SINGAPORE (Aug 15): The latest wave of fintech innovation is beginning to change the way we transact. More banking services are now accessible from our mobile phones and making payments from e-wallets is no longer a foreign concept. These highly visible fintech services are bringing innovation closer to home and are seeing ever increasing adoption, usage and availability.
Globally, fintech investment amounted to US$55.3 billion in 2018, with Singapore receiving US$365 million ($492.4 million), up from US$180 million in 2017 [1].
Beyond convenience however, one might be found asking: “Have any of these fintech innovations and innovators actually brought direct value to us, the man on the street?”
iFAST Financial and FSMOne.com
iFAST Financial, a Singapore fintech wealth management platform aims to do just that, through its Business-to-Consumer arm, FSMOne.com (formerly known as Fundsupermart). Founded in the year 2000, it allowed investors to transact and manage their own investments in Unit Trusts at half the sales charge.
This was cutting edge at the time, as most retail investors then had to go through a relationship manager or be physically present at a branch, in order to place such transactions. With FSMOne.com, they however could have 24/7 access to their portfolios.
Research Emphasis
FSMOne.com also strongly emphasised its commitment to providing free access to its research into markets and portfolio construction. Today, their research capabilities have expanded beyond unit trusts to covering Stocks, ETFs, Bonds, Insurance as well as macro views of markets around the world.
One expression of this commitment can be seen in its newly revamped ETF Focus List which has 40 ETFs that were stringently analysed and selected through a rigorous set of measures that include liquidity as well as the potential investment outlook in their respective sectors. This is on top of the articles that get regularly published on their website.
New Features for a New Era
The innovation has not stopped there. In recent times, they have taken further steps to help investors invest profitably by offering a ground-breaking low commission rate of just 0.08% processing fees for its stock trading services, allowing anyone to affordably begin investing in stocks and ETFs on the Singapore, Hong Kong and US Exchanges.
This is further facilitated by its offering of a flat $10 fee for trades occurring on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). Regardless of the contract size, investors who have at least $200k in holdings with FSMOne.com get to enjoy this flat rate when trading securities on the SGX.
Its latest feature is a cash management solution, the “FSM Auto-Sweep Account”. Possible because of their in-house technological capabilities, the FSM Auto-Sweep Account allows clients to enjoy a yield in the 1.3% p.a region as well as the ability to move these monies into other investments with no delay. Such a cash management solution would do well to help mitigate against the effects of inflation.
In Conclusion
While most applications of fintech concentrate their efforts on convenience, iFAST and FSMOne.com stand out in their approach of bringing cost savings directly to investors. Whether this strategy nets them the success they deserve remains to be seen, but anyone who invests should certainly be aware of the benefits that are on offer.
To learn more, head over to the website: FSMOne.com
[1] https://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/singapore-fintech-investments-more-than-double-to-us365m-in-2018-amid-global-surge
