One of Singapore fastest-growing digital agency didn't get there by chance with close to a hundred employees based in Singapore now. Their rapid growth has been fueled by their dedication to innovation and by constantly pushing the boundaries.

And they are at it again.

Owned by Australian Rich-Lister Nick Bell and headed up by Shane Liuw, General Manager of the Singapore office, First Page is a part of a larger network of agencies that are now being consolidated under one umbrella 'superbrand' - Superist.

With First Page leading the way, Superist is looking to make its mark on the global digital scene. As well as launching their new 'superbrand', Superist is also offering their own NFTs and already is accepting cryptocurrency for client payments.

As part of its launch, Superist has released nine NFTs on OpenSea, each depicting a key leader in the global group. Each NFT also comes with one hour of each leader's time, which can be redeemed straight away, or at a later date. The longer the owner of the NFT holds on to the time, the more valuable it becomes as the group achieves more success.

The group, which is currently comprised of Appscore (Australia), Chili (Brazil, Panama, Mexico), CODI Agency (Australia) First Page (Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore), Lisnic (Australia), Primal (Malaysia and Thailand), Removify (Australia) and USEO (Middle East) provides a multitude of services including digital marketing such as SEO and SEM, content creation, reputation management, app and website development, celebrity speakers and online mentoring.

"This is a huge step forward in the right direction for us as an agency to leverage on our global network of resources in terms of sharing our regional campaign experiences and tapping into local market expertise and data. In turn, clients of First Page and Superist will be able to benefit from the unification of the group to serve their campaigns in a more collaborative manner." says First Page Singapore General Manager, Shane Liuw.

"As we aren't a listed group, Superist is completely independent, meaning we don't have to answer to shareholders so we can always put the needs of our clients first", explains Nick Bell, Managing Director of First Page and Superist. "We can push the boundaries with first to market initiatives that will help our clients stand out in the increasingly competitive digital landscape."

Clients for the group include McDonald's, Intel, Mercedes Benz, Changi Airport, Colgate, L'Oreal, Bayer, Under Armour, McLaren and the co-Founder of Netflix, Marc Randolph.

Information overload is, conversely, one of the biggest barriers to financial health. Here’s how to stop the analysis paralysis.

By Sakhile Mabena, CEO of OFIN

With the best intentions, many people turn to Google when trying to improve their financial health. And five minutes later, they give up. Why? Because searching for “how to improve financial health” delivers no less than 83 ‘steps’ to do so on the first page of the search results. Any would-be financial mogul has just been bombarded with so much information – some of it simple, some of it complex, and some of it conflicting – that they’re too overwhelmed to even start.

Down the rabbit hole

Though there’s an abundance of information available on any given topic today, the financial services sector is particularly prone to information overload. Financial products are often complex and can be overwhelming for consumers who aren’t financially literate or astute.

On top of that, the conventional view that the more choices we have, the more likely we are to find the best solution, is a fallacy. Research shows that if there are too many options, people are less likely to buy a product. More options require more time and effort to process, causing processing overload and leading to inertia or procrastination. Even if the more adamant consumer pushes through, they’re more likely to have buyer’s remorse - their high expectations, given the variety of options, leaves them feeling less satisfied than customers who had a limited selection.

Coming up for air

The answer? Limit the flow of information. As Voltaire said: Best is the enemy of good. By trying to learn everything about financial health, you’re setting yourself up for failure. So, limit yourself to two or three choices. Do some basic research, but stop there. It’s much better to get started somewhere and learn and adjust as you go along, than to aim for perfection and never achieve anything.

Secondly, set a deadline. Decide to read up for an hour or so each night and to then make your decision within a week. This can help you cut down the options.

Lastly, talk to someone in person. It doesn’t have to be a financial advisor, but it should be someone who has some experience and seems to be financially healthy. Ask them to guide you on how to get started.

Taking action

Information overload is, of course, not the only reason people don’t take control of their financial health. Once they have the right information and have set a goal, the so-called intention-action gap is the next big canyon they must traverse. Everyone has experienced the destructive cycle of setting a goal at New Year and not following through – and this applies to finances too. Sometimes, the reason is our tendency to favour immediate gratification over long-term rewards. Other times, the goal was simply too ambitious.

The best way to overcome the first is to use a so-called commitment device. In the world of finances, this could be a savings account that disallows withdrawals or imposes fees for early withdrawal, or a debit order that collects savings or retirement funds on payday.

For the over-achievers, remember to keep things simple. Aim for smaller goals – don’t overspend, take out insurance, aim to beat inflation, and continuously improve your skills – and trust that, in the long-term, these small steps will reap big rewards.

Airwallex, a global fintech platform, today announced at Singapore FinTech Festival that its Singapore entity, Airwallex (Singapore) Pte Ltd, has been granted a Major Payment Institution License by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the Payment Services Act. Airwallex is permitted to provide a suite of payment services including account issuance, domestic money transfer, cross-border money transfer, merchant acquisition and e-money issuance. 

Airwallex will progressively introduce a suite of product and service offerings that will enable businesses in Singapore to operate and grow across the ASEAN region and globally. This includes a modern global business account, multi-currency wallet, company and employee cards, spend management, online payments, international collection & transfer and other value-add solutions for Small and Medium-sized businesses, as well as an API for larger enterprise businesses that require embedded payments and financial services. 

Jack Zhang, CEO and Co-founder of Airwallex said, “We are pleased to have received regulatory approval in Singapore as we continue to make steady progress in Southeast Asia, scaling our payment offerings and solutions in the region for our customers. Receiving this approval reflects our robust policies, compliance framework and risk management systems we have put in place. We will continue to work closely with regulators and partners to ensure we facilitate a safe, effective and transparent way to manage their cross-border financial transaction needs. We look forward to launching our services in Singapore next year and enabling businesses in Singapore to operate globally without borders.” 

Founded in 2015, Airwallex is one of the fastest growing financial technology companies today. The company has nearly doubled its headcount in 2021 to over 1,000 employees today across 19 locations globally, including Singapore. In September, the company also announced its entry in Southeast Asia after securing a money service business (MSB) license in Malaysia, followed by news of a US$200 million Series E fundraising round, raising its valuation to US$4 billion as it continues to focus on its regional and global expansion. 

Mastercard has been actively expanding its platform capabilities through the Mastercard Developers portfolio, adding a multitude of differentiated services to power new ways to pay, enhance the customer experience and infuse trust across the payments ecosystem. Taking both an organic and inorganic approach to growth, the company's acquisitions such as Aiia, CypherTrace, Ekata, Ethoca, Finicity and NuData combined with aggressive expansion of home-grown services on Mastercard’s platform present a rich suite of capabilities for partners to innovate. It’s now easier than ever to build with Mastercard.

“We’re making it super easy for fintech innovators to unleash the vast utility and scale of the Mastercard network to power new solutions,” said Oran Cummins, executive vice president, Developer First Product and Engineering. “We have a lot to offer, from cryptocurrency and open banking to data intelligence and identity solutions, and we’re continuously opening up more services and offering new state-of-the art tools. Today, builders and dreamers of any size from anywhere in the world can engage with us, rapidly integrate and take new solutions to market at a fast pace.”

The new digital age spawns a new set of players who are keen to co-create and innovate on our network. Therefore, providing a single point of entry to technology, products and partnerships as well as flexibility is the company's priority. Mastercard is publishing two new API services every month and our tools, access and expertise across the Mastercard Developers portfolio provides an express lane for fintech companies of all sizes to test and bring innovative solutions to market. Key components include:

• API Platform: Developers can access a vast array of Mastercard’s rich APIs, with tools such as detailed product and technical documentation, tutorials, reference implementations, sandboxes, client libraries, and success stories to enable rapid integration and inspire innovation.
• Fintech Community: Any fintech builder can sign up to be part of Mastercard’s new global fintech community of like-minded companies that use the platform to get inspired, stay informed and connect to peers, helping them evolve their business rapidly. 
• Startup Programs: Select, high-potential fintech startups have the opportunity to co-create and innovate, gain customized expertise from Mastercard, and access a diverse customer base through the network’s global scale.
• Solutions: Explore a curated, customized portfolio of Mastercard products that enable fintech companies to operate as a trusted player in the market, spanning licensing of Mastercard’s brand as well as payments, data, security, analytics and fraud management, and consulting services.
• Partner Network: Qualified fintech enablers receive access to the Mastercard network to pre-integrate or bundle products and services so they are better equipped to meet customers’ needs and/or identify the right third-party partner to enable their own growth.

Doubling Down on Digital and Accelerating Financial Inclusion

Through fintech partnerships in 172 countries, Mastercard is powering innovation and delivering seamless experiences that accelerate our multi-rail strategy and enable a more financially inclusive future for all. Customers around the world, including TomoCredit, Superdigital of PagoNxt company from Santander Group, and Zeta are already engaged in the Mastercard Developers portfolio.

In the U.S., Mastercard partnered with TomoCredit to help people form healthy financial habits through a next-generation credit product.

“We wanted to build an offering that would help the millions of Americans who can’t access affordable credit, and we knew Mastercard had the right technology and infrastructure to help us turn this bold idea into a reality,” said Kristy Kim, CEO of TomoCredit. “We worked closely with Mastercard and Finicity to bring our proprietary underwriting system together with Mastercard’s open banking solution to offer inclusive credit products for the next generation of customers.”

Consumers today expect seamless digital payment experiences. That is why fintech companies in Latin America and the Caribbean now have a combined portfolio of more than 100 million Mastercard digital cards. The company’s continued commitment to enabling customers such as Superdigital, a global and digital platform for economic inclusion, to build out their digital-first consumer journey is demonstrated by 143% growth in Mastercard’s fintech portfolio in the region over the last three years.

“Today, there are still an impressive 300 million unbanked and underbanked people in Latin America. Therefore, it’s essential to look ahead to reach economic inclusion and change lives,” said Leopoldo Martinez, Global CEO of Superdigital. “It’s in this way that Superdigital joined with Mastercard, to help us provide a seamless digital-first payment experience in addition to financial literacy tools to accelerate our expansion into other markets. We are looking forward to the next phase of our partnership.”

Banking tech startup Zeta is contributing to the rapid digital transformation that makes consumers’ lives more convenient, simple and rewarding. Zeta helps banks and fintech companies to launch rich, modern credit card experiences for their customers on a cloud-native solution with 100% API coverage. Mastercard and Zeta’s long-standing partnership began in 2018 when the company joined the Mastercard Start Path program and continues to gain momentum. Looking ahead, Zeta will also participate in Mastercard’s digital enablement programs such as Digital First and Fintech Express.

Through the ever-growing Mastercard Developers portfolio, Mastercard is continuing to partner, collaborate and invest in what’s next – the marketplace, creator and crypto economies, to name a few – and provide the tools to take these innovative solutions to billions of consumers.

Award-Winning Company Blazes New Trail to Introduce a More Rewarding Way to Invest Backed by Technology and Data Science

Cult Wines, a global fine wine collection management and investment company transforming the fine wine industry, today unveiled a new platform that redefines how consumers invest in wine. Responding to significant market growth over the last 18 months which has seen Cult Wines’ assets under management increase to £200m, the company has created greater accessibility to the asset class, introduced elevated experiences and significantly invested in sophisticated data science and proprietary technology to provide an offering unlike anything on the market today.

Changing the face of wine investment forever, the Cult Wine Investment platform turns the traditional investment playbook on its head by emphasising enjoyment and discovery of wine while making investing in wine even simpler and more accessible than ever before. With just four simple steps, anyone from experienced investors to wine lovers to novice investors can build a customised collection of investment grade wine and start enjoying enriched benefits immediately. Significantly lowering the investment threshold, clients can now build a rewarding wine portfolio with as little starting from £10k.

“Historically, the wine investment category has been perceived as only for the wealthy, or those with considerable wine knowledge. We know that is not the case and are enabling more people to invest effectively while maintaining the client service, impeccable standards, and returns for which we are known,” said Tom Gearing, CEO & Co-Founder of Cult Wines. “Equally important is the investment we have made in developing technology that gives our team of experts unrivalled tools to complement their market expertise.”

Leveraging over ten years of consistent performance and returns for clients in 80 countries, the company has built a superior platform that provides better functionality, an intuitive user experience and impactful investment data and insights. Seamlessly paired with a team led by Chartered Financial Analysts® and WSET Level 3 holders, the company delivers best in class management that sets a new industry standard.

“We looked at what we had done previously and explored optimising user experience and how we build, balance and allocate portfolios using proprietary tools and modelling to seek the highest yields possible for our clients, stated Corey Parkinson, Global Head of Product. “Every aspect of the platform, from digital onboarding, automated portfolio generation and our client portal have been re-imagined using a best practice tech stack and data science approach. These tools enable our team to maximise their insights and experience to deliver an unparalleled customer experience.”

New tools include Vintel, a proprietary tool for automatically evaluating, analysing, allocating wines, generating and actively managing portfolios. Clients will benefit from digital onboarding and a web app where they can track their portfolio, see curated offers specific to them, receive buy and sell recommendations from the Cult Wines Investment Committee, liaise with their relationship manager, deposit funds, set up regularly monthly deposits and explore a programme of events and experiences around wine. Clients can also enjoy the profits of their investment whenever they choose by simply requesting shipment of any of the wines in their portfolio through the Client Portal.

As a key component of the new platform, the Customer Experience programme for Cult Wine Investment has been dialled up to bring passion and wine exploration to the forefront.

“Many producers are reviewing their business models in light of new technologies, global reach and a customer first approach,” noted Patrick Thornton-Smith, Chief Experience Officer. “Cult Wines is mirroring these practices in our approach to contribute to the continued evolution of the fine wine industry as well as broaden the audience around the world. We aim to actively increase the opportunity to experience the world’s finest leading wine brands in a tangible way. Wine is inherently enjoyable, investing in it should be too.”

Leveraging the network of relationships and community established over the years, clients will benefit from access to private vintage releases, experiences with renowned chefs to explore food and wine pairings and bespoke trips to prestigious estates among other money-can't-buy benefits. A core component of the CX programme will be introducing clients to producer’s unique histories, terroirs, values and of course, wines to drink, collect and enjoy.

“At Cult Wines, we passionately believe that an investment in wine benefits you more richly than traditional – or even other alternative – investments. We know our customers love wine, so it was a natural extension to take our community on a journey of wine discovery, connecting them with like-minded wine enthusiasts and providing a plenitude of exclusive experiences,” continued Thornton-Smith.

As part of the new platform, the company has introduced four account types – Cru Classe, Premier Cru, Grand Cru and Cult Cru – that provide clients with the benefits of bespoke services, exclusive offers and a world of wine discovery, with industry low fees for fully managed accounts. Opening the door to more investors, the Cru Classe account begins with a £10k investment and unique to Cult Wines, features the world’s first automated and customised account with live allocation. The portfolio is built in real time according to risk appetite and investment horizon, with clients able to view the wines in their portfolio before confirming, after which the wines are immediately allocated.

“We believe the key to the success of our new platform will be the unique blend of wine knowledge, the expert guidance of our relationship managers, the powerful technology underpinning the portfolio, and the human expertise from our investment committee and portfolio managers,” noted Gearing. “Together with our superior Customer Experience programme that leverages our relationships and draws on our shared values between wine estates and producers, we have a truly unmatched and game changing proposition.”

• VISA and Mastercard have certified smart card with IDEX Biometrics fingerprint sensor
• IDEX is now set to deliver a mass production order of its TrustedBio® fingerprint sensors
• IDEX sensor certified with the top three global payment networks following Letter of Approval from China UnionPay in 2020

Fingerprint biometric payment cards move one step closer to our wallets this month following full certification from Mastercard and VISA for IDEX Biometrics’ TrustedBio^® fingerprint authentication solution as part of IDEMIA’s F.CODE biometric payment card platform.

The certification means the TrustedBio® sensor is now certified by the three largest global payment networks, with IDEX Biometrics having already received a Letter of Approval from China UnionPay in 2020. The Letters of Approval indicate that the TrustedBio® sensor is fully compliant with EMV^® interoperability and the security and performance standards of all three networks.

According to Nielsen, Mastercard and VISA collectively have more than six billion payment cards in circulation, while 150 million UnionPay cards have been issued across 67 countries. Certification of the IDEX sensor presents an important achievement in the development of fingerprint biometric authentication payment cards for those payment networks, with associated card producers now able to begin high-volume deployment to meet increasing market demand for fingerprint authenticated payment cards.

With card-present fraud still on the rise, the pressure is on for payment providers to deliver more secure payment methods to consumers. Despite the use of chip and PIN authentication, the European Central Bank estimates that card fraud committed at POS terminals has increased by 2.2% in recent years. Overall 3.6 cents in every €100 spent in Europe using credit and debit cards is being lost to fraud. Fingerprint biometric authentication is one of the major technology developments to address this concern.

Momentum around fingerprint biometric smart cards is growing and the technology is set to play a critical role in the future of a better, more secure payment experience. The sector is set to generate more than $5 billion in global revenue and account for 15% of the market by 2026.

Vince Graziani, Chief Executive Officer of IDEX Biometrics, commented, “This certification is a response to the proven demand for increased security in payments, delivered by our proprietary solution to card-based fingerprint authentication. We now have certified biometric solutions with the top three global payment networks, allowing for deployment of biometric cards, together with our integration and issuer partners, at a rapid pace to over 15 billion consumers. We are happy that our TrustedBio® solution is contributing to the ground-breaking performance and cost profile of our partner’s biometric payment card platform.”

Following the certification, IDEX Biometrics has also received a mass production order for its TrustedBio^® fingerprint sensor from IDEMIA Group. This is the largest production order for TrustedBio^® to date and indicates the scale of demand for biometric payment cards has reached an inflection point.

“We are proud to announce this significant additional order from our partner IDEMIA. Our joint development has resulted in a highly integrated, biometrically-enabled smart card with industry leading performance. This order reflects the rapid increase in demand we are seeing for smart cards secured by fingerprint authentication,” continued Vince Graziani, CEO, IDEX Biometrics.

Deliveries of TrustedBio^® are scheduled to begin shipping to IDEMIA in early 2022.

He says:

“If the UK is to become the first ever net zero aligned financial centre, consumer carbon consumption must change. Open banking can be the catalyst for this.

A recent survey we conducted revealed that 28.6% of 1,987 UK consumers said they would choose to use a new payment method if it has a positive environmental impact. This highlights how consumers today are actively becoming more aware of their carbon footprint and as such, are seeking to use, buy and consume goods through conscious channels.

Built on smaller infrastructures, open banking is, arguably, a more sustainable solution compared to larger, traditional card infrastructures. It would be foolish for financial institutions and listed companies not to listen to consumer demands - implementing open banking into their net-zero strategies is undoubtedly the way forward.”

When the pandemic first hit the UK in March 2020, the sudden obligation to spend 24 hours a day together pushed thousands of couples towards the brink. By mid-May of that year, inquiries to divorce lawyers had jumped by 42 per cent, compared with the same period in 2019.

That may seem shocking enough, but the uplift in unhappy couples during lockdown was nothing to the figures just over a year later. In June 2021, divorce enquiries were 136 per cent higher than at the beginning of the year – itself traditionally a peak time for separations.

“Even the strongest of marriages have been severely tested by the overall stresses of the pandemic – financial, emotional and physical,” says Sarah Havers, senior associate in the divorce department at Stewarts law firm. “Having been forced to take a long, hard look at their partners, the much-heralded promise of ‘freedom day’ has taken on a whole new meaning.”

For many separating couples – and 42 per cent of marriages end in divorce – the process is among the most painful of their lives. It can also be one of the most expensive. A recent report calculates the average cost of a UK divorce is more than £14,500, taking in legal fees and lifestyle payments. For those who need to sell property, or contest a settlement through the courts, the costs can easily mount to tens of thousands of pounds – an average couple will spend £30,000 on solicitors’ and court fees, £35,000 on rent and £144,000 on a new property.

At the top end, where properties are valued in the millions of pounds, the difference between selling in a bull or a bear market can run into hundreds of thousands of pounds. 

Equally, when selling a business, market cycles, interest rates and banks’ lending appetites have a huge impact on valuations. In 2012, the Top Shop and Top Man fashion brands were valued at $3.2 billion. In 2021 they were acquired for around $300 million.    

For high net worth couples, pensions and investments can add up to sizeable assets, once again involving complex calculations of value and future worth. Financial experts and lawyers may be required to reach a fair resolution – both of them expensive to hire. 

As a backdrop to these divorce costs, the pandemic has added new and often severe financial pressures. Whether from reduced income due to furlough, stagnating prospects due to lack of demand, for example in the travel or hospitality industry, or reduced working options due to childcare or illness such as Covid-19 itself, many thousands of UK couples have suffered financially, just as they conclude that they no longer wish to be married.

To cap it all, if a couple decide to separate but cannot agree on a division of assets, there are lengthy queues in the courts, as a backlog of cases inches its way through, potentially meaning higher costs for both parties. 

All of these simultaneous factors mean that, while divorce rates appear to be rising during the pandemic, the options for many couples are limited: a sluggish housing market, a stalled economy and rising prices have narrowed the divorce window. Should couples who wish to separate bury their differences for now, and wait for sunnier economic weather before acting? While this may seem to be sober and commonsense advice, the psychological reality of a fractious marriage can make it impossible to follow. 

“When a couple decide to divorce, they often need to find large amounts of money at short notice,” says Stephen Clark at bridging finance company Finbri. “This could be to buy a new property, or to buy out their partner’s interest in the family home or business. Bridging loans can provide a solution.” 

Selling a property at short notice is seldom ideal: it may disrupt children’s schooling, or mean accepting a below-market valuation. The same issues apply to a business. A fire sale is unlikely to yield an optimum price. 

“By using bridging finance - often secured on the value of a property - a couple can divide their assets without the disadvantages of a forced sale,” adds Clark. “A bridging loan can be very useful in smoothing the path towards an amicable separation and allowing people to get on with their lives.”

Box out – four ways to minimise the cost of divorce

Where there are significant assets to divide, there are likely to be unavoidable costs in any divorce. To keep other expenses to a minimum, here are four suggestions:

1. Have an ‘uncontested’ divorce.

Beyond the basic legal costs of divorce – around £1,000 for the ‘petitioner’ (the person who initiates the divorce) and around £300 for the ‘respondent’ (the other spouse) - there are no other inevitable costs. If you and your partner can resolve all your financial and logistical issues, it leaves you free to retain the full value of your assets. The UK government’s online MoneyHelper website offers free advice.

2. Choose mediation over court

Instead of expensive lawyers, who sometimes appear to prolong cases in order to increase their fees, using a mediation service costing between £50 and £120 per session can save you a great deal of money and aggravation. The best-known UK organisation offering mediation services is Relate.

3. Failing mediation, choose arbitration over court

In this situation, a qualified arbitrator listens to evidence from both sides and comes to a decision. You can find an arbitrator on the website of the Institute of Family Law Arbitrators, with costs averaging around £3,000 shared between a couple.

4. Do your research

Whether you resolve your issues between you, through mediation, arbitration or the courts, do your research ahead of time. For example, the government’s child maintenance calculator will give you a monthly figure, based on your income and expenses.