It may only be the beginning of the year but there are plenty of fintech developments happening in Singapore and across Indonesia right now. Here, The Fintech Times highlights the key stories of the week.
Recruitment in fintech
Fintech recruiter Storm2 have launched their second global hub in Singapore after only launching in August 2019. Mainly involved in connecting C-Suite professionals to innovative businesses worldwide, the company have expanded to service the APAC region. Storm2 currently operate out of London but, with their clients based all over the world, plans for global expansion were always on the cards. Having already hired 10 specialist consultants in Singapore, the team are looking to double their local headcount during 2021.
Candy Choong, Director of Storm2 and leading the Singapore launch, said, “The market opportunity in APAC for FinTech is incredible. We plan to support the growth of our clients by connecting them with outstanding talent. 2021 will be an interesting year for InsurTech and RegTech, as Singapore has barely scratched the surface on these domains in comparison to other global FinTech hubs.”
Storm2 founder James Brown said “Due to its high international profile, Singapore was the obvious choice for us to launch our second office and establish our presence in Asia. We are extremely fortunate to have acquired Candy, as an outstanding leader for the Asia-Pacific business. I am certain that her team will quickly establish themselves as the go-to FinTech recruiter for the APAC region.”
Mobile remittance
Also this month, Quikz, Cebuana Lhuillier’s mobile remittance app in the US, is now available in Singapore, made possible through a partnership between Cebuana Lhuillier and Nium, a global financial technology platform based in Singapore. Quikz will be powered by Nium’s Remittance-as-a-service (RaaS) solution and Cebuana Lhuillier’s network of pay-out locations in the Philippines, allowing thousands of Filipinos based in Singapore to enjoy improved convenience, security, and real-time global transactions.
eCommerce
And finally, Standard Chartered has formed a strategic partnership with Bukalapak, Indonesia’s newest unicorn, to launch digital banking offerings, hosted on the BaaS nexus platform by SC Ventures. The online marketplace, which competes with rivals such as Shopee, Tokopedia and Lazada, has about 100 million users and 13.5 million sellers in Indonesia. It is valued at $3.5 billion, according to CB Insights. A recent survey suggested that 80 per cent of Indonesians also expect the country to go fully cashless by 2025.
