Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) and Nexia TS announced today the launch of Nexia InnoLab, a platform to enable FinTech companies to engage businesses from various sectors on technological solutions.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in the presence of Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and Education, who also officiated the opening of Nexia InnoLab.
Under the MOU, SFA members shall have access to business consultancy and advisory services, and accounting and business-related events, all through the Nexia InnoLab collaboration platform. The MOU was drawn up to strengthen FinTech company’s financial capabilities in the face of the challenging period amid the pandemic.
Mr Chia Hock Lai, President of SFA said, “SFA is excited to partner with Nexia TS to provide free business advisory clinic to FinTech firms. In addition, SFA members can look forward to co-creating technological solutions with businesses from various sectors through the Nexia InnoLab collaboration platform. The partnership is timely to strengthen the financial capabilities of our members amidst the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic."
Nexia business clinics for SFA members covers a wide spectrum of key business areas including taxation, valuation, cashflow planning, information memorandum, preparation and exit of initial public offering, Singapore Personal Data Protection Act, General Data Protection Regulation, as well as governance and internal controls.
Mr. Henry Tan Group CEO and Chief Innovation Officer, Nexia TS said, “As an established international accounting firm with over 27 years of experience, we have come across clients particularly SMEs facing various technological difficulties. As more new-age FinTech players emerge in the post-COVID-19 market, we see an immediate need to connect these stakeholders in a holistic digital ecosystem to deliver high-impact financial solutions to better the city-state’s economy.”
Separately, The Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) announced today the launch of a comprehensive Grants and Jobs Portal during a virtual launch event earlier today, witnessed by Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and Education.
The portal currently has over 500 job postings and will enable job seekers to access the latest job vacancies, available grants, relevant training opportunities and latest news within the FinTech sector. SFA has also collaborated with organisations, including the Institutes of Higher Learning, to generate content to the portal. In addition, the Grants and Jobs portal will be highlighting various schemes available under the SGUnited Traineeship and Skills programmes.
Based on the latest report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) announced on 19 June 2020, investments in Singapore-based FinTech firms spiked year-on-year to SGD $650 million, an increase of 19% in the first half of 2020. Amid the uncertainties and disruption from COVID-19, the FinTech sector in Singapore has shown resilience and is poised to bounce back quickly post-pandemic as financial institutions accelerate their digital transformation journey and as more customers adopt digital solutions.
Since the onset of COVID-19 and after a survey conducted with its members in March 2020, SFA has pivoted quickly and worked closely with key stakeholders within the sector to progressively introduce a range of timely and purposeful initiatives. These initiatives come in the form of monetary and non-monetary assistance to help FinTech companies retain jobs and facilitate business growth despite disruption to normal business activities.
Some of the initiatives introduced since April include:
1. SFA FinTech Certification - Benchmark qualification for FinTech certified companies to apply for grants from Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
2. MAS-SFA-AMTD FinTech Solidarity Grant ($6 million) - Provide monetary support to FinTech firms in two key areas; Business Sustenance and Business Growth.
3. Industry Collaboration - Worked closely with market participants, Razer and AMTD to facilitate funding to FinTech firms
4. Compliance Readiness Framework for FinTech Service Provider (FSP) - Promote a sustainable relationship between FinTech Service Providers and Financial Institutions.
5. Informative webinar sessions - More than twenty events organised since April to provide information on grants, financing, business continuity and more.
As the above have shown, collaboration is key to the success of rolling out meaningful initiatives for the industry and would continue to be an important cornerstone for the continual development of the sector in Singapore and globally, further cementing Singapore’s position as a leading global FinTech hub.