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Cryoviva Singapore Expands Cord Blood Banking Services to Bahrain

indie
3 minutes

Singapore, Sep 7, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Local family cord blood bank Cryoviva Singapore (https://cryoviva.com.sg) is continuing with its rapid geographic growth plans with an entry into the Bahrain market. This latest new market entry closely follows Cryoviva establishing a footprint in Dubai to serve couples in the UAE that are on the family way. Rajesh Nair, CEO of Cryoviva Singapore"It fills the entire Cryoviva team with a great sense of pride and satisfaction to help customers in Bahrain and add another nation to the list of countries we serve from Singapore. We are steadfastly focused on our goal to give every family the chance to benefit from the medical potential of cord component stem cells should they ever need it. Every new market we enter and serve successfully is another step closer to that goal," says Rajesh Nair, CEO of Cryoviva Singapore. "Our excellent credentials as a well-established cord blood bank with a proven track record, experienced medical and management teams and strong investor backing make us a reliable and trustworthy provider for young families in Bahrain. Equally importantly, I believe that customers in Bahrain get considerable con...

ACN Newswire
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Baanx Acquires Stake in Major US Fintech Bank

indie
3 minutes

LONDON, Sep 6, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Baanx, the fast-growing B2B2C "Better than a Banking Platform" specialising in fintech services & lending, becomes the third-largest shareholder in the United States regulated Maxwell State Bank in a multi-million-dollar deal to enhance cybersecurity and banking access to communities throughout America.Maxwell State Bank is a fintech bank and VISA Principal Member established circa 1943 in Iowa. With total assets of $29,655,000 and deposits of $25,058,000 Maxwell has been FDIC certified since 1943 for insured deposits. Maxwell was acquired by serial fintech entrepreneur Ronald Ingram, founder of multi-billion dollar fintech programs and companies. He has ambitious plans to make this bank the most secure and future-proof bank in America by expanding their services. He plans to achieve this by working with fintech leaders in cybersecurity, cryptography, tokenization and private/public key infrastructure companies.Baanx has rapidly become a market leader in secure transaction payment systems, secured lending and banking services with a focus on fast growing verticals. Offering VISA & Mastercard programs through their pla...

SeaPRwire

OCBC mounts China hiring spree to tap growing wealth

elean
4 minutes

SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - OCBC Bank is boosting its wealth management and corporate banking staff for Greater China to capture regional business flow from the world's second-largest economy. South-east Asia's second-largest lender plans to double the number of relationship managers for wealthy Chinese clients to 500 by 2023, chief executive Helen Wong said in her first in-person interview since taking the job in April. The planned hires will be at OCBC's main operations and its private banking unit Bank of Singapore. "Asean has become China's biggest trade partner and intra-Asian trade is going up substantially," Ms Wong, 60, said in an interview at the bank's Singapore headquarters. "We know that this is our opportunity." Greater China accounts for about a quarter of OCBC's pre-tax profit. The lender also plans to increase the number of corporate and commercial bankers by 30 per cent to about 400 by 2024, Ms Wong said. Among the planned hires will be for what OCBC calls China Business Office, which are currently in Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. More of such offices will soon open in Indonesia and Vietnam to target corporate clients. Such hiring is essential to help Chinese clients...

ACN Newswire
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TEC case study on the Future of Work: Standard Chartered Bank found that around 75% of their employees wanted greater workplace flexibility

indie
5 minutes

HONG KONG, Sep 2, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - The office of the future must be an inspiring physical space that facilitates communication, cooperation and collaboration in order to encourage employees to come into the office, according to the latest case study by The Executive Centre ("TEC"), the leading premium flexible workspace and Standard Chartered Bank. Modern technology and globalised communication systems have allowed us to become a more agile and mobile workforce, and these trends have accelerated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The workforce culture today is increasingly championing flexible working practices as the Future of Work. Standard Chartered Bank is leading the shift for multinational corporates towards adopting a flexible work culture through an extensive review and analysis of their portfolio and employee needs. Sheridan Perkins, Property Program Director of Future Workplace, Now at Standard Chartered Bank said, "Initially, we assumed maybe 50% of our employees wanted Flex, but actually from our survey we found that over 75% wanted it. Typically, this was 2-3 days at home and 2-3 days at the office or a third space. Despite some regional nuances, this...

ACN Newswire
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Xfers & SEBA Bank Named Finalists for Global CBDC Challenge organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore

indie
4 minutes

SINGAPORE, Sep 1, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Xfers, a Southeast Asia based payments leader holding a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license for e-money issuance, together with its partner, SEBA Bank, a FINMA licensed Swiss Bank providing a seamless, secure, and easy-to-use bridge between digital and traditional assets, today announced that they have been named among the 15 finalists for the Global Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Challenge organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).Launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and in partnership with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Capital Development Fund, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, United Nations Development Programme, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Global CBDC Challenge calls for FinTech companies, financial institutions and solution providers around the world to submit innovative retail CBDC solutions to enhance payment efficiencies and promote financial inclusion.The joint proposal submitted by Xfers and SEBA Bank was shortlisted from over 300 applications representing over 50 coun...

SeaPRwire

Top Indonesia bank bolsters digital arm to fend off tech giants Gojek, Sea

elean
3 minutes

SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - PT Bank Central Asia will invest US$200 million (S$271 million) into its digital arm to fend off competition from tech giants Gojek and Sea that are expanding into one of the world's largest unbanked markets. The South-east Asian nation's biggest lender by market value will use the funds to help Blu, its one-month old digital unit, to increase market share ahead of an initial public offering for two years' time, BCA president director Jahja Setiaatmadja said in an interview from Jakarta. He plans to increase Blu's capital to 4 trillion rupiah (S$380 million), from about 1 trillion rupiah currently. For tech giants, Indonesia offers an opportunity to reach more than 83 million people - nearly a third of its population - who still lack access to formal financial services. With a population strewn across thousands of islands, many of the country's lenders are struggling to reach potential customers and banking services, while mobile phones offer a solution. BCA, once the world's most expensive bank, lost its title to smaller digital banks like PT Bank Jago whose market value leapfrogged traditional lenders. Investors piled into Jago after Gojek and Singapore's ...

ACN Newswire
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Yincheng International Holding Announces 2021 Interim Results

indie
8 minutes

HONG KONG, Aug 20, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - An established property developer in the PRC focusing on developing quality residential properties in the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis for customers of all ages, Yincheng International Holding Co., Ltd. ("Yincheng International Holding" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group", Stock code: 1902) is pleased to announce its unaudited consolidated interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2021 (the "Period").During the Period, the Group achieved contracted sales amount of approximately RMB 16.5 billion, representing an increase of 170% YoY. Revenue of approximately RMB 3.79 billion. The gross profit was approximately RMB 689.3 million with gross profit margin increased by 2.5 percentage points YoY to 18.2%. The profit for the period was approximately RMB 298.1 million, and the net profit margin increased by approximately 1.3 percentage points YoY to 7.9%. Ample Land Reserve Resources Enable Precise Key Market DeploymentYincheng International Holding consistently adhered to the development strategy of "based in Nanjing, cultivate the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis". During the period, the Group...

JCN Newswire
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ABA and JCB partner to enable payment acceptance in Cambodia

ruth
3 minutes

Tokyo & Phnom Penh, Aug 18, 2021 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - JCB International Co., Ltd., the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., Japan's only international payment brand, and Advanced Bank of Asia Ltd. (ABA Bank), the digital banking leader in Cambodia and a subsidiary of National Bank of Canada, signed the License Agreement and announced the launch of JCB payment acceptance in Cambodia.Askhat Azhikhanov, CEO of ABA Bank (left) and Yoshiki Kaneko, President and COO of JCB International Co., Ltd. during the Online Signing Ceremony of Partnership Agreement on 17 August 2021This partnership will enable JCB Cards to be used at ABA merchant network across Cambodia, which will provide greater convenience to JCB cardholders. JCB has been expanding the issuing business in the ASEAN countries including Cambodia.JCB and ABA plan to expand the partnership to all ABA merchants including acceptance at PayWay online payment platform and ATMs by the end of 2021.Askhat Azhikhanov, CEO of ABA Bank said: "We are delighted to announce our partnership with JCB, one of the world leaders in payment services. Under the agreement, ABA merchants and JCB cardholders will be a...

SeaPRwire

New Zealand expected to raise rates to cool overheating economy

elean
4 minutes

WELLINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - New Zealand is set to raise interest rates this week, the first advanced economy in the Asia-Pacific to begin normalising policy, as a powerful recovery unhindered by Covid-19 Delta outbreaks shows signs of overheating. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will lift the official cash rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.5 per cent at its review Wednesday in Wellington, according to 13 of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. One economist predicts a half-point increase and three see no change. Markets also expect a hike as concerns mount that labour shortages will unleash wage-push inflation. "It is clear the New Zealand economy no longer requires extreme monetary stimulus," said ANZ Bank New Zealand chief economist Sharon Zollner. "Signs of overheating are evident across the board, and the risks of a boom-bust cycle are high and rising." Governor Adrian Orr unexpectedly ended quantitative easing last month, a sign that the RBNZ was already concerned about the potential for overheating from its stimulus settings. Since then, unemployment has tumbled to 4 per cent and private wage gains have surged to a 13-year high. New Zealand is set to be first to move ...

SeaPRwire

StanChart reinstates payouts but income drop signals challenges ahead

elean
4 minutes

HONG KONG (REUTERS) - Standard Chartered reported a higher than expected 57 per cent jump in first-half profit and US$350 million (S$472.9 million) worth of shareholder payouts, but a fall in revenue showed the longer-term struggle ahead for the bank. StanChart announced a US$250 million share buyback and resumption of interim dividend payments worth three cents per share, or US$94 million in total, joining other banks in rewarding shareholders after year-long regulatory curbs on payouts were removed last month. However, its income fell 5 per cent thanks to low interest rates, which the bank said it hopes are bottoming out, and due to declining revenue in its cash cow transaction banking business. Having spent the early years since his appointment in 2015 fixing StanChart's battered balance sheet and slashing costs, chief executive Bill Winters has in recent years tried to restore growth. The results of those efforts have been mixed, as affirmed by the bank's latest report. The Asia, Africa and the Middle East-focused bank is looking to capitalise on rising trade between those regions, as well as grow fee-based businesses such as wealth management to compensate for rock-bottom poli...

ACN Newswire
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Singapore cord blood bank Cryoviva establishes footprint in the UAE

indie
2 minutes

Singapore, Jul 27, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Family cord blood bank Cryoviva Singapore is pleased to announce that it has made a successful foray into the UAE market in line with its strategic growth plans. After 7 years of serving young families in Singapore, the expansion into Dubai and the other Emirates in the UAE is an important milestone for Cryoviva. Rajesh Nair, CEO of Cryoviva Singapore"This is an important step in our journey, fulfilling our mission to give every family the chance to benefit from the medical potential of cord stem cells should they need it. That we have been able to attract young families in the UAE to trust us with their baby's precious cord blood is not only a testament to our credentials as a company, but also to Singapore's reputation for world-class facilities and strict adherence to high-quality standards. We invite healthcare providers offering maternity services to collaborate with us to provide even greater service to their valued patients," said Rajesh Nair, CEO of Cryoviva Singapore. "While we continue with our growth efforts in several other countries - both in the ASEAN region as well as in the Middle East, I would also like t...

SeaPRwire

Women lose out amid fall in bank teller jobs

elean
5 minutes

(BLOOMBERG) - For years, women have had a foot in the door to the finance industry by becoming bank tellers. Now that path is disappearing due to the increase in e-banking. The number of tellers - a job in which four out of five positions are held by women - has dropped more than 20 per cent in the United States and Canada in the past decade as transactions move from branches to mobile phones. Technological advances are eliminating the need for bank tellers, threatening an entry point for women in the male-dominated industry which has sought to promote more females to leadership roles. While the climb remains steep, some financial firms have managed to improve the gender balance in their executive ranks. "I wouldn't have been a banker without it," said former Wells Fargo chair Betsy Duke, who started as a teller. Women hold 51 per cent of entry-level positions and 38 per cent of senior management jobs in the banking and consumer finance industry in the US. "When you already have a workforce that has a lot of women, there are more opportunities for women's leadership," said University of Toronto's Professor Sarah Kaplan, who is director of the Institute for Gender and the Economy. T...

SeaPRwire

Bank Indonesia looking at tightening policy from late next year

elean
3 minutes

JAKARTA (BLOOMBERG) - Bank Indonesia could begin tightening monetary policy next year, including potential moves on interest rates, if the economic recovery remains on track and policy makers see signs of inflation. The bank's exit strategy is to gradually reduce liquidity in the financial system "and then later, the end of next year, maybe some interest-rate action," Governor Perry Warjiyo told Bloomberg Television's Haslinda Amin on Friday. "But this is very uncertain." Bank Indonesia has kept its benchmark interest rate at a record low 3.50 per cent since February as a spike in Covid-19 cases overwhelms hospitals and oxygen supplies. The economy is still expected to expand 4.1 per cent-5.1 per cent this year as early indicators, such as in the payment system, show no "significant decline" so far, even as the central bank is assessing the outlook, Warjiyo said. Growth is seen hitting 6.3 per cent and 5.5 per cent in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, he added. The government recently downgraded its own forecast for the economy to 3.7 per cent-4.5 per cent growth this year, from 4.5 per cent-5.3 per cent previously after it reinstated stringent movement curbs over large ...

SeaPRwire

New variant of phishing scams emerges, bank victims lost $1m from Jan to May

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - A new variant of phishing scams using spoofed SMS messages to target bank customers has been making its rounds, say the police. It contributed to 374 reported cases involving losses totalling about $1.07 million between January and May this year. In a statement on Saturday (July 10), the police said victims of this latest scam variant would typically be informed that there were payment attempts detected from their bank accounts. Such messages would then urge victims to click on the link provided in the same message if they did not make the transactions. When victims click on the link, they would be led to a phishing website that resembles the official website of a bank, requesting their personal particulars, Internet banking details and one-time passwords (OTPs). "As the scammers had spoofed the bank's SMS accounts, the scammers' message might appear in the same SMS conversation thread as a bona fide SMS message from the bank," said the police. After providing the details, the victims subsequently realised that they had been scammed after receiving SMSes about money being transferred from their bank accounts, added the police. The police advised members of the public to...

ACN Newswire
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Pertama Digital makes leap forward with two new investors for its digital bank

indie
3 minutes

PENANG, Malaysia, Jun 24, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Pertama Digital Berhad announced today that it has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Perfect Hexagon Commodity and Investment Bank Limited ("PHCIB") and Alsirat Sdn Bhd ("ASB") to secure investment for its proposed digital bank.Licensed as a Labuan investment bank under the Labuan Financial Services Authority, PHCIB is wholly owned under Perfect Hexagon Limited ("PHL"), a Hong Kong based entity. PHL is a global commodity and trade finance leader. PHL is also an Associate Participant of Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Berhad and a Liquidity Provider for the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited.Meanwhile, ASB is a wholly owned Bumiputera company that has more than 30 years' experience in delivering mission-critical projects for customers since its inception. It provides digital evidence management solutions, big data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things services.According to the two MoUs, PHCIB and ASB both wish to support financial inclusion initiatives by investing in the digital bank proposed by Pertama Digital. Both investors will participate by contributing to th...

SeaPRwire

GIC-backed South Korean fintech eyes 12-fold growth, IPO by 2025

elean
6 minutes

SEOUL (BLOOMBERG) - Viva Republica, operator of South Korea's largest fintech start-up Toss, gained more funding for a US$7.4 billion (S$9.95 billion) value, to help the super app grow sales 12-fold by 2025 as it heads for a potential initial public offering (IPO). The Seoul-based start-up raised 460 billion won (S$545.8 million), with more than half coming from foreign investors including Alkeon Capital Management and Altos Ventures, founder and chief executive officer Lee Seung-gun said in an interview. State-run Korea Development Bank pumped 100 billion won into the round. It's considering another fundraising in the first half of 2022 that will be its largest ever and the last before the start-up seeks an IPO within the next five years. Toss is among a handful of global companies like Ant Group and Grab Holdings that are upending traditional financial services with all-in-one digital platforms that offer insurance, payments, credit scoring and even securities trading. It's planning to launch an online lender as early as September, after receiving South Korea's third internet banking licence earlier this month. That, alongside other services like its fast-growing securities platf...

SeaPRwire

US stocks dip as Fed inches closer to policy shift

elean
2 minutes

NEW YORK (AFP) - Wall Street stocks declined on Wednesday (June 16) as the Federal Reserve edged a bit closer to tightening monetary policy while adopting a broadly dovish response to recent signs of inflation. Shares hit session lows shortly after the US central bank raised its inflation and growth forecast and released projections that showed a majority of Fed officials expect interest rate hikes in 2023. However, equities recovered somewhat during Fed chairman Jerome Powell's press conference during which he emphasised that he views recent price hikes as temporary, and that steps to restrict monetary supply are not imminent. Jason Schenker of Prestige Economics said the overall message was "highly accommodative," but included "some hawkish changes at the margin." The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 34,033.67, down 0.8 per cent. The broad-based S&P 500 ended down 0.5 per cent at 4,223.70, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.2 per cent at 14,039.68. Large banks mostly rose, with JPMorgan Chase up 0.7 per cent and Bank of America gaining 0.6 per cent as long-term bond yields climbed following the Fed announcement. Among individual companies, General Motors ju...

SeaPRwire

Asian central banks build US dollar war chests as they gird for Fed

elean
4 minutes

MANILA (BLOOMBERG) - Asia's emerging economies have accumulated their highest level of foreign-exchange reserves since 2014, offering a powerful buffer against market volatility if the US Federal Reserve changes course. Central bank holdings of foreign currencies in the region's fast-growing emerging economies hit US$5.82 trillion (S$7.72 trillion) as of May, their highest since August 2014. When China's cash pile is stripped out, emerging Asian central banks' reserves stood at an all-time high of US$2.6 trillion. While some of the gains reflect US dollar weakness and bumper exports, policy makers are deliberately preparing their defences, said Nicholas Mapa, an economist with ING Groep in Manila. "Emerging economies are definitely learning from the past by war-chesting," Mr Mapa said. "They're all the more aware of the eventual reversal in monetary policy stance of developed market central banks and the potential repercussions that may arise from a Fed taper or eventual rate hike." While the Fed is expected to maintain a dovish outlook when it meets this week, economists say the accelerating US recovery means the bank will need to signal a policy turn sooner than anticipated. Cent...

ACN Newswire
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Pertama Digital announces 4 product partners for its digital bank

indie
5 minutes

PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA, Jun 9, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Pertama Digital Berhad announced today that it has secured the first four product partners, Trevo, Paywatch, Qoala and Butterfly FX, which will bring expertise and solutions in their respective fields to plug into Pertama Digital's proposed digital bank. This comes after its recent announcements on securing Crowdo Holdings Pte Ltd and INFOPRO Sdn Bhd as consortium partners to apply for a digital banking licence from Bank Negara Malaysia.In order to build a digital bank that empowers financially underserved Malaysians, Pertama Digital has built strong relationships with existing financial inclusion innovators, such as these companies, on ethical financial products addressing insurtech (takaful), gig economy and edtech.Pertama Digital's Director of Strategy Saify Akhtar said: "We are very excited to collaborate with our new product partners to build financially inclusive solutions for the Rakyat. Over the years, we gained valuable experience and insights from delivering digital financial services to the financially underserved via MyPay and eJamin. Pertama Digital champions people-private-public partnerships an...

ACN Newswire
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US Bond Yields And Correlation To The Dollar

indie
2 minutes

Jakarta, Indonesia, June 3, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - The British Pound Sterling held firm near a three-month high against the US dollar last week, amid rising expectations of an earlier than expected rate hike by the Bank of England, while the US currency looks to inflation data which will come. The British pound was up at $1.4203 after rising 0.58% on Thursday after Bank of England policy makers said the central bank is likely to raise interest rates through next year. The euro was at $1.2190, below a 5 1/2-month high touched Tuesday at $1.2266 as steady comments from European Central Bank officials dampened its momentum ahead of a policy meeting on June 10. The dollar jumped to 109.85 yen, breaking its limited range for the past few weeks, to hit its highest level in seven weeks. The jump likely reflects yen selling due to MSCI's overhaul of its standard stock index, from which nearly 30 Japanese names were stripped, analysts said.The yen was also hampered by concerns about a delay in Japan's economic recovery after media reported that Japan wanted to extend the state of emergency in Tokyo and several other areas in the three weeks to June 20. Additionally, the D...