Singapore Fintech Association president Chia Hock Lai recently named security token offerings as the key fintech trend in the coming three years.

One such unique case was related to a Singapore Fintech Association member who was exploring for ways to securities cows in Myanmar. According to Chia Hock Lai, the member’s company had created secure radio frequency identification (RFID) tags with blockchain-based records of their date of birth, health status and other data. Such information will allow effective tokenization and fundraising from investors. 

«These assets could not be securitized before the emergence of blockchain technology,» Chia said at a recent event organized by the CIMB discussing the future of fintech in the ASEAN region, citing other cases involving the tokenization of agricultural land or loan books.

At the Forefront

On Singapore’s position as a fintech leader, Chia notes the active nature of the city-state including the local exchange’s recent investments in private securities exchange, 1X which recently completed Singapore's first securitized token offering, and iSTOX, a blockchain-enabled capital markets platform developed by ICHX, currently a participant within Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) regulatory sandbox.

«Singapore is expected to be at the forefront of the digital exchange space as it has the advantage of being a global financial center and its regulations are clear,» Chia added.

ASEAN Boost

Outside of Singapore, Chia highlights the potential for the ASEAN region to leverage «APIX» (Application Programming Interface Exchange), the world’s first cross-border open architecture platform created from collaboration between the MAS and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank Group member. 

The platform, which leverages open API, can enable easier access by banks to innovative products and solutions offered by fintech startups such as robe-advisory services or client onboarding solutions. Currently, 38 financial institutions in the region are using APIX to boost innovation supported by 89 fintech startups.

Lack of Spending Power

«It is like a consumer buying Microsoft Windows and installing it on his laptop to use,» Chia said, underlining a fit with smaller banks due to the lack of spending power to develop technology in-house.