Five fintech start-ups have raised more than US$1 million each and set up partnerships with traditional financial companies, the Taiwan Financial Services Roundtable (TFSR) said yesterday.
They are artificial intelligence service provider Eyes Media Co Ltd (艾斯移動), payment platform company Installments Inc (Insto, 台灣盈士多), fund trader How-Investech Inc (好好投資科技), investment consultants Fortuna Intelligence Co Ltd (群馥科技) and Japan-based cybersecurity solution provider Caulis Inc, it said.
Gaining financial support from venture capitalists and other investors affirmed the business potential of the five, which emerged from the incubator at the nation’s first fintech coworking space, FinTechSpace (金融科技創新園區), TFSR said.
The incubator has been open for one year and accepted about 40 start-ups, said TFSR, which helps operate the space.
Six-year-old Insto has raised about US$1.9 million in its seed round and also gained support from the National Development Fund and other angel investors, chief executive Bruce Chen (陳仁彬) told the Taipei Times.
Insto provides a payment service that does not need a device.
Many retailers in Taiwan still use point-of-sale (POS) terminals to process credit card payments, so the company has created a mobile app that enables retailers to create a QR code or a link to consumers, who could pay by scanning the code or providing their credit card information online after clicking the link, Chen said.
The app also enables installment payments, which are popular for consumers who want to pay tuition fees or their rent, Chen said, adding that some publishing houses have used the app to pay royalties to writers.
“We do not compete with credit card issuers or banks, but we provide a service that benefits all, as we make credit card transactions more convenient for consumers and retailers,” Chen said.
A total of 30,000 users have registered for the company’s service, with accumulated transactions surpassing NT$10 million (US$322,560) after the app was launched in September 2017, he said.
How-Investech has raised more than NT$50 million and plans to gain more support from local venture capitalists by the end of this year, general manager Fionn Yang (楊少銘) said.
In cooperation with Far Eastern International Bank (遠東商銀), the company is to provide new fund management services on blockchain technology, enabling customers who have purchased fund products offered by the bank to exchange their products with other customers, without paying redemption fees, Yang said.
“It currently takes at least five days to conduct a fund trade, and during this period, customers cannot make any investment, just wait. We can shorten the time to less than one day with the use of blockchain technology,” he said.
The company plans to launch its service in November, once it gets approval from the Financial Supervisory Commission, he said.
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