• Published on 14 November 2016
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MAS and ABS kick off inaugural Singapore FinTech festival

The inaugural Singapore FinTech Festival kicked off with a series of events that aim to portray the future of a financial industry transformed by innovation and technology. The week-long Festival is organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), in partnership with The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), and aims to connect the global FinTech community. The Festival is supported by various sponsors and partners which are key players in the FinTech ecosystem in Singapore and globally.

Close to 11,000 participants from more than 50 countries have registered for the various events, comprising conferences on FinTech, Tech Risk, and RegTech; the Global FinTech Hackcelerator; the FinTech Awards; visits to innovation labs; as well as community and networking events (see Annex for full programme and event descriptions).

The Festival begins today with the island-wide Innovation Lab Crawl, where more than 20 innovation labs across Singapore will demonstrate their solutions and offer visitors a glimpse into the future of finance. The Hackcelerator Demo Day on 15 November will be a showcase of market-ready FinTech solutions, developed by 20 teams selected from amongst more than 650 global submissions, to solve specific problem statements solicited from the financial industry. The FinTech Awards on 17 November will recognise innovative FinTech solutions that have been implemented by FinTech companies, financial institutions, and technology companies.

The Festival will also feature three conferences, where participants will hear from over 100 renowned executives, venture capitalists and market specialists from leading financial institutions and FinTech companies, who will speak on global FinTech trends, latest technologies, market-ready and future solutions, financial regulations, and technology risk. Alongside the main FinTech Conference, participants will also be able to visit the complementary FinTech Exhibition to be held at the Singapore Expo. The booths, helmed by over 70 financial institutions and FinTech companies, will allow participants to explore, experiment and experience innovative technological solutions.

Mr Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, said, “Standing on the cusp of financial technology transformation, the Singapore FinTech Festival is an important initiative that allows us to bring the global FinTech community together. The Festival will foster the thriving FinTech ecosystem in Singapore and beyond, as we strive towards establishing Singapore as a Smart Financial Centre and a world-class FinTech hub.”

Mrs Ong-Ang Ai Boon, ABS Director, added, “ABS is pleased to partner MAS in the FinTech Festival, which is the first of its kind globally. The Festival offers a conducive environment for the FinTech community to connect, exchange ideas and preview what the future holds for the financial industry, and the possibilities and opportunities that await us. FinTech is the way forward and we are delighted that the Festival will create new value and position Singapore as a future-ready financial centre.”

Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker