The 2014 FinTech Innovation Lab Asia Pacific has announced the latest set of fintech startups to participate in its accelerator program. And FinovateAsia 2013 alum Advanced Merchant Payments is among them.
Advanced Merchant Payments specializes in providing short-term, unsecured financing for small and medium-sized businesses. AMP also provides SMEs with accounts receivable financing and cash-flow management services. Loans can be approved as quickly as five days, and terms typically range from 90, 180, 270, or 360 days. The company lends to a variety of businesses in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, from retailers and wholesalers to contractors and equipment providers.
The Innovation Lab was developed by Accenture and launched in June of this year. The program is geared toward “early-state” companies with technologies designed for the Asia Pacific market. The program lasts for 12 weeks and includes mentoring, panel discussions, and workshops led by industry veterans and fintech professionals – as well as networking opportunities for incubator participants.
Sushil Saluja, senior managing director for Financial Services at Accenture suggested that the kind of technologies chosen by the lab selection committee are indicative of the kind of solutions FIs and customers alike are looking for. Saluja pointed specifically to “data security, analysis, and risk assessment” as areas where innovation could “make a real difference in the everyday lives of people” in the region.
Joining Advanced Merchant Payments will be:
- AtCipher.com
- Beijing Wecash Wonder Technology
- FinSuite
- I Think Security
- iDGate
- Jocata Financial Advisory & Technology Services
- OxBranch.
Among the FIs supporting the FinTech Innovation Lab are Bank of America, Bank of China (Hong Kong), Barclays, China Construction Bank (Asia), Credit Suisse, DBS, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Ping An, and UBS.
Based in Hong Kong and founded in 2009, Advanced Merchant Payments has provided more than $25 million USD in loans to small businesses. The company demoed its technology at FinovateAsia 2013. See a demo of Advanced Merchant Payments at work here.