Gaming, crypto, NFTs, the metaverse...what's it all about, and should this matter to the finance industry? Gil Bashan, chief product officer at U.S. tech company StrongNode, discusses the nexus between gaming and fintech with DigFin's Jame DiBiasio.

Regtech – regulation technology – is now critical for financial institutions, but needs vary by market. Ashish Rai of FIS discusses the big-picture challenges in capital markets.

Timecodes:

0:00 - Ashish Rai, FIS

1:13 - Trends in capital-markets regulation

2:56 - Differences between Hong Kong and Singapore

5:37 - Are back offices ready for compliance tech needs?

7:10 - Regtech's strengths in capital markets

8:25 - And its shortfalls; has A.I. delivered?

10:33 - Banks and asset managers' benefits in future

11:45 - Risk management in machine learning and regtech

15:28 - Most important upcoming regulations

17:10 - What about Asia's developing markets

18:22 - Is it getting easier to scale financial businesses in Asia?

19:17 - Goals for FIS in Asia in 2022

20:59 - Your regulatory wishlist for next year

WeLab operates a virtual bank in Hong Kong as well as banking, payments, and tech businesses in mainland China and Indonesia – with an IPO on the cards. Founder Simon Loong speaks with Jame DiBiasio about metrics for a virtual bank, doing business in the Greater Bay Area, and what's next.

Timecodes:

0:00 - Simon Loong, WeLab

1:36 - Metrics for virtual banks

2:57 - Comparing with incumbent banks

5:27 - Fintech and virtual-bank lending practices

6:52 - Is tech really a differentiator?

8:54 - Incumbents also catching up in digital

11:06 - WeLab's other businesses and markets

15:17 - Strategic investor AllianzX

17:14 - Wealth business in Greater Bay Area

20:56 - Tech's role in GBA wealth and banking

23:27 - VCs and strategic investors

26:19 - IPO, profitability, and WeLab's future

Technology now makes it possible for banks to track and manage cash on an intra-day basis. Nadeem Shamim of SmartStream Technologies explains the benefits this brings to transaction bankers and their corporate clients – as well as the challenges of making this become an industry norm.

Timecodes:

0:00 - Nadeem Shamim, SmartStream Technologies

1:16 - Liquidity lessons from COVID-19

3:08 - Understanding counterparty risk

4:52 - Cash pledged, versus "pure" cash

7:15 - Reducing operational losses

11:31 - Managing market risks such as credit

12:45 - What being ready for intraday liquidity looks like

15:50 - From intraday positions to intraday valuations

18:20 - Being ready for open banking and APIs

OneDegree has spun a niche business doing digital pet insurance in Hong Kong into a multi-pronged insurtech business that aims to be active in five continents within five years. Co-founder and CEO Alvin Kwock discusses the changing trends in insurance and insurtech, and his ambitions to transform OneDegree into a leading insurance player.

Timecodes:

0:00 - Alvin Kwock, OneDegree

1:28 - The vision from Day One in 2016

7:14 - Getting started in pet insurance, the whys and hows

13:16 - Extending into B2B for third-party insurers

14:48 - What big insurance companies need from tech companies

16:55 - The challenges of partnering with giant legacy insurers

20:25 - Going global, can you maintain the same focus?

22:39 - Design pitfalls for insurance mobile apps

Banks are now expected to provide instant payments and other services on demand. Roland Brandli explains this is creating pressures on legacy core systems that must now be changed. He is head of digital payment controls at SmartStream Technologies, helping banks around the world from his base in Dubai.

Timecodes:

0:00 - Roland Brandli, SmartStream

1:03 - Unexpected impact of banks handling instant payments

2:15 - The problem with international standards

3:56 - Why systems aren't interoperable, yet

4:51 - Hidden costs, competitive issues for legacy I.T.

6:32 - Incumbent banks versus fintechs, neobanks with built-for-purpose tech stacks

8:34 - Choosing partners, understanding processes

9:45 - This is the turning point for legacy tech

13:50 - AI, blockchain, buzzwords versus real use cases

16:50 - From traditional silos to just-in-time processes

20:11 - Vendors also changing their tech stacks

22:10 - Dealing with the complexity of integrating control systems, eg APIs

24:03 - Lessons for banks from Facebook's big shutdown

Kelvin Teo is co-founder of Funding Societies, an SME-dedicated SaaS and platform lender, with operations in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. He speaks with Jame DiBiasio about plans to securitize loans, obtain a banking license, and issue credit cards – and a path to IPO.

Timecodes:

0:00 - Kelvin Teo, Funding Societies

1:30 - P2P versus lending

3:55 - How it works in different markets

5:00 - Where do you get capital to lend?

5:55 - How much skin in the game do you take?

7:05 - Lessons from China on P2P and platform risks

8:40 - Plans to securitize loans, investor base, licensing

11:40 - What's next after not winning a virtual-bank license in Singapore

12:55 - Benefits to a bank license or partnership

14:55 - Competing against banks, ride hailing apps, ecommerce

16:20 - Challenges to growth

17:10 - Payments and credit-card strategy

19:20 - Drivers of new market entry

20:20 - Can you scale in Southeast Asia?

21:36 - Becoming profitable and exit strategy

Richard Turrin is a Shanghai-based consultant and author. He speaks with Jame DiBiasio about his latest book, "Cashless: China's Digital Currency Revolution", why digital currencies matter, and the relevance of China's fintech experience for the rest of the world.

TImecodes:

0:00 - Richard Turrin, "Cashless"

01:08 - What makes central-bank digital currencies (CBDCs) useful

4:11 - CBDCs versus our existing payments infrastructure

5:41 - Use cases, benefits of digital currencies

9:47 - Financial services in a world of digital currencies

12:00 - Governments and programmable money

15:07 - Cryptocurrency (eg Bitcoin) versus CBDCs

16:39 - Role of commercial banks

19:00 - Disrupting credit card companies and payments fintech companies

22:16 - The role of CBDCs in tokenizing assets

25:00 - Cybersecurity of digital cash

Ian Gillard is senior executive vice president at Bangkok Bank as well as a member of the board at blockchain vendor R3. He speaks with Jame DiBiasio about Bangkok Bank's digitization strategy as Thailand goes cashless.

Timecodes:

0:00 - Ian Gillard, Bangkok Bank

1:10 - About Bangkok Bank

2:39 - Bangkok Bank's first digital products

3:09 - The bank goes mobile

3:18 - Corporate versus consumer banking digitization

4:30 - How well do you really know your consumers?

7:13 - Gaining customer insight, the learning process

8:06 - Where tech can take banking

9:09 - Fintechs as competitors and as partners

10:56 - Prospects for virtual banks in Thailand

13:30 - Thailand is going cashless, and Bank of Thailand's work

17:41 - Retail CBDCs / digital currency, and tokenization

19:45 - Developing blockchain-based trade finance

Nicki Ramsay, founder of Singapore payments fintech CardUp, talks about making the leap into lending, drivers behind credit-card fintech, and challenges to the business.