Debarshi Bandyopadhyay

DBS, Singapore's largest bank, is taking an innovative step by launching a pilot for blockchain-powered treasury tokens. This move demonstrates how traditional banking can embrace cutting-edge technology to enhance financial services. The pilot aims to improve efficiency in managing cash and liquidity for businesses, offering a glimpse into how blockchain can streamline complex financial operations. What’s interesting about this development is how it reflects the growing trend of established financial institutions exploring blockchain solutions. While blockchain technology has often been associated with cryptocurrencies, its potential for broader applications is becoming more evident. DBS’s pilot is a prime example of how blockchain can be utilized to modernize traditional banking processes, potentially leading to faster, more transparent, and secure transactions. This project could also pave the way for other banks to explore similar technologies, potentially transforming global financial services. As blockchain continues to evolve, the benefits of such innovations may become more accessible to a wider range of industries, not just finance. It’s exciting to see a major player like DBS pushing the boundaries and exploring new ways to enhance their offerings. This pilot could set a precedent for future developments in the banking sector, showcasing how the integration of new technologies can lead to more efficient and effective financial solutions. https://lnkd.in/gpxw6aUw 

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The Singapore FinTech Festival is only 15 days away...This is a true Global Gathering of Finance, Technology and Policy. If you still have not purchased a ticket, you can do that below. #FinTech #Innovation #SFF2024 #Technology #Policy #Finance

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About the Singapore FinTech Festival 2024, coffee (kopi), 200 dollars and Artificial Intelligence. Let's start with 20% off the delegate pass. That's a saving of approximately 200 US Dollars if you sign up via the link https://lnkd.in/dj9Wq32F. ☕ Next is all about how to order Singapore's economic fuel - kopi. We drink tons of it. I can bet that we are the most caffeinated nation per capita! And finally a bit about the AI sessions that I have identified. Continuing from my last post (https://lnkd.in/d_tBjZpy), here is some more interesting stuff. ☕ Coffee or kopi is inexpensive and plentiful. We all have our favourite stalls. In every food court and hawker centre dotted across the city. Kopi is a thick brew made by pouring hot water in to a sock full of ground coffee, dark roasted Straits-style. The way the brewer pours the water, the speed with which the coffee percolates and the quality of the coffee beans are critical. A typical order would be kopi-c-siew dai. Translated that means coffee with canned non-dairy whitener and half sugar (the sugar comes from condensed milk). Kopi-o, means black coffee, kopi-o-kosong is black coffee without sugar. A Singapore breakfast is black coffee, two half-boiled eggs and two slices of buttered toast ordered as a set. And that fuels up the nation for another productive day. The alternative to kopi is teh tarik (or pulled tea), a steaming frothy cup of tea with milk that is closest to Karak in the UAE. On to the AI agenda - a few sessions to lock in to your calendar 1️⃣ Building tomorrow: Explaining the AI Tech Stack - Nov 6 , Festival Stage, Hall 1, 0945 to 1010 2️⃣ From data to dollars: Steering financial services through 2025 - Nov 6, Festival Stage, Hall 1, 1130 to 1210 3️⃣ AI in action: Real-world use cases for financial services - Nov 6, Future Matters Stage, Hall 2, 1250 to 1130 4️⃣ GenAI in action: Transforming data use in SupTech & RegTech - Nov 6, Regulation Stage, Hall 5, 1500 to 1530 5️⃣ GenAI in action: Embedding AI into the heart of a bank - Nov 7, Festival Stage, Hall 1, 1140 to 1200 6️⃣ Forging the future: Unveiling the pillars of an AI hub - Nov 7, Technology Stage, Hall 3, 1430 to 1500 I've also set up a WhatsApp group that will send updates and information relating the exhibitors to visit, the sessions to attend and other news about side-events for networking. Send a LinkedIn message to me with "Sanjiv @ SFF2024. My WhatsApp number -..." or join the Guide for ME @ SFF2024 Group via https://lnkd.in/dRK8_VKh Andralynn Tan Wei Qing Tiffany Liu Pat Patel Arjun Vir Singh Gozde Demir Rahul Ghosh Fintech Tuesdays Amlan Roy Pauline Wray Aneesha Reihana Babu Nair Huy NGUYEN TRIEU Matthew Gamser Namita Bhide Shivani Mukherjee Tram Anh Nguyen Varun Mittal 海王-米塔尔 - Fintech Nation Christian Trumm Koen Marcel K Vanderhoydonk Sourav Ghosal Matteo Rizzi Steven Haley Navin Suri

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🔍 #KYC (Know Your Customer) has been gaining traction in crypto, particularly with the rise of RWAs and institutional adoption. But it wasn’t always this way. Curious? Let’s embark on a journey through the history of #Crypto and KYC. • Why was KYC initially avoided? KYC requires collecting sensitive data to create an account, sparking concerns about data breaches and misuse, like scams. This ties into my last post, which emphasized the importance of feeling safe when using crypto. The most common documents asked are proofs of identity (passports), address (utility bills), income (bank statements), etc, which can give you a better idea of what kind of data we are discussing. Other key concerns included: - Centralized entities control user data—contrary to the decentralization sought by Web3 users. - Unnecessary barriers, such as the request for documents people might not have access to. - Lengthy and time-consuming processes. • Adoption KYC was initially implemented so CEXes could operate within legal frameworks and support investigative processes. The adoption of KYC in crypto is closely tied to regulatory developments, particularly with exchanges in the U.S. and Europe. The primary drivers? Compliance with regulations to counter illegal activities. But that’s not all, KYC also benefits users. By verifying identities, platforms can: - Prevent fraudulent activities like identity theft. - Add an extra layer of security, especially against account breaches. - Foster trust within the ecosystem by prioritizing security, enhancing transparency and accountability. • What Comes Next? Security remains crucial for broader crypto adoption, even though privacy concerns persist. It's crucial for exchanges as well, in the past, Binance was not authorized to operate within Japanese and U.K. borders due to the lack of KYC, for example. (Japan and UK Ban - https://lnkd.in/dXxPR93d) Moreover, ShapeShift's CEO said the exchange lost 95% of its users due to KYC—though The Wall Street Journal alleged that the exchange was used to launder money, which could have also played a role in it. (ShapeShift's lost - https://lnkd.in/dHqm3iNe) With these points in mind, I find it hard to say with certainty that KYC will be universally adopted across all crypto. However, we'll likely see more of it in the future. Additionally, I've read about dApps trying for KYC verification proof, meaning users can verify once and reuse the verification on other apps, providing a promising solution to enhance privacy. (KYC Proof - https://lnkd.in/dwK9HJtv) While it may sound corny, it’s all about finding the right balance and defining what information is essential for KYC efficiency. What are your thoughts on KYC implementation in crypto? Share it below!

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Fintech innovation alert! 🌐💰 SCB – Siam Commercial Bank partners with SCB 10X and Lightnet to launch gamechanging cross-border payments and remittances in Thailand. Find out how this partnership is setting a new fintech standard! #FinTech #FintechInnovation https://loom.ly/RkbzAOU

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https://selar.co/609b11 The banking and fintech industry is currently facing an ongoing challenge with Fraud, which can cause significant financial loss and have a negative impact on customers. Fraudsters are constantly devising new and sophisticated methods, making banks adopt advanced and efficient techniques, such as Machine Learning, to counteract this threat successfully. This informative book will teach you how to use unsupervised machine learning models to solve fraud problems in banks and fintech startups. The book also emphasizes the use of the Isolation Forest Model. It provides strategic steps for building effective relationships with stakeholders across your organization by utilizing machine-learning models to combat Fraud. Whether you are dealing with minor or large-scale Fraud, this book's techniques and strategies will help you promptly identify and address fraudulent activities, ultimately improving your organization's financial stability and customer satisfaction. In addition to presenting information clearly and concisely, the book utilizes real-life examples to emphasize its points further and ensure readers fully comprehend the concepts being discussed. It covers the creation of a generic fraud detection system for an organization and delves into the development of a tailored machine learning model for each customer of the bank. This is because each customer has distinct transaction patterns and requires a unique approach to address fraudulent activity effectively. You will learn the following: Understanding Machine Learning and Payment Systems Frauds and Different Types of Frauds Anomaly Detection in Banks/Fintech Python Crash Course Using Isolation Forest for Anomaly Detection in Banks/Fintech Implementing Isolation Forest Strategy for individual customers Operationalizing the Model

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LendingClub reported earnings yesterday, post-close. Below are my quick takeaways: ⤵⤵⤵ ➡ Partnered with Pagaya to acquire the assets of Tally ➡ ➡ Integrating Tally tech into its DebtIQ product (debt monitoring and management solution) ➡ Net revenue of $201.9Mn, up 1% YoY and 8% QoQ ➡ ➡ Increase driven by improved loan pricing and balance sheet growth ➡ Efficiency ratio rose to 67.5%, from 63.7% a year prior but below 70.6% a quarter prior ➡ Net interest margin down to 5.63%, from 6.91% a year prior and 5.75% a quarter prior ➡ Originations of $1,913Mn, a 27% increase YoY and a 6% increase QoQ ➡ ➡ 43% structured certificate sales, 27% retained HFI, 17% whole loan sales, 12% extended seasoning HFI ➡ ➡ Originations were slightly above Q3 guidance of $1.8-1.9Bn ➡ ➡ Marketplace loan originations of $1,403Mn, a 19% increase YoY, but (5)% decline QoQ ➡ ➡ Guidance for $1.8Bn-$1.9Bn in originations in 4Q24 ➡ NCO ratio of 5.4% up from 5.1% a year prior but down from 6.2% a quarter prior ➡ Deposits of $9,459.6Mn, up 35% YoY and 17% QoQ ➡ ➡ Deposits higher sequentially, primarily due to an increase in high-yield savings and CDs ➡ ➡ 85% of deposits are interest-bearing ➡ ➡ ➡ Average yield on interest-bearing deposits of 4.79%, up from 4.16% a year prior but below 4.81% a quarter prior ➡ Unsecured personal loans HFI (88% of total loans HFI) of $3,068.1Mn $3,144.5Mn for the quarter, an (18)% decrease from a year prior and (2)% decline from a quarter prior ➡ Scott Sanborn, CEO, “According to the data analytics firm, DV01, the spread between credit card and personal loan rates is at a record high 750 basis points.” ➡ ➡ “In addition to their savings on interest, members also increased their credit score an average of 48 points when they pay off credit card debt with a LendingClub personal loan.” ➡ Drew LaBenne, CFO, “The [origination] growth was driven by continued product innovation while maintaining tight underwriting standards and industry-leading marketing efficiency.” A few initial takeaways: ➡ NCO ratio up YoY but lower QoQ as the company leans more on structured certificates (retains senior portion, sells residual) ➡ Robust deposit growth (up double digits both YoY and QoQ) with the avg yield on interest-bearing deposits at 4.79%, +63bps YoY ➡ Value of refinancing credit card debt as a personal loan remains high, given record credit card balances and high rates ➡ Lower NIM due to product mix shift, but strong asset growth 💡 There's loads more great commentary from management in the earnings call - too much to cover in a quick post If you found value in this post, please like 👍 and share for visibility Looking for more fintech and consumer lending coverage? ➡ Follow/connect with me here for earnings updates, join my Discord server (link in bio for the full breakdown + archives), and subscribe to the Cross River IQ newsletter #consumerlending #fintech #earnings

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APAC foreign exchange markets are dynamic and volatile, requiring up-to-the-minute data to ensure opportunities are maximised while risks are minimised. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gYskY7qZ Currencycloud #fintech #payments #FX

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APAC foreign exchange markets are dynamic and volatile, requiring up-to-the-minute data to ensure opportunities are maximised while risks are minimised. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gYskY7qZ Currencycloud #fintech #payments #FX

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Just boarding a flight for Singapore FinTech Festival - DM me if you are in town for the World Cup of Fintech! A few days ago my colleague Prag Sharma, our AI CoE head, began sending me maths puzzles ... what else to do at 9pm Dublin 🤐 The first one: what’s the 100th digit, counting from 1 ... where 1 is the first and 9 is the ninth and 1 is the eleventh, etc etc (Update: Joseph Edwin has correctly pointed out that the 0 is the eleventh digit ... ) The second one: is there a number that is half the original when written back? Spoiler alert: yes in binary, not sure in decimal 🤔 After half an hour wasted, I defaulted to ChatGPT - and the oracle pronounced the answer to be: 1089 🤐 At the same time as ChatGPT I messaged just over half a dozen friends the same Q - yes what else to do after midnight Dubai .... Half my friends replied with the incorrect ChatGPT answer .... coz in AI we trust, right Shameek Kundu Huy NGUYEN TRIEU Rob Garlick 🫡 I won’t mention the names of my ChatGPT copy/paste friends except to say one did the work and didn’t take a short cut - chapeau my almost namesake Roni! Looking forward to discussing AI and their applications to finance in the week ahead - myth, magic, some wow insights, some ow! Selected highlights ⬇️ 4 Nov 1500 - Elevandi Insights RT on Gen AI & Finance: Pathways to Value & Industry Collaboration 5 Nov 930 - Citi & CFTE RT on The Impact of AI on Fin Services & Business Models: Bullish or Bearish? 6 Nov 945 - SFF Festival Stage on Buidling Tomorrow: Explaining the AI Tech Stack with Blackrock and GitHub Sopnendu Mohanty Pat Patel Kfir Godrich Shelley McKinley Tram Anh Nguyen Roni E Gaurav Dhar Omar Mansur CFTE - Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship Elevandi

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𝑬𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝑩𝑨𝑵𝑮 💥 (Some recaps) #SingporeFinTechFestival, final mega conference of 2024, ended 1 week ago. As usual, dizzying 😵 array of participants from #TradFi (both bank & non-bank FIs), #digitalassets space players, #RegTech, #startups offering solutions in a wide variety of fields, from all over the 🌏, with topics covering the latest, most potential of technologies. 🤖 #AI #GenAI #QuantumComputing Combination of these to accelerate problems solving, bring better faster 🚄 solutions to multiple sectors, aiding in #analytics, improved efficiencies in #KYC #DD #AML among others. Along with this will be increased #cybersecurity risk as bad actors 👿 can use these advancements to conduct criminal activities at scale. 🔗 🔑 #Blockchain #Crypto #DLT #RWA will continue to proliferate with more institutions embracing it to unlock liquidity. This will revolutionize the accounts #receivables market, immovable & movable assets, illiquid assets, etc. Use of #stablecoin as #payments on the rise. (𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 #𝘛𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 #𝘜𝘚𝘋𝘛, 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦) 💳💵 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤 Humongous number of #payments providers - big, small, familiar and new players. Unified payments API, embedded KYC/KYCC, on-off ramp for #fiat 💴and crypto🪙, so on. Competitive space. Imperative for providers to innovate with new technologies, cater to both traditional and crypto rails, without overlooking #UI and #UX. 🍃#Sustainability 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Rich discussions/panels on #ESG, #greenfinancing, #carbonmarket, energy #netzero transition and challenges faced by policymakers, industry, investors as they navigate this energy transition. Dr. Amlan Roy talked on why #fintech is key in driving progress towards a sustainable, equitable, efficient, and inclusive world 👉 #UNSDG On this note, The Transition Credits Coalition (𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍), an initiative launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in Dec2023, released an interim report on 14Nov, outlining a #framework for using transition credits to accelerate the early retirement of 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒍-𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔. #𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘜 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥-𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴. (as reported by #CNA) Another world🥇 by Singapore 😎 (More on TRACTION https://lnkd.in/g8snVUP3) TreasurUp did a great summary of SFF 👉https://lnkd.in/gwGYahMb

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Over 80% of APAC banks have yet to go digital despite having a clear digital strategy in place. The demand for new fintech ideas is booming in APAC. This means regular banks have to work extra hard to keep their customers and grow in a crowded digital market. This report gives insights about APAC banks and their struggle to achieve their digital goals. Here are my key takeaways: 🔶 There's a huge gap between traditional banks and banks that focus mainly on digital services. The top digital banks are doing five times better than their peers. 🔶 Digital-native banks are becoming a bigger threat. Over 40 launched in APAC by 2023, with 100 more expected by 2025. 🔶 Keeping the status isn’t enough for banks anymore, as customers expect more product agility, personalised experiences, and end-to-end financial services. 🔶 Failure to update old systems puts APAC banks at risk of higher costs, less competitiveness , and losing customers to digital competitors. 🔶 Making small changes over time (incremental transformation) using dual and parallel core platforms seems to be a better idea than trying to change everything all at once. 🔶 APAC banks should avoid quick fixes, doing everything in-house, and replacing old systems completely. These often lead to overspending, isolated functions, and operational problems. 🔶 Some APAC banks are using shared systems and new models to change slowly but steadily. 🔶 Mambu offers a proven digital solution with cloud-based tools and SaaS platform to help APAC banks improve customer experience, stay ahead of competitors, and grow. If APAC banks want to keep up they must start acting now. Making small steady steps over time will help them to stay competitive in this red ocean. #DigitalTransformation #APACBanks #Fintech

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Mastercard have launched Pay Local to enable consumers to make card payments to merchants using local digital wallets in Asia 📲 💸 🌍 Leading wallets in APAC such as DANA Indonesia, TNG Digital in Malaysia and MORE will use Mastercard Pay Local to facilitate payments for consumers at more than 35 MILLION merchants in the region. The Pay Local service is ALSO geared towards regions where digital wallets are widely used for everyday purchases, such as LATAM, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. 💳 🤝 Pay Local builds upon Mastercard’s existing collaborations with wallet providers, including Alipay and Weixin Pay in the Chinese Mainland and Octopus in Hong Kong SAR, to enable international visitors to pay like locals when traveling to these locations, REGARDLESS of where in the world their Mastercard card was issued. 👨‍💻 “With Pay Local, Mastercard is extending its global network to partner wallets and expanding acceptance by making it possible for Asia’s digital wallets to process card-based payments. This creates a low-cost, simple, stable, and secure connection between over 35 million merchants in Asia Pacific and two billion Mastercard cardholders,” said Sandeep Malhotra, executive vice president, Products & Innovation, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. “Locals benefit from new payment options while tourists can use their cards as they do at home, making travel infinitely easier, with one less thing to worry about while on the road.” Read more on the link below! 👇 Sarah Guldin Darrick Rochili Alan Ni Naresh Ponnana Ari Sarker Julie Nestor #mastercard #digitalwallet #asia #payments #sff24 #paymentsacceptance #singaporefintechfestival #MSMEs #cardpayments

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🌏 Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) has once again proven itself as the pinnacle of the fintech calendar, where global leaders, regulators, and visionaries gather to set the industry’s direction. This year, SFF underscored that the future of finance is grounded in resilience, responsible AI, ESG, and cross-sector collaboration. Our team hosted four roundtable discussions covering data frameworks and future policy aimed at supporting trade and cross-border payments. Together, we explored ways to grow the trade ecosystem, focusing on expanding the entire market rather than dividing existing shares. A special thank you to Javier Lopez Gonzalez from the OECD - OCDE, who shared invaluable insights on the latest trends and data in cross-border trade and highlighted the critical impact of policies that either restrict or enable growth—especially where data movement is a crucial factor. With the launch of the Global Finance and Technology Network (GFTN), SFF has showcased the critical role of unified platforms in promoting an inclusive, resilient, and efficient financial ecosystem. Congratulations to MAS and Sopnendu Mohanty for creating this impactful forum, and to Raniv Memon, who will lead the next chapter of Singapore’s fintech journey as head of GFTN. #SFF2024 #FintechLeadership #InclusiveFinance #Resilience #MAS #Collaboration Tamara Singh Pat Patel Nilixa DevlukiaNigel Lee Holly Dorber Claire Alexandre Danny Levy Naveen Gupta Niraja Gokhale Benjamin, Ming-An Lee Carrie Suen Tommy Yeoh 杨双意 Sally Sternecker Monica Jasuja Rahul Bhargava Kanchan Kumar Cary (Singapore PR) Horenfeldt Xue Tan Mark Tibbles Piers Cracknell Shrikant Patil Mary Ann Francis 🌟 David Cai Jo Yeo Azleena Idris

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🚀 🕹️Gaming Revolution: A New Frontier for Fintech🚀 1. 💹 Massive Growth: The gaming industry is poised to grow from $184 billion in 2023 to $205 billion by 2026, marking an impressive increase. 2. 🌏 Global Reach: By 2026, the gamer population is projected to expand to 3.8 billion worldwide, with Asia dominating as a key player with over 1.48 billion gamers. 3. 👥 Demographic Expansion: The demographic span of gaming now includes all age groups and genders, increasing its widespread appeal and market penetration. 4. 💸 Economic Impact: Gamers have become significant online consumers, with spending habits that surpass those of non-gamers in frequency and transaction value. 5. 🚀 Fintech Opportunities: The burgeoning growth presents numerous opportunities for fintech, particularly in developing sophisticated digital payment solutions. https://lnkd.in/eeQP22iw

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Do fintechs in Asia cater more to the elite or are they truely inclusive? The fintech industry in Asia is growing like never before. Meanwhile, the big players are trying their best to strike a balance between making finance accessible to everyone and chasing profits with AI. This report highlights the fintech scene in Asia with its challenges and opportunities. Here are my key takeaways: 🔶 The big share of fintech innovation goes to payment infrastructure. Features like real-time settlements and local payment networks, makes transactions cheaper and more efficient. 🔶 Traditional lending and credit scoring are changing. Now, small businesses have more opportunities, and everyone can access wealth management tools through alternative data and predictive models. 🔶 AI has big potential in finance, but ethical concerns around transparency and fairness need to be taken care of. 🔶 Fintech in Asia faces challenges like higher interest rates and geopolitical issues. Companies need to be ready for tough times. 🔶 Asia Pacific remains a global leader in fintech development, with a focus on improving financial services for everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic status. 🔶 Digital payment innovations, like India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI), are reshaping the scene, making financial transactions more convenient and accessible to all. Despite the challenges, the future of fintech in Asia looks promising, with lots of room for growth. #Fintech #Asia #Digitaltransformation

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In the countdown to #SFF2024, Sopnendu Mohanty joins Arjun Vir Singh for the 100th episode of Couchonomics with Arjun 📻, diving into the critical shifts reshaping FinTech. From AI to Digital Assets, Quantum tech, and the integration of digital money with traditional finance, he emphasizes the need for regulatory harmonisation, resilient financial infrastructure, and strong public-private partnerships to ensure a smooth transition. 🚀 👀 Additionally, with recent elections around the world, we’ll be able to discern its implications towards the finance sector. Expect #SFF2024 to lead crucial discussions on AI regulation and the future of finance in 2025: https://lnkd.in/dWgjyr7d #SingaporeFinTechFestival

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FinTech’s state of play 2.0 🔹 Act 1: FinTech state of play The average age of FinTech companies is 5.5 years, demonstrating a maturity in a nascent industry. While the Singapore FinTech industry continues to expand, sub-sectors are growing at different paces. In the past two years, the number of Web3 companies grew the most whereas the number of lending companies experienced the sharpest drop in growth rate. It is likely that the number of FinTech companies may plateau in the near future. However, existing FinTech companies will expand in size as a result of organic and inorganic growth. 🔹 Act 2: Evolution of growth in FinTech 2.1 The number of Web3, InsurTech and ESGTech companies continues to grow while other sectors expand at a relatively slower pace While the payments sector remains the biggest component of the FinTech ecosystem, the count of Web3 companies has grown significantly from just 5% of the Singapore FinTech ecosystem in 2022 to 16% in 2024. The growth can be attributed to Singapore’s regulatory clarity as the MAS continues to roll out robust regulatory framework for activities relating to digital payment tokens. Growth was also observed in the number of InsurTechs and ESGTechs. Insurance is a space ripe for digital disruption and innovation that has been emerging in this space, slowly but surely. In addition to this, ESGTech is a space that has welcomed many entrants as attention and resources are directed into this space. This is further supported by incentives offered by the government and agencies. 2.2 Maturity of the FinTech industry Funding data1 showed that investments into FinTechs declined in 2023 and 2024. However, deal activities picked up in the form of mergers and acquisitions. Many of these deals were in the payments space, the largest sector in the FinTech industry. This industry consolidation represents a natural phase in its life cycle. Following the high-growth period of the past five years, we observed a shift in priorities. Firms are working towards profitability through cost efficiency and sustainable pricing; focusing on existing markets; and enhancing product offerings and service efficiency through acquisitions. 🔹 Act 3: Looking to the future The FinTech market continuously reinvents itself to meet the ever-changing needs and expectations of geopolitical events and economic resets, with digital payments, artificial intelligence (AI), digital assets, and, further into the future, quantum computing, emerging as some of the most significant trends. The Singapore government has been proactive and reactive to the changing environment and customer needs. The NAIS 2.0 introduced by the Singapore government aims to realise the benefits of AI and create new exciting opportunities. About 80% of the survey respondents are bullish about the growth of the FinTech market in Singapore. 👉More insights https://lnkd.in/d94JgWBU Source PWC Brice AliAlex Michele Nafis Monica Lex Theodora Saleh

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He lead fintech lending at Grab for 5 years. Then left in 2023, to start from scratch. In this episode of "Next Big Wave," I chatted with Ritwik Ghosh, CEO and co-founder of Seedflex, a fintech focusing on SME lending in Malaysia. Ritwik discusses his transition from: - Corporate positions at firms like Capital One & Oliver Wyman, - through leading the fintech lending department at Grab, - to finally starting his own venture. In this episode, we also talked about: - Strategies for navigating fintech regulations. - How COVID-19 sped up the rise of cashless transactions. - The challenges of adapting lending products to Sharia principles. and much more… If you are interested in the fintech space, especially in Southeast Asia, this episode is for you! Check out the full episode in the comments below.

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