Latest news with #HenryChan
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SHOPBACK, ASIA-PACIFIC'S LARGEST REWARDS PLATFORM, LAUNCHES IN THE U.S. WITH EXCLUSIVE AMAZON CASHBACK AND GAMIFIED OFFERS FROM OTHER RETAIL TITANS INCLUDING WALMART, EXPEDIA AND EBAY
Rewards Platform Offering Real Cashback on Amazon Purchases; U.S. Shoppers Now Join 50 Million Globally Saving More Through Gamified, Mobile-First CashBack Experience AUSTIN, Texas, May 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ShopBack, Asia-Pacific's dominant shopping and rewards platform with over 50 million users across 13 markets, today announced its official launch in the United States. Known for making everyday purchases more rewarding through its gamified earning model, ShopBack is now available to U.S. shoppers with a slate of features and offers exclusive to the U.S., from over 2,000 merchants including Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Expedia, iHerb, Ulta, Macy's, Kohl's, Uber, CVS, DoorDash and more. Founded in Singapore in 2014 by Henry Chan and Joel Leong, ShopBack has become a household name across Asia-Pacific by offering its 50 million users cashback and personalized deals from over 20,000 merchant partners. With more than US$4 billion in annual sales driven to its brand partners, ShopBack is now setting its sights on becoming a go-to destination for smart shopping in the U.S. "American consumers are more savvy, value-conscious, and increasingly focused on maximizing their savings, especially in today's economy," said Joel Leong, Co-Founder of ShopBack. "We're excited to introduce ShopBack's innovative reward-driven shopping experience to all U.S. shoppers who are looking for an easier and more fun way to save on everyday purchases. From auto-applied coupons and shipping rebates, to earning cashback while playing popular mobile games like Monopoly Go, no one else offers the real cashback incentives like we do." With a U.S. base now operating out of Austin, Texas, ShopBack's American launch introduces several distinctive features tailored for this market: Exclusive Cashback on Amazon — ShopBack is the only cashback platform where users can earn real cashback on Amazon purchases whether on the ShopBack browser extension and/or mobile app. ShopBack Play — ShopBack offers a gamified experience where shoppers can earn cashback by completing milestones and playing games within the app including Monopoly Go!, Township, Block Blast! and more. Shipping rebates on participating stores — In addition to earned cashback, ShopBack enables shoppers to receive money back on shipping fees, an added perk available only to U.S. users. Quests — ShopBack introduces an engaging way for users to earn additional cashback bonuses when they complete shopping quests, whilst allowing brands to connect directly with high-intent shoppers through customized rewards campaigns. Auto-applied coupons — ShopBack's browser extension automatically finds and applies the best available promo codes at checkout — no manual searching required from users. ShopBack is available through its mobile app (iOS and Android), web platform ( and browser extension (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari on mobile), providing users with a seamless way to activate cashback, automatically apply coupon codes, save on shipping fees and maximize savings at checkout. "This is a major moment for our team as we introduce the ShopBack experience to a new generation of U.S. shoppers — from students and young professionals, to busy parents," added Josephine Chow, Head of Expansion at ShopBack. "By combining cashback, deals, and gamified experiences, we've built a platform designed for today's digitally-savvy consumer. In fact, new users who engage with Shopback's 'Quests' globally each month go on to spend 80% more than average users - proof that saving money can be fun and rewarding for both users and partners." ShopBack's U.S. launch follows a $200 million Series F funding round, led by Asia Partners and 65 Equity Partners, with backing from renowned investors including Temasek, Rakuten, and East Ventures. "We're excited to partner with ShopBack as they expand into the U.S. market," said Neil Folgate, SVP Global Marketing at iHerb. "Their ability to drive meaningful engagement through cashback and gamified experiences offers a fresh, effective, and valuable way for U.S. shoppers to connect with brands like iHerb, while saving money along the way." For more information or to start earning cashback today, visit About ShopBackShopBack is a cashback and loyalty platform that helps American shoppers get more out of every purchase. Already trusted by more than 50 million users across 13 markets, ShopBack officially launched in the U.S. in 2025, bringing exclusive cashback, personalized deals, and new ways to save through gamified shopping experiences. With major partners like Amazon, Walmart, Expedia, Ulta, Kohl's, Uber, and DoorDash, ShopBack helps shoppers earn real cashback online through its app, website, and browser extension. U.S. users also get access to features like shipping rebates and ShopBack Play—a new way to earn even more cashback by completing shopping quests and playing games. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Singapore, ShopBack powers over $4 billion in annual sales for more than 20,000 brands and retailers around the world. Its U.S. operations are based in Austin, Texas, as the company builds on its mission to make shopping more rewarding, every day. 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CBS News
10-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
San Francisco's Be Chinatown Night Market named one of nation's best by USA Today readers
SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco night market has been voted one of the best in the country. Readers of USA Today gave the Be Chinatown Night Market rave reviews. Employees were busy getting out all their egg custard tarts and barbecue pork buns for the third annual Be Chinatown Night Market. "Over 40 years, I see Chinatown changing and changing," said Henry Chan, the owner of AA Bakery. Chan has seen positive changes, but he says business has taken a big hit in 2025. "Very tough," he said. "I've never seen it like this year." Small-business owners cite the Trump administration's imposed tariffs and the state of the economy as the biggest factors. "The wholesaler, they increased 20% to 30%," Chan said. "Some increase 50%." Ruby Velasco, the owner of Bay Area Homemade, says she's had to pass on the extra costs to consumers. "You can't sell $5, $10 now," said Velasco. "Everything goes up. And of course, the consumers don't like that and we don't like that too." As a home-based business, Velasco says this night market is badly needed to advertise her catering company. She noticed a good crowd pass through. This event has grown every year. "I started two years ago with two blocks," said event organizer Lily Lo. "Last year was five, and now it's seven." Lo is the president of Be Chinatown. This event takes a lot of hard work to put together, but it's a way to give back to the community. "How much can we help?" Lo said. "We can only do small, so hopefully young people who can spend money don't mind to spend a little bit more." Mayor Daniel Lurie made an appearance as well. He says from First Thursdays to this market, each event is vital to bring dollars into the local economy. "We as a city want to support efforts like this," Mayor Lurie said. "Entertainment zones throughout the city, night markets. They're working and let's keep it going." Businesses can only hope this will translate to more customers visiting their stores throughout the year and the lull in the economy will eventually pass. "We try our best," Chan said. "That's all we can do. Nothing we can do right now, so we have to wait."
CBC
19-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
As foreign actors work to influence Canada's election, how safe is your vote?
Social Sharing When Hong Kong democracy activist Henry Chan decided to run for a Saskatchewan Party nomination in his hometown of Saskatoon, he didn't expect to come out of the experience wondering if he'd been a target of foreign meddling. Chan says he was approached at his meet-and-greet event by someone he later discovered on social media may have ties to the Chinese Communist Party. In a private conversation, the person asked him "what he was prepared to do for the Chinese people," he said. They offered support for his nomination in return. Chan didn't take him up on it. He didn't win the nomination, nor did the Saskatchewan Party even win this seat in the legislature in last year's provincial vote. After watching his campaign struggle to get party officials to crack down on what they felt were voting irregularities at the nomination meeting, Chan was left with lingering questions about the integrity and security of the entire process. "In a lot of these nominations there are no rules at all. It is basically a gong show," Chan told CBC News. Worried that more than just local politics may have been in play, he contacted public safety authorities. Attempts at foreign meddling Once a week during this federal election campaign, reporters in Ottawa are briefed by top security and intelligence officials on an extraordinary topic: Whether the vote they're covering remains safe from foreign meddling. The officials say they're detecting efforts to sway Canadians' political opinions, including an orchestrated push on Chinese-language social media to "pollute" the digital environment with both positive and negative takes on Liberal Leader Mark Carney. The weekly briefings are a first for a federal election campaign. And this race comes just weeks after Justice Marie-Josée Hogue made 51 recommendations to secure Canada's elections from interference. Her investigation into the 2019 and 2021 elections did not conclude foreign interference attempts were enough to sway their outcomes — but she wrote that meddling, misinformation and disinformation would only increase in future contests. All this has Canadians wondering how safe their vote is this election. "Attempts to interfere are just that: attempts," Bridget Walshe from Communications Security Establishment Canada, Canada's information technology security agency, said at a briefing earlier this month. The point of these updates isn't to spark unfounded fears of this vote being manipulated by hostile foreign actors, it's the opposite. If more voters understand the threats, officials hope they'll be savvy enough to spot fake news before it shapes their political views. That awareness may be especially important this election, with Hogue's recommendations largely not yet in place and changes proposed by the chief electoral officer to strengthen the integrity of Canada's democracy yet to pass in Parliament. WATCH | SITE Task Force says WeChat campaign spread messages about Carney: SITE says Beijing-linked account targeting Carney on WeChat 12 days ago Duration 3:36 Canada's Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force says Liberal Leader Mark Carney has been the focus of articles spread by Youli-Youmian, the most popular news account on WeChat that is linked to the Chinese Communist Party's central political and legal affairs commission. Gloria Fung's concerned about the slow pace of these fixes. She's an advocate for democracy in Hong Kong and the convenor of a coalition of human rights groups who've lobbied for years to set up a foreign influence transparency registry in Canada. Fung worries that Canadian political parties remain naive about how easy it is for consular officials and other proxies to set up networks capable of penetrating their campaigns and manipulating opinions. "I have already seen signs of … fake news being spread around in some swing ridings, which are the target ridings of the Chinese Communist Party," she said. "I have warned the Ministry of Public Safety and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about this, but I don't think they have taken it seriously enough." She says her network was the first to spot a co-ordinated disinformation campaign on WeChat during the last election that targeted then MP Kenny Chiu and other Conservative candidates who'd criticized human rights abuses in China. Hogue's inquiry probed this disinformation and agreed it could have influenced some voters — although it's unclear whether that actually cost Conservatives seats in 2021. Lack of transparency fuels suspicions Hogue's inquiry also flagged party leadership races as easier to penetrate than general elections. Intelligence disclosures warned of meddling attempts in the party races that picked both Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in 2022 and Carney earlier this year. Two Indian Canadian candidates were disqualified from the Liberal leadership race for unspecified rule violations: Chandra Arya and Ruby Dhalla. In Dhalla's case, the party alleged her campaign's activities may have amounted to foreign interference had they occurred during a federal campaign. Dhalla denies any wrongdoing. Balpreet Singh, a lawyer who represented the Sikh Coalition at the public inquiry, fears the Liberal Party hasn't learned from the Hogue Commission. He represents Canadians who strongly disagree with these two candidates' views on Indian politics and never supported their candidacies. Still, Singh wishes Liberals were more transparent about why they were disqualified. "What does that say about racialized candidates in general?" he said. The secrecy "plays towards these … racist tropes that we're seeing that these aren't real Canadians." "It really would have been better had the reasons been made clear." Education, not censorship After the U.K.'s Brexit vote and the 2016 U.S. election, Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault said Elections Canada realized it needed to start working with security partners to make sure election integrity isn't jeopardized. Perrault told the inquiry that those events taught him not all Canadians understand concepts like the principle of a secret ballot. As a pilot project, Elections Canada hired Punjabi, Cantonese and Mandarin-speaking educators to run civics education programs, with new materials in more languages to help voters understand the safeguards in place to protect the integrity of the vote. Fighting disinformation, however, is not something Perrault believes is appropriate for his role. Rather than bolstering public confidence in the neutrality of his agency, attempts to regulate political speech could arouse suspicions of bias. "Weighing in on the accuracy of information regarding a candidate, a party or a platform would very, very severely undermine my credibility," he said. "I think it's something that I cannot undertake without putting in peril the legitimacy of my office."
