Singapore fintech investment rises despite drop in deal volume

For the past quarter, fintech investment reached US$61.5m.

The past quarter has seen fintech investment in Singapore rise to reach US$61.5m as investments globally doubled to US$8.4b.

According to KPMG, this is despite the decline in fintech deals for the said quarter.

"Historical trends show that this is not totally out of the ordinary. The apparent decline may be a result of the move towards a more partnership-oriented fintech model in the country," KPMG said.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) continues to drive the majority of fintech activity in the country. During 2Q17, MAS began to shift its focus from education and innovation to promoting technology adoption and attracting companies to launch offerings in Singapore.

KPMG head of financial services advisory Chia Tek Yew said MAS hopes to see more fintechs using Singapore as a base to pilot and then deploy solutions into other countries within Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia and Thailand over the longer term.

"The success of these cross-border solutions could prove the viability of using Singapore as a springboard for Asia-based expansion,” Chia noted.

In Asia, total fintech funding remained relatively steady, with US$760m invested across 51 deals. Asia’s second quarter fintech financing trends were characterised by geographic diversity and a lack of mega financings

Looking ahead, blockchain is expected to remain a relatively hot area of investment across much of Asia, in addition to payments and lending.

“There seems to be a major push to transform Singapore into the world’s blockchain leader, with an ever-increasing number of use cases in the country aimed at testing blockchain in government trade, land registry and tax functions, in addition to traditional banking and insurance,” Chia said.