Latest news with #KelvinTan
Associated Press
06-08-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Audax CEO Kelvin Tan & Digijanus Founder Laksh Gangwani discuss Playbook for Scaling BaaS & Reinventing Digital Banking in Digijanus' In-The-Grill
Kelvin Tan, CEO of audax, sits down with Laksh Gangwani, Founder of Digjanus, to dissect the evolution of Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS)—from a five-slide pitch inside Standard Chartered to leading a high-growth B2B fintech that's rewriting banking infrastructure across Asia. Singapore, August 6, 2025 -- In an electrifying series of episodes of In-The-Grill, Kelvin Tan, CEO of Audax, sat down with Laksh Gangwani, Founder of Digjanus, to dissect the evolution of Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS)—from a five-slide pitch inside Standard Chartered to leading a high-growth B2B fintech that's rewriting banking infrastructure across Asia. The Birth of BaaS: 5 Slides That Changed Standard Chartered In 2017, before 'BaaS' became a buzzword, Kelvin posed a simple but powerful question to Standard Chartered's CEO, Bill Winters: How can a global bank scale without building 10,000 branches? Armed with just five black-and-white slides, Kelvin laid out the entire vision—scaling ROE without CapEx-heavy models, embedding banking into lifestyle platforms, and turning SC into the world's largest hidden retail bank. That conversation marked the Day 1 of Standard Chartered's BaaS journey, with a six-month sprint of technology reviews, talent acquisition, and early partner conversations. Early Challenges: From SC Nexus to Audax The first challenge? SC's legacy platform wasn't built for elastic, on-demand scaling. Kelvin's early review revealed that to onboard millions via digital platforms, the bank needed to rethink its core infrastructure, scalability, and compliance workflows. Building SC Nexus, Kelvin's team faced hurdles in hiring product & tech leaders, securing partnerships, and overcoming internal inertia. Yet, partnerships with Bukalapak and Ola in Indonesia proved transformative—showing how BaaS can drive financial inclusion by banking rural, unserved populations. Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand became natural launchpads, combining market scale with digital adoption. Audax: The Spin-Off & Reality Check Seeing an opportunity to commercialize Nexus technology beyond Standard Chartered, Kelvin spearheaded Audax's spin-off—a Bank-in-a-Box platform designed for banks across Southeast Asia and the Middle East. But Day 1 of Audax came with a stark reality: the B2B fintech sales cycle is a 600-day marathon. Despite early wins with Tier 1 banks like Maybank Islamic, the slow decision-making pace of banking clients became Audax's 'Batman vs. Bane' challenge—requiring a balance between fintech agility and enterprise-grade trust. What is BaaS (and Why Synapse Failed) Kelvin emphasized that BaaS is the ability for a bank's products and balance sheet to become native to another platform's ecosystem. But not all models are built equal. The intermediary model, popularized in the U.S. by firms like Synapse, collapsed due to lack of direct control, compliance failures, and fractured accountability between banks, intermediaries, and front-end partners. Kelvin's belief: Only banks can run BaaS properly. Direct bank-led BaaS models, as seen in Asia, are more sustainable and less prone to systemic risks. BaaS Beyond 2025: Data Ecosystems & Digital Transformation Looking ahead, Kelvin sees BaaS as the precursor to data ecosystems, where banks not only offer financial services but also monetize insights across e-commerce, ride-hailing, and payment platforms. But talent is key. Building next-gen products requires a 50-50 blend: seasoned banking compliance experts and non-bank technologists who challenge the status quo. Kelvin also called for regulators to enforce stringent standards on security and cloud governance, ensuring BaaS models remain robust while fostering financial inclusion. The Digital Transformation Imperative Laksh and Kelvin explored why legacy digital transformation fails: He also outlined how to improve transformation success rates: Leadership & The Fintech Ecosystem: Kelvin's Playbook On Singapore's fintech leadership, Kelvin shared: His advice for intrapreneurs: 'Focus on solving your own 'exam question' inside your firm before chasing shiny innovation titles.' For entrepreneurs: 'Validate product-market fit before scaling.' To bankers eyeing fintechs: 'Understand that fintech's speed comes with operational trade-offs.' And to VCs: 'Invest in B2B fintechs solving core infra problems—not just front-end UX plays.' Kelvin also discussed funding challenges, emphasizing that capital is drying up for vanity metrics-led fintechs, but will flow to infrastructure players delivering hard ROE impact. From Guinea Pigs to Industry Transformers By 2025, Kelvin believes fintechs are no longer guinea pigs for banks—they are the 'testing grounds that push banks to modernize faster.' However, the AI hype cycle is a distraction unless firms solve their data infrastructure problem first. Leadership & Gen Z: Bridging the Gap Reflecting on his leadership style, Kelvin stressed: About Audax Audax is a digital banking infrastructure provider spun out of Standard Chartered, offering a comprehensive Bank-in-a-Box solution that enables banks to rapidly deploy BaaS, embedded finance, and digital banking models across Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Audax is redefining scalability, reducing total cost of ownership, and enabling banks to rewire their business models for the future. You can watch all 4 Episodes on Digijanus' Youtube channel. About Laksh Gangwani Laksh Gangwani serves as Global Managing Director (Growth, Solutions, and Marketing) for a global financial institution. As the first exec hire in the region, he has played an instrumental role in expanding their footprint to APAC and Middle East, including setting up of offices in Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Dubai, and India (IFSC). Previously, Laksh built and scaled Symphony's award-winning wealth management proposition from scratch helping wealth managers save millions of dollars lost to inefficient processes and communication. In 2021, for his work in the Wealth Management industry, Laksh was recognized as the Leading Individual by WealthBriefing Asia. As a passion project, Laksh also hosts Digijanus (Asia's largest chatshow focussed on Digital transformation), where he invites fellow industry leaders to discuss ways to transform & grow the financial industry. The chat-show is followed by 80,000 people across social media platforms. Prior to this, for over a decade, Laksh has launched and scaled businesses in APAC for firms such as Thomson Reuters, LexisNexis, Threatmetrix, and Symphony. About the company: Digijanus is named after Janus - the Roman god of Transformation. Digijanus was founded in 2020 by Laksh Gangwani with the aim to expedite the transformation of the financial industry. Digjanus with 80,000 followers, across social media platforms, has now become Asia's leading platform for conversations reshaping the financial industry. Contact Info: Name: PR Team Email: Send Email Organization: Digijanus Website: Video URL: Release ID: 89166339 If there are any deficiencies, discrepancies, or concerns regarding the information presented in this press release, we kindly request that you promptly inform us by contacting [email protected] (it is important to note that this email is the authorized channel for such matters, sending multiple emails to multiple addresses does not necessarily help expedite your request). Our dedicated team is committed to addressing any identified issues within 8 hours to guarantee the delivery of accurate and reliable content to our esteemed readers.
Business Wire
02-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
FPT and Standard Chartered-Backed audax Financial Technology Announce Strategic Partnership, Targeting 100M USD Revenue
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global IT services provider FPT has formed a strategic alliance with audax Financial Technology (audax), a comprehensive digital banking technology solutions provider backed by Standard Chartered. This partnership aims to deliver scalable, secure, and innovative digital banking experiences to financial institutions across the fast-growing Asia Pacific and Middle East regions, with a target revenue of USD 100 million over three years. Under this agreement, FPT becomes audax's largest regional partner in Asia Pacific, taking on a key role in development, testing, deployment, and long-term operational support. The partnership combines audax's plug-and-play digital banking platform with FPT's deep capabilities in cloud-native development, microservices architecture, DevSecOps, and agile delivery. With significant portions of the population in Asia Pacific remaining underbanked, this joint offering empowers financial institutions to modernize legacy systems and enhance new ones, while adopting innovative models such as embedded finance and Banking-as-a-Service to drive financial inclusion and meet the growing demand for digital financial services. This strategic partnership positions FPT and audax to strengthen their presence in the digital banking solutions market in Asia Pacific and the Middle East, two of the world's most dynamic fintech regions. The Asia Pacific digital banking market is projected to surge by 110%, reaching USD 360 billion by 2030, while the Middle East digital banking market is expected to grow by 58%, hitting USD 2.6 billion by 2030. These figures underscore the immense potential for innovation and growth. 'Fintech is reshaping the global financial services landscape, and there is a growing demand for trusted partners capable of delivering and scaling innovative, AI-enabled solutions. Building on our nearly three decades of experience in the financial services domain, and a longstanding partnership with Standard Chartered Ventures across multiple strategic projects, we will accelerate digital banking transformation and help our customers expand access to secure, future-ready financial services,' stated Pham Minh Tuan, FPT Software Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President, FPT Corporation. 'We're excited to join forces with FPT to deliver a flexible, cloud-native solution that meets the evolving needs of banks,' said Kelvin Tan, Chief Executive Officer at audax. 'Together, we're setting a new benchmark for agile banking infrastructure, helping institutions modernize quickly and efficiently while driving financial inclusion. This partnership supports our vision to lead the digital transformation of banking, enabling financial institutions to scale, unlock new growth opportunities, and stay ahead of the curve with innovative business models that drive financial inclusion.' 'This strategic alliance marks a defining milestone in our pursuit to accelerate the digital transformation of the financial services industry.' David Nguyen Tran Hung, FPT Software Senior Vice President and FPT Asia Pacific Chief Executive Officer, FPT Corporation, emphasized. 'By integrating our strengths, we are uniquely positioned to help banks future-proof their operations and unlock new revenue opportunities at scale. Fundamentally, this collaboration reflects a shared commitment to empowering financial institutions with the technologies required to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital economy,' he added. FPT and audax began their collaboration in 2023, with FPT supporting product development and market rollouts across Asia Pacific. The partnership has evolved from a product development and program-based engagement into a strategic, long-term alliance, reinforcing FPT's expanding footprint in the fintech sector. In this sector, FPT boasts a workforce of 3,000 engineers, delivering innovative solutions to more than 200 clients worldwide. About FPT Corporation FPT Corporation (FPT) is a globally leading technology and IT services provider headquartered in Vietnam and operates in three core sectors: Technology, Telecommunications, and Education. Over more than three decades, FPT has consistently delivered impactful solutions to millions of individuals and tens of thousands of organizations worldwide. Committed to elevating Vietnam's position on the global tech map and delivering world-class solutions for global enterprises, the Corporation focuses on five strategic areas: Artificial Intelligence, Automotive, Semiconductor, Digital Transformation, and Green Transformation. In 2024, FPT reported a total revenue of USD 2.47 billion and a workforce of over 54,000 employees across its core businesses. For more information about FPT's global IT services, please visit About audax Financial Technology audax Financial Technology is a comprehensive digital banking solutions provider empowering banks and financial institutions to scale and modernise at speed. audax has enabled new business models and revenue streams for Standard Chartered under the SC nexus proposition, becoming the first global bank to provide Banking-as-a-Service in Asia. For more information, please visit and follow audax on LinkedIn.
CNA
03-06-2025
- Health
- CNA
Stroke survivors get new tools to lead more independent lives with help from an innovation lab
SINGAPORE: Stroke survivors in Singapore are co-developing solutions with researchers and designers through an innovation lab, which is aiming to help them lead independent and functional lives again. The lab was launched last month by Stroke Support Station (S3), a community-based charity focusing on stroke rehabilitation and wellness. It is currently trialling projects like a wearable robotic device to help with stroke rehabilitation at home and a gym that will provide special equipment for stroke patients to maintain fitness while reducing the risk of secondary strokes. Stroke is one of the leading causes of adult disability in Singapore. The number of cases has gone up by 58 per cent to nearly 10,000 in 2021, as compared to about 6,000 a decade ago, according to the Ministry of Health. S3's executive director Ng Rei Na told CNA that the organisation was set up to fill the gap left by a lack of exercise and activities that stroke survivors could participate in, once they finished rehabilitation after leaving hospital. GYM WITH ADAPTIVE TOOLS Ms Ng said an adaptive gym at Ang Mo Kio Hub will open by the end of the year, with all stroke patients - regardless of whether they were a part of S3's rehabilitation programmes - welcome to use it. Participants will be assessed physically by the specialists on site, and if cleared, they will be allowed to use any of the equipment, just like in a commercial gym. Stroke survivor Kelvin Tan said he is looking forward to using the gym to aid in his recovery process. "A lot of stroke survivors, they are worried about how other people will look at them … if you're walking, like limping … I believe this will give them confidence that they can actually … be like a normal human being,' said Mr Tan. Ms Ng noted: 'For the adaptive gym, it was really from the voices of some of our members who said that after rehabilitation, they actually do want to continue and to push themselves to a higher level of fitness … in order to prevent a second or even third stroke from happening.' Ms Michelle Neo, a senior physiotherapist at S3, said its clients do not usually know where to go or what they should do after they are discharged from rehab. 'The adaptive gym is designed (for them) to continue their fitness journey,' she added. HELPING SURVIVORS REMAIN INDEPENDENT S3's innovation lab is also looking at how to adapt items such as clothing for people who have mobility challenges or only have one functioning side of the body. Ms Ng said that some members have raised issues with putting on regular clothing or having difficulty with very simple activities, including brushing their teeth, washing the plates or cutting their nails. 'Similarly, for the innovation lab, we realised that beyond just rehabilitation and ensuring that you can move well in our clinical setting, we also want our members to be able to move well in their own homes and in the community,' said Ms Ng. Ms Elisa Lim, founder of Will & Well, a company that makes functional clothing for people with disabilities, said she wanted to help stroke survivors maximise their sense of independence even if they may have adapted their behaviour after suffering from a stroke. She noted that another group of customers are those who have already adapted to a certain way of post-stroke dressing but are still looking for 'something different' to wear. Ms Lim added that her company has also been researching different types of apparel, including functional undergarments, outer wear and inner wear. VR AND ROBOTIC GLOVE Another device that is being tested to help stroke survivors to keep up with their rehabilitation process is Omnihuman, a wearable robotic glove that is combined with a virtual reality (VR) headset to act as a personal physiotherapist at home, according to its creator, Orion Dai. 'The challenge we are tackling right now is that stroke survivors do not have a way to track the rehabilitation process from home. So, we're building this home-based device that allows them to do it via virtual reality as well as assistive robotics,' he said. After talking to physiotherapists and stroke survivors, Mr Dai noted many of them are unable to adhere to exercise plans when they go home, due to various issues like fatigue or family and emotional issues. He added that the wearable robotic glove and VR headset aims to use music-based activities to incentivise limb movement. When users are unable to play the virtual musical instruments, the robotic glove kicks in to help them to complete the playing gestures and build a positive feedback loop. Mr Dai said that about 20 participants, most of them S3 clients, are taking part in his trial to validate the product. He added that he hopes to work with more stroke survivors to understand their needs further. S3's Ms Ng said that looking ahead, the charity intends to build a stroke centre of excellence and ensure the services and programmes offered are accessible to patients in terms of cost and distance. It also plans to do more outreach in the community to highlight the danger of strokes. '80 per cent of strokes can be prevented, so the education and knowledge has to be rolled out. The more people that know about this, the more lives we can save,' she added.
Fashion Value Chain
03-05-2025
- Business
- Fashion Value Chain
Avery Dennison Launches RFID Plant in India with AD Cobra
Avery Dennison Corporation has launched its first RFID inlay and label production facility in Pune, India, marking a major milestone under the 'Make in India' initiative. This move makes Avery Dennison the first ARC-certified manufacturer of RFID inlays in the country, deepening its investment in South Asia's RFID ecosystem. The plant opened officially on 23 April 2025 and introduced the AD Cobra inlay, a solution custom-developed to address India's unique environmental and operational requirements. This innovation aims to accelerate RFID adoption by offering better adaptability and integration for local businesses. Saurabh Agarwal, Vice President and GM, South Asia, highlighted that local production will allow the company to reduce lead times, respond swiftly to market needs, and better serve Indian clients across multiple sectors. Kelvin Tan, Director, APAC Intelligent Labels, emphasised that India's growing RFID market calls for regional innovation and localised solutions. The facility supports Avery Dennison's broad RFID technology portfolio, spanning UHF, HF, and NFC — used in apparel, FMCG, pharmaceuticals, retail, and logistics. RFID enhances inventory accuracy, streamlines supply chains, enables product authentication, and combats counterfeiting, all while improving consumer experiences and boosting brand loyalty.
Bloomberg
12-02-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Singapore Retail Traders Shun Stocks at Home for Buzzy US Market
Kelvin Tan began investing online in 2018, and like many Singaporeans, put all of his money into local stocks. Two years later, he had switched entirely into US equities. 'The US market was going very high — individual stocks were just flying up,' said Tan, a 38-year-old content creator who trades on Interactive Brokers. 'I realized Singapore stocks' returns were not as good.'
