The world’s biggest Fintech event will kick off in Singapore from November 12 to 16. Christened Singapore FinTech Festival, it is going to attract 40,000 participants from different countries of the world and will have over 250 speakers, 450 exhibitors, 16 international pavilions.
The major attraction of the event will be the address of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde. They will address the audience on the third day of the FinTech Conference.
This year, the third edition of Singapore FinTech Festival will include two new elements.
ASEAN FinTech Showcase – With Singapore’s Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2018, the Festival will highlight FinTech developments and opportunities in ASEAN and a showcase of innovative solutions from ASEAN countries.
Artificial Intelligence in Finance Summit – The Summit will explore emerging AI solutions in trading, investment management, customer service, and risk management. It will also include discussions on quantum computing as well as governance and ethics in the application of AI.
Organised at the Singapore Expo, the Festival will kick off with the three-day FinTech Conference (12-14 November). The conference brings together more than 250 speakers, including entrepreneurs, investors, regulators, technology leaders and experts, academics and other stakeholders to discuss the latest developments and opportunities.
The conference will focus on nine key themes across 70 sessions, including AI in Finance; ASEAN FinTech Opportunities; Cyber-Security, TechRisk and RegTech; Financial Inclusion; Future of Banking; Future of Money; Global Investor Summit; InsurTech and Market Infrastructure.
The FinTech exhibition alongside the conference will showcase 450 exhibitors with their innovative solutions. Trade visitors and delegates can also learn more about FinTech in ASEAN, at the new zone specially dedicated to ASEAN start-ups. There will also be free guided tours of the area daily.
The expanded Global Investor Summit (November 13-14) is specially curated for the investment and enterprise communities. It will showcase the best of next-generation ASEAN start-ups and growth enterprises across all sectors, both FinTech and Beyond FinTech. Attendees can look forward to deep dive sessions on India, China and ASEAN covering key themes such as investment capital-raising strategies, and investing for impact.
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Finance Summit (November 13-14) will debut at the FinTech Conference this year with the theme of “AI in Finance Driving Global Progress”. The summit will highlight AI and data themes that power the future of financial services and the digital economy. Topics to be discussed include cloud and quantum computing, AI investment, ethical and responsible AI, and predictions for an AI-driven future.
The Global FinTech Hackcelerator Demo Day (November 12) will showcase 20 market-ready FinTech solutions shortlisted from 304 submissions intended to solve real-life industry problems in four categories, including Financial Inclusion, Insurtech, RegTech and SupTech and General.
The FinTech Awards (November 12-14) will recognise innovative FinTech solutions that have been implemented by FinTech companies, financial institutions and technology companies. With a greater emphasis on ASEAN this year, the Awards nominees include winners of the ASEAN PitchFest2 as well as ASEAN companies in the SME and Open categories.
The Innovation Lab Crawl (November 15-16) features 30 innovation labs across Singapore which will be open for visits. The Lab Crawl offers a good opportunity for participants to see where new products and solutions are tested, learn about how these labs leverage the latest technologies and network with start-ups and key innovation executives.
Alongside Singapore’s chairmanship of ASEAN, this year’s Festival features a strong ASEAN theme. The visual elements of the Festival are inspired by the unique cultures and designs of ASEAN. The specially commissioned ASEAN-themed Batik Motif stitches together national flowers of all 10 ASEAN countries. This design is featured across the Festival such as the logo, backdrops, collaterals and conference lounge designs. Please refer to Annex A for details of the ASEAN-themed design.
Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, said, “The Singapore FinTech Festival is now a global knowledge platform extending beyond FinTech to include topics such as LP investing, venture capital and capital raising strategies. This year, it has expanded to attract a more diverse crowd of international regulators, policy makers, industry leaders and academics from FinTech and beyond.”
“Going forward, the Festival will continue to champion financial inclusion through innovation and digital transformation to achieve a more global and all-embracing FinTech ecosystem,” he added.
Mrs Ong-Ang Ai Boon, ABS Director, said, “ABS is delighted to once again partner MAS in the third edition of the Singapore FinTech Festival. Last year, we made history as the largest FinTech Festival in the world with more than 30,000 participants from over 100 countries.”
“This year, participants can look forward to an exciting Festival featuring world class speakers and specially curated programmes to suit their interest. ABS is encouraged by the steadfast support from both local and overseas communities in the FinTech Ecosystem, and look forward to yet another milestone in Singapore’s journey to grow the FinTech industry,” she added.
Singapore FinTech Festival is organised by MAS in partnership with The Association of Banks in Singapore and in collaboration with SingEx Holdings. The Singapore FinTech Festival is strongly supported by the industry and the Festival grand sponsors are AMTD, Deloitte and Prudential. Last year, the Festival drew more than 30,000 participants from over 100 countries, comprising FinTech players, technopreneurs, policy makers, financial industry leaders, investors including private equity players and venture capitalists, and academics. More than 5,000 companies were represented at the Festival last year.