Southeast Asia

Grab Financial Group Raises $300 Million For Expanded Finance Solutions (PYMNTS)

Grab Financial Group had a productive 2020 in which it managed to increase total revenue by 40 percent. Consumers seemed to respond positively to products like its retail wealth management...

Southeast Asia

Reinventing Southeast Asia’s retail industry to drive economic recovery (The Business Times)

With consumer behaviours, operating environments and market conditions changing constantly, responsiveness and speed are more important than ever. This is where technology platforms come in, acting as enablers for agility,...

ASEAN

Paradigm Shift in Banking and Financial Services: Takeaways from AIBP Focus

As a way to kick off 2021, we had the opportunity to host an AIBP Focus session with esteemed panelists from the Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI) sector across...

Vietnam

Digital transformation offers Vietnam better transportation services: minister (The Star)

According to Decision 749/2020 of the Prime Minister, transport and logistics are two of the eight priority fields for digital transformation. Digital transformation in the transport sector is different from...

Vietnam

Viettel eyes digital drive in sweeping revamp (Mobile World Live)

State-owned Vietnamese operator Viettel unveiled a widescale company rebrand designed to transform its image and push itself as a provider of digital services beyond standard telecoms. Its move follows the creation...

Vietnam

Alibaba and Shopee clash in Vietnam as ASEAN e-commerce war rages (Nikkei Asia)

Shopee's bullish expansion in Vietnam is part of a new phase of development in Southeast Asia's $100 billion digital economy. In the post-COVID era, e-commerce will be the cornerstone of...

Indonesia

Gojek in Talks With Tokopedia for $18 Billion Merger, Sources Say (Bloomberg)

Indonesia’s ride-hailing and payments giant Gojek is in advanced discussions about merging with local e-commerce pioneer PT Tokopedia, ahead of a planned initial public offering of the combined entity, according to people with...

Philippines

UnionBank lauded for bringing smart banking in PH (FutureIoT)

UnionBank, the first local bank to launch a smart branch in the Philippines using 5G for seamless connectivity with internet of things (IoT)-enabled services, ended 2020 with a bang by...

Indonesia

Kominfo: Realization of 5G Network in Indonesia to Begin in 2021 (CNN Indonesia)

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) stated that the realization of 5G will only begin in 2021. Director General of Information and Public Communication of Kominfo, Widodo Muktiyo said...

Philippines

The Future of Smart City Development: Prioritizing Value Creation with Data Insights

With a third of companies listed on the Philippines Stock Exchange Composite Index having a direct or indirect relationship with the real estate and infrastructure development in the country, we...

Philippines

PH industries’ automation level remains low (Manila Bulletin)

The automation level among manufacturing firms in the country has remained low, but the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said that various initiatives are in place to help local...

Thailand

TOT-IEAT pact to support infrastructure (Bangkok Post)

Recently, TOT also inked a three-year MoU for a collaboration with the Eastern Economic Corridor Office of Thailand (EECO) for a telecom infrastructure offering under the concept of infrastructure-sharing as...

Indonesia

5G to add $8b to telco revenue in Indonesia by 2030: Ericsson (The Jakarta Post)

5G would enable smart operations and these could be applied through the entire supply chain. In manufacturing, 5G technology enabled fast and cost-efficient connectivity, which could increase production ability. “Many operators...

Malaysia

Malaysia to chair first ASEAN Digital Ministers' Meeting (The Edge Markets)

The Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) in a statement today said the emphasis would be on the importance of centralisation and unity, in efforts to develop the ASEAN Community...

ASEAN

Innovation at scale is critical: UOB (The Business Times)

UOB's technology strategy and resources are focused on the bank's business priorities: to extend its regional connectivity to support its wholesale banking business; expand its omni-channel and digital strategy to...

Indonesia

Global firms remain upbeat about Indonesia’s digital economy (The Jakarta Post)

Bhima Yudhistira, an economist with the Institute for the Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), said Indonesia’s e-commerce and fintech industries showed the most promising growth compared to other sectors...

Vietnam

Vietnam promotes digital transformation (Vietnam Plus)

The National Assembly has requested the Government to issue a plan to ensure cyber information security for 2021-2025. The Government is also required to strictly manage foreign digital platforms, promote the...

Southeast Asia

Digital challenger banks offer promise of inclusion (Business Times)

The number of digital challenger banks worldwide has grown significantly over the last decade, to a cumulative total of over 200, attracting about US$15 billion in funding. This growth has...

Singapore

Singapore ushers ASEAN into new digital banking era (Nikkei Asia)

"Both Sea and Grab-Singtel have significant existing customer bases, so for the two new digital full banks, the most important priority will be to launch products and services that differentiate...

Thailand

Exceeding Customer Expectations - Summary of Discussion with Muang Thai Life, Bangchak, Jardine and other Industry Leaders in Thailand

In 2020, one of the biggest digital transformation themes we covered was about customer experience and how the new rules of doing business in pandemic times make managing the customer...