It is all about the business of love today as we speak to a leading provider of digital technologies designed to help people make meaningful connections.

Founded 25 years ago, our guest today is Match group, which pioneered the concept of online dating and continues to foster innovation in the dating industry daily.

The firm boasts a portfolio of brands and is more commonly known as the company behind Tinder, Match and Pairs, providing matching services in over 40 languages to users all over the world.

Today, Match Group has a footprint in 20 offices worldwide, hiring some 2,000 employees. Here in Asia, it is headquartered in Singapore, with its regional team spread across markets including Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Vietnam and Thailand.

The company recently reported its third quarter financial performance, where its operating income stood at US$211 million, down 14 per cent on the year impacted by impairments of tangibles and other charges relating to its exit from Hakuna and other live streaming services. But what were the reasons behind the exit, and how is its Asia business faring on the whole?

Speaking of Match Group’s Asia business, the firm is largely zoomed in on the Japanese market through its dating and marriage app called “Pairs”.

With a total of over 20 million registered users, Pairs is said to have facilitated every one in 10 marriages in Japan. But what are the key learnings from Pair’s operations in Japan, and how far can the operating model in Japan be replicated in other Asian markets with lower marriage rates?

On Under the Radar, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Malgosia Green, CEO of Match Group Asia.

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This year’s Singapore Fintech Festival surrounds six major themes that will frame 2025.

One of the themes among industry leaders, in particular, is the need to bridge the financial gap and ensure equitable access and usage of financial services and products to the underserved.

On this note, did you know that 1.4 billion people globally still lack access to bank accounts? Yes, and that is according to an article published on the World Economic Forum in just September this year.

So what can we then do to level the playing field for the underbanked and underserved – both individuals and budding entrepreneurs who are starting out?

Well, the numbers appear to point to fintech as the answer, given increased internet adoption and digitalisation.

In this panel discussion on "Bridging the Financial Gap", we talked about the challenges individuals as well as Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises faced in accessing traditional financial services and how the use of digital banking and digital tokens can level the playing field for the underserved.

We also looked at the metrics used to determine progress towards equitable financial outcomes and identify areas for further intervention, and the need to ensure that digital technologies continue to narrow and not widen the wealth gap.

As part of MONEY FM’s on the ground coverage of Singapore Fintech Festival 2024, Money Matters’ Finance Presenter Chua Tian Tian spoke with Kai Qiu, Deputy CEO and CTO, ANEXT Bank and Eric Barbier, CEO, Triple-A for more.

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We want to give you a quick wrap of some of the announcements made at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2024, as well as the implications of the developments on the fintech industry.

One of the biggest announcements released ahead of SFF 2024 was how the Monetary Authority of Singapore set up the Global Finance & Technology Network or GFTN to further strengthen Singapore as a global FinTech hub and enhance global connectivity for impactful innovation in financial services.

The GFTN will catalyse the growth of the Singapore FinTech ecosystem and drive greater synergies and networks with the global FinTech community.

In particular, the MAS has said that the GFTN will work with the central bank to advance industry and policy dialogues in payments, asset tokenisation, AI as well as quantum technologies. It will also support the MAS’ efforts to grow a vibrant FinTech ecosystem, and scale SFF as the premier global FinTech event.

But speaking of driving synergies and advancing dialogues in emerging FinTech trends, we’ve also seen a number of private sector announcements by companies within the industry as well.

As part of MONEY FM’s on the ground coverage of Singapore Fintech Festival 2024, Money Matters’ Finance Presenter Chua Tian Tian unpacked the developments with Wong Nai Seng, Financial Services Industry Regulatory Strategy Leader, Deloitte Southeast Asia and Grace Ho, Chief Commercial Officer, GoImpact Capital Partners.

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