Worth a quick read
The Monetary Authority of Singapore recently announced a S$225 million initiative aimed at driving FinTech innovation. With this initiative, FinTech looks set to take off in Singapore in a big way much as it already has worldwide. In this article, we consider the various options and strategies for intellectual property (IP) protection of FinTech.
“FinTech” – The new buzzword
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently announced a S$225 million initiative aimed at driving financial technology (or “FinTech”) innovation. The Financial Sector Technology & Innovation (FSTI) Scheme will help financial firms set up innovation labs, as well as to fund institutional-level projects and industry-wide initiatives.
This initiative is timely as “FinTech” has in recent years become the new buzzword in the financial sector. According to a report by Accenture, investment in financial technology trebled last year, exceeding US$12 billion (about S$16 billion) worldwide in 2014.
So far, much of the activity has been concentrated in Silicon Valley, New York and London, but Asian countries are jumping on the bandwagon led by Hong Kong and Shanghai, both of which have vibrant FinTech start-up scenes. Singapore, on the other hand, has been identified by industry players as having the best ecosystem for FinTech startups.
As it is, Singapore FinTech startups have been in the news. An example is Nearex, a mobile payments startup based in Singapore which has come up a product (called Xip) which works with mobile money service providers to enable cashless transactions between consumers and merchants. The product is targeted at markets like Africa and Latin America where consumers have no or limited access to traditional cashless payment systems like credit or debit cards. The product began pilot testing in Africa last year.
With the FSTI Scheme now coming into the picture, FinTech looks set to take off in Singapore in a big way.
Apparently this is the dude to contact if you have any questions
Koh Chia Ling
Partner, Singapore
Bird & Bird ATMD
chialing.koh@twobirds.com
