The Knowledge to Decide

Blockchain is set to go beyond financial services and affect all sectors, especially retail. Blockchain enables a decentralized digital ledger to record information and transactions on a shared online network. In Australia, this technology will soon enable consumers to scan a product and check the actual journey from farm to store shelf, alongside product quality. Can the internet of things plus Blockchain revolutionize retail supply chains? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/blockchain-technology-is-set-to-hit-retail-sector/

As a new year dawns, Singapore continues to focus on becoming a cashless society. Despite several unsuccessful attempts in the past, many nationwide initiatives are set to launch soon. Will this be the year of change? Japnit Singh, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights, published on Today Online’s news portal. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will launch common Quick Response (QR) codes next year. Moreover, the largest payment network in Singapore – Nets – will implement a QR code system in the middle of 2018 across all of its 100,000 acceptance points. However, Japnit opined that security concerns still loom. Previously, lack of interoperability confused consumers, whereas transaction and terminal fees prevented small businesses from offering credit card or Nets payments. This time around, fraudulent QR codes with malicious software to steal data and access customer bank accounts are causing trouble. It remains to

Nets – the leading payment solutions provider – recently announced that it would launch new payment modes across all of its 100,000 acceptance points in Singapore by mid-2018. What does this mean for Singapore’s quest for a unified payments system? Japnit Singh, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights, published on Today Online’s news portal. Japnit opined that the infrastructure laid out by Nets for a unified point-of-sales terminal is a big step forward. But what was needed was an open platform with other payment companies able to join, to ensure competition. This is seen in the telco industry where infrastructure sharing is required. The new payment modes that Nets will implement include an app storing a digital version of Automated-teller machine (ATM) cards, new contactless cards along with mobile payments through Quick Response (QR) codes. It remains to be seen if transaction fees will be hiked. If so, merchants will h

On 20 January, Spire and Yamada Business Consulting (YBC) jointly held a breakfast seminar in Singapore to explore the impact on India’s economy of the recent Rupee demonetization of high-value currency notes. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, Japnit Singh, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Spire and Yasuyuki (Luke) Kita, General Manager of YBC (Singapore), addressed the session. Spire Singapore and YBC discussed the demonetization’s impact on different industry sectors, on e-commerce and on the outlook for doing business in India in 2017. The speakers talked about how demonetisation will spur growth in cashless transactions. Although the retail and car resale sector will suffer short-term damage, there is a visible shift towards modern trade and online transactions. Moreover, ease of doing business and transparency will rise, making India more investment-friendly. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/spire-and-ybc-host-br

As use of mobile wallets grows across Asia, digitalized financial services are transforming consumer behavior. In this context, Informa Business (IBC) organized the 4th Annual Mobile Wallet Conference to discuss key industry trends, opportunities and challenges in Jakarta, Indonesia. Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Spire Research and Consulting group, was honored to be a guest speaker at this event. In his presentation, Bahar highlighted key facts about the mobile wallet ecosystem in Asia with focus on consumer trends, growth drivers and acceptance of digital currency. Bahar mentioned the rise mobile wallet payments is due to faster transactions (71%), ease of use (55%) and the need to have cash on hand (47%). There are more opportunities for organizations, regulators and startups due to the convergence of multi-channel integration, integrated IT infrastructure, digital currencies and Big data analytics, to name a few trends. The Philippines beca

As payment transactions become digitalized, it is crucial to ensure digital financial services are accessible to the poor at affordable rates and in a scalable manner. Recognizing this need, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) organized a workshop on ‘Digital Financial Services and Financial Inclusion’ for ITU member states, ICT regulators and Financial Service providers from across the globe to discuss key industry trends, opportunities and challenges at the ITU headquarters in Geneva. Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Spire Research and Consulting group, was honored to be a part of the workshop. In his presentation, Bahar highlighted initiatives by the Indonesian Government and the private sector to implement bulk payment services for beneficiaries. Bahar mentioned the Government to People (G2P) Payment option for Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH) – the Family Hope Program – where beneficiaries are entitled to cash grants from the government

With e-commerce set for steady growth in Singapore, e-shoppers may have to shell out more to pay for taxes on goods ordered from overseas sites. Will online shopping become expensive if Singapore adopts recommendations by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)? Spire Research and Consulting shared its insights, published on Channel News Asia’s news portal. The retail sector continues to contribute a major chunk to Singapore’s economy. However e-commerce – dominated by overseas merchants – is on the rise. This eventually leads to more money outflow along with tax revenue loss and puts local businesses at a competitive disadvantage. Spire highlighted the fact that revenue from e-commerce amounted to SGD4.5 billion in 2013, where 55% consisted of cross-border transactions. This is a tax impact of close to SGD 200 million in a year. Experts agreed that overseas online retailers are not taxed on income generated from Singapore consumers, whereas

With Indonesian consumers increasingly using mobile wallets for payments, E-money transactions have ballooned from 2.6 million in 2008 to a record 203.4 million in 2014. Recognizing the growth potential, the Third Annual Mobile Wallet Conference 2015 gathered industry leaders and government officials to discuss stake-holder responses to key industry trends. Spire’s Deputy CEO Jeffrey Bahar addressed the conference. Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Spire Research and Consulting group, was honored to be invited as a guest speaker at the Third Annual Mobile Wallet Conference held in Jakarta, Indonesia from 18 – 21 August 2015. In his presentation, Bahar spoke about Indonesia’s advancing mobile money industry with focus on four key growth sectors – namely service providers, instruments (mode of service), financial regulatory authorities and services. To describe the growth curve of mobile wallets, Bahar shared a brief overview on how banking institutions and m

The new kid on the block for digital currency – Bitcoin – is being widely used for electronic transactions across emerging markets. The rate of adoption is so fast that the number of merchants accepting bitcoin is growing close to 10% a day worldwide. For emerging markets such as Kenya, Bitcoin comes as a blessing, since PayPal is absent and Bitcoin charges only a nominal fee for money transfers (one per cent or less of the amount being transferred). Industry players from emerging markets also stand to benefit from the Bitcoin ecosystem expansion. For instance, Bitcoin China (BTC) – one of the world’s largest digital exchanges – raised USD5 million through funding from venture capitalists in November 2013. Will Bitcoin become the alternate currency for consumers worldwide? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/bitcoin-builds-momentum-in-emerging-markets/

The future of financial services is all about digitalization. This much is well known. What is less well known is that this is also the reason why banking transactions might be driven by non-bank disruptors in the coming years. How well will future innovations such as e-currencies be integrated into the banking industry? Will cash become obsolete? Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, reflects on the drastic changes happening in financial transactions today. The combination of digital cash and virtual currencies has inevitably curbed the usage of cash in developed markets and across many Asia-Pacific countries. Cash as we know it might lose its status as the dominant form of payment by volume in the coming years – unless banks create innovative new modes of payments to counter the trend. Bahar opined that mobile penetration would continue to rise in the developing Asia-Pacific markets. Unbanked and under-banked market segments would inc