Today, a new independent global network to digitise and modernise the USD 18 trillion trade finance market has been launched under the new brand – Contour.

The launch follows a series of ground-breaking live pilots in 14 countries and a global trial with more than 50 banks and corporates, which reduced processing times for Letters of Credit by over 90%, from 5-10 days to under 24 hours. 

HPD LendScape, a leading global asset based lending and factoring platform, has appointed market specialist, Kheng Leong Lee, as its regional representative for the Asia Pacific region. Based in Singapore, Lee brings with him over forty years’ experience in providing financial support to SMEs in the APAC region.

Standard Chartered announced its investment into Contour, a blockchain-based open industry platform that will initially focus on digitally creating, exchanging, approving and issuing Letters of Credit (LCs), following the full commercialisation of its offering and appointment its CEO Carl Wegner.

Curve, the Over-The-Top banking platform that consolidates multiple cards and accounts into one smart card and even smarter app, today brings its customers Apple Pay, which is transforming payments with an easy, secure and private way to pay. With Apple Pay on iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac, customers can make fast and convenient purchases in stores, in apps and on websites.

Calypso Networks Association (CNA) and OSPT Alliance announce their collaboration to drive the adoption of open standards in transport ticketing.

PrePay Solutions subsidiary of Edenred, the everyday companion for people at work, today announces its rebrand as PPS.

PPS, founder and innovator in prepaid cards, has in the last 5 years grown the market in the fintech services including banking, virtual cards, debit, credit and prepaid processing. As a result of this expansion the company will now be formally known as PPS, a moniker already well known in the industry.

Cyber security provider F-Secure has begun to roll out 

H2O.ai, the open source leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), today announced that its open source platform, H2O, provides critical machine learning capabilities to MarketAxess, the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities and the provider of market data and post-trade services for the global fixed-income markets.

Westpac-backed venture fund Reinventure has stepped up its push into Asia’s fintech scene, joining a US$90 million funding round for the owner of Kredivo, Indonesia’s fast-growing "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) platform.

CaixaBank has teamed up with Silicon Valley-based innovation platform Plug and Play on a Spanish fintech startup programme.