Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 9 January 2018
GrabPay ropes in Ooi Huey Tyng from Visa as Managing Director for Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines
Grab, the leading on-demand transportation and mobile payments platform in Southeast Asia, today announced it has appointed Ooi Huey Tyng as Managing Director, GrabPay Singapore, Malaysia, and Philippines. Based in Singapore, Huey Tyng brings on board more than 25 years of experience in senior positions at global banks and leading payments providers. Following shortly after a number of GrabPay milestones to end 2017, this appointment underlines the scale of the payments platform’s ambitions coming into 2018.
Huey Tyng joins Grab from Visa, where she was the Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei. During her time, Huey Tyng drove the company’s innovation and digital roadmap as well as the strategic engagement of regional banks headquartered in Singapore. Prior to that, Huey Tyng held leadership roles at DBS, UOB, and Citi among others, where she was responsible for managing retail cards businesses, co-branding and rewards partnerships, as well as engagement with merchants. Huey Tyng also served as a representative to the MAS Payments Council and the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE).
“Huey Tyng brings deep leadership expertise from some of the region’s premier banks and payments providers. Her experience with our current and potential payments partners will be invaluable as GrabPay moves into its next phase of growth. Millions of people in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines are still heavily dependent on cash. Huey Tyng’s skills in forging business partnerships across each country will enable us to bring more merchants and consumers into the cashless future faster,” said Jason Thompson, Managing Director, GrabPay Southeast Asia.
Abu Dhabi and Bahrain pursue fintech co-operation deal
Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the International Financial Centre in Abu Dhabi, and the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) have entered into a Fintech cooperation agreement, marking a significant first in the MENA region. Signed between two of the leading MENA Fintech hubs, the agreement represents a leap forward in promoting the region as a connected and collaborative environment for Fintech to thrive in. It provides a framework for information sharing, and for facilitating the movement of start-ups, knowledge, and talent between the two jurisdictions. With the new partnership, Bahrain EDB and ADGM will explore initiatives to promote economic growth in financial services through the adoption of new technology, and highlight MENA’s strengths in the FinTech sector.
“We are excited to witness the first FinTech MoU between two MENA jurisdictions,” said Richard Teng, Chief Executive Office, Financial Services Regulatory Authority of ADGM. “Together, we advocate and see the MENA region as a continuous whole and look to leverage each other’s strengths to anchor a vibrant Fintech ecosystem. From our close discussions with the Economic Development Board of Bahrain, and especially at the first Regional Regulators’ FinTech Roundtable recently in Abu Dhabi, it is clear we value the importance of collaboration and mutual support in any relevant manner. I look forward to continuing to work closely with our partner in building a more connected, collaborative network among our fellow regulators in the MENA region to cater to the rapid pace of FinTech growth here.”
Jaywing opens AI consulting practice
Risk and data science specialist Jaywing, has launched a new consultancy service to help lenders drive value from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning. The announcement follows the recent launch of Jaywing’s AI product – Archetype – which enables lenders to build vastly more predictive risk models in a fraction of the time of a traditional modelling project, whilst retaining complete control and visibility of the resulting model.
Technology research leaders Gartner have identified AI as a “Megatrend” for 2017, saying that it “will be the most disruptive class of technologies over the next 10 years due to radical computational power, near-endless amounts of data, and unprecedented advances in deep neural networks; these will enable organisations with AI technologies to harness data in order to adapt to new situations and solve problems that no one has ever encountered previously”. Increasingly, effective use of AI will become the difference between those businesses that are adopting it to gain an edge on their competitors, and those that are being left behind.
As AI evolves, and becomes ever more prevalent, it will enable organisations to transform the way they operate, using new tools and approaches to become more efficient. There is huge potential for lenders to start to take advantage of this transformation – but doing so involves many challenges, not least having the right skills and knowledge in-house (or perhaps just enough bandwidth) to identify key opportunities and then to execute on them.
