Singapore once again is the venue for a venture in digital and financial technology, or fintech, innovation.

UK-headquartered financial services group HSBC launched a financial technology innovation laboratory in Singapore. Separately, banks such as Citigroup have launched digital innovation initiatives. (To see the Citi story, click here.) Singapore, meanwhile, has achieved quite a reputation around fintech. When Credit Suisse launched its mobile private banking platform, for example, it chose the Asian city-state as the place for its first rollout.

In early November, Accenture, the global professional services firm, predicted that the amount of investment into financial technology is expected to surge by a factor of four this year, with deals reaching $3.46 billion in the first nine months of 2015 already. The nine-month figure compares with $879 million invested in 117 projects for the whole of the previous year, it said.

Aviva in July announced it had signed a statement of intent with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the city-state’s financial regulator, and the UK government, to push the “digital garage” idea.

The digital centre will have a starting team of 30 people, supported by a further 200 technology specialists based in Singapore. The firm intends to build relationships with the Singapore fintech community and start-ups, as well as other partners and research bodies. 

Aviva has also created a similar centre in London.