 50 solutions spanning finance, Internet, logistics, manufacturing, retail, and more to support diverse global industries.

At the same time, CMI iSolutions strengthens the partner ecosystem and deepens collaboration with more than 200 partners to innovate new solutions and platforms.

Also read: Lalamove’s Customisable Solutions: a game-changer for delivery

CMI iSolutions is committed to supporting its global customers in their digital-intelligent journey with richer and tailored solutions while facilitating them to capture business opportunities brought by the metaverse and other emerging technologies.

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*The service is applicable to Alibaba Cloud, AWS (overseas and China regions), Microsoft Azure (overseas regions), Google Cloud, Huawei Cloud (international station), Tencent Cloud, IBM Cloud, Oracle Cloud, and Baidu Smart Cloud.

Promotion period: From November 3 to December 31, 2022

The offer is subject to the relevant terms and conditions, and the final interpretation right of this activity belongs to CMI.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by China Mobile International

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Everyone loves an unsuspecting goldmine, and you might just be sitting on one if you’re an outsourced payroll service provider. 

Payroll is often considered a cost centre for accountants, bookkeepers and BPOs, given the manual nature of the processes involved. Still, in its position as a critical support system for a business, it has the potential to be so much more. Namely, a well-managed and profitable operation can help grow your business. 

The complexities and inefficiencies of payroll aren’t secrets to anyone in the industry. However, these challenges were further highlighted during the pandemic when a lack of remote access to payroll processes put intense pressure on organisations worldwide.

While some solutions have entered the market to assist accountants and bookkeepers, many businesses still traditionally process payroll fairly, resulting in issues surrounding compliance and, unfortunately, errors.  

People are the driving force that carries a business forward, and ensuring they are paid correctly, transparently, and effectively can be challenging for accountants but necessary to get right.

Investing in tools that help to tackle the end-to-end requirements of payroll and people management effectively might be the area accounting practices and service providers need to look into to support their clients – and their businesses better.

Why is payroll still so complicated?

Traditional manual systems for payroll processing can be summarised as unproductive at best and for a good reason.

Many businesses still operate on systems that aren’t fully integrated, leaving the payroll provider to acquire the relevant timesheet data from their clients via email, which is then manually keyed into the payroll system.

Also Read: How AI and automation can shape the future of farms

Not only is this an inefficient way of working, but it also greatly increases the risk of error in payroll from the get-go.  

On top of this, service providers need to ensure they keep up to date with local legislations while managing unique employment agreements that are growing increasingly complex, with many individual employee agreements having specific overtime rates and leave entitlements that make the process of calculating timesheet data into payroll difficult, time-consuming, and prone to error.

Given this unique set of challenges, implementing an automated and integrated payroll system is critical to stay competitive.

How automation can give you a competitive edge

Through our work with outsourced service providers, we see an increasing demand for these businesses to provide more advisory services in addition to the transactional manual work.

Since payroll might be one of the most tedious and time-consuming processes, having an integrated, automated payroll solution can free up time for businesses to focus on more value-adding processes while still fulfilling their payroll service obligations.

Additionally, with the rise of remote working and the subsequent increase of cross-border payment processing, many payroll providers are experiencing the added pressure of adhering to ever-changing, complex legislation.

Fully integrated and automated payroll solutions can play a critical role in safeguarding businesses from compliance issues, reducing human error and aiding organisational efficiency. 

While these issues might seem trivial to some, the impact of implementing these changes and automating payroll processes in accounting firms and other payroll providers can make a great difference to a business’s bottom line. 

With increased productivity through a reduction of manual tasks, these businesses are free to take on more consulting, business development and human-centric tasks,  resulting in a more efficient and profitable business. 

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Singapore is always well-known for its reputation for innovation and ease of doing business globally. In a recent report, Singapore is ranked number seven for the most innovative economy globally by the World Intellectual Property Organistion (Wipo) and non-profit research firm Portulans Institute and number two in the ease of doing business globally by the World Bank.

However, the country’s regulator has publicly warned against cryptocurrency and tightened the regulation around it. Does Web3 remain part of Singapore’s roadmap and an attractive destination for Web3 companies to set up shops?

The crypto world was set ablaze when the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced the launch of the Payment Services Act (PSA) in 2019 where the Act covers cryptocurrency.

Overnight, Singapore seems to be the rising star in crypto and becoming the next “Crypto Hub”. Many crypto founders and companies swarm over to Singapore to set up companies and headquarters to apply for licenses with the regulator.

Over the next two years, the approval for the license application has slowed down, and to date, only a handful of applicants have obtained the in-principle approval or full license. Major crypto companies like Binance have withdrawn their application and moved to Dubai.

Also Read: A walk through the growth of e-commerce in Singapore

The regulator has also come out publicly to warn retailers of the high risk of cryptocurrency and issued a series of policies and guidelines deemed as tightening the regulation around cryptocurrency, including the ban of advertising by crypto companies in Singapore.

Since then, many industry players have been asking if Singapore still remain the ideal destination for crypto and even Web3.

Did Singapore make a U-turn?

 In the media, there have been seemingly contradicting reports on Singapore’s position on whether they are welcoming crypto players to set up in Singapore and building itself as a crypto hub or clamping down on the crypto industry in Singapore.

This might cause some confusion for the industry players, and this eventually led the regulator boss, Ravi Menon, to come out and clarify the regulator’s position during a speech on 29 August 2022 to clarify their stance on cryptocurrency.

In his speech titled “Yes to Digital Asset Innovation, No to Cryptocurrency Speculation”, Menon shared that cryptocurrency is just a sub-set within the whole digital asset ecosystem, but it received the highest attention in the media and public.

In the same speech, Menon reiterates that the regulator’s vision “is to build an innovative and responsible digital asset ecosystem in Singapore”. And in the digital asset ecosystem, it is more than just cryptocurrency.

A case in point, MAS has collaborated with the private sector on various CBDCs projects and is one of the frontrunners in this area. Second, in the recent industry transformation roadmap, the tokenisation of assets is one of the core pillars that Singapore is looking to grow in the next five years.

Companies leveraging on tokenization have also set their roots in Singapore. BondEvalue and ADDEX, which tokenise bonds and private equity, respectively, are examples of two local companies based in Singapore that are using tokenisation technology to innovate.

Therefore, in short, the regulator has set its position clear that it does not welcome the speculative nature of cryptocurrency but embraces the technology and innovation of digital assets and the potential it will bring to the financial industry and Singapore.

Uniquely Singapore

Singapore has uniquely positioned itself as the intersection between the digital asset world and the financial world. For the latter, Singapore is already well established as a global financial hub alongside others like London, Hong Kong and New York.

Singapore also has had one of the most vibrant venture capital (VC) scenes in recent years. Many VCs from around the world have arrived in Singapore looking for projects, either traditional or Web3 space.

A common observation by the project owners is that there seems to be “more VCs and funds available” in Singapore than the number of projects seeking funding, and the environment in Singapore is conclusive for both the VCs and projects to meet and discuss their paths forward.

It would be a great place for startups and projects to set up a base here in Singapore, especially if they need to look for access to liquidity and funds.

Singapore is a hub for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE), with many international events and conferences held here. While during the COVID-19 period, the MICE sector took a major hit, as the borders are opened now globally, and travel is resuming for many, Singapore, with its open COVID-19 policy, has ramped up the MICE sector.

Also Read: Web2 founders, get ready for Web3 before 2025: Insights from Echelon 2022

During the F1 week, we witnessed many major international events and conferences being held in Singapore. One of the most vibrant events held during F1 would be Token 2049. Token 2049 is the marquee event for crypto and Web3, with many international Web3 players and thought leaders gathering for the event.

And this year, for the first time ever, this event was held in Singapore and attracted thousands of international attendees to Singapore. This is a testimonial of global talents and companies that can come to Singapore easily and the infrastructure to support it.

Is Singapore suitable for me?

While critics were quick to highlight the seemingly tightening of regulation and stance towards cryptocurrency, international crypto events and companies have been coming to Singapore in recent years, followed by some of the Web3 bigwigs who choose to set up their headquarters or even take up residency in Singapore.

Hence, some might be wondering if Singapore is suitable for them to set up shops in Singapore or run their projects here. Singapore provides stability, a comfortable environment, and easy access to traditional finance and funds, but at the same time, Singapore takes a tough stance against speculative assets, especially if they are targeted at retail and strong regulations that some might find hard to grow or innovate.

The key, then, is to find the balance between both, and Singapore could be an ideal place for projects and Web3 to grow. If not, then you might need to look elsewhere that might be more suitable for your projects.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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

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