Singapore

Standard Chartered reported that its income growth leveled up with cost growth in the first half of this year as its austerity policy helped it evade more than a year of expenses outpacing profit.

The bank expected profit before tax to rise by a double-digit figure in the first half of the year, helped by strong growth in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and Indonesia, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

In a move to cut costs the bank decreased its workforce in the region.
 

A new controversial study supported the idea that video games are harming the kids’ minds. The 2-year research that polled over 3,000 school children in Singapore says that nearly one in ten were video game "addicts," and most were stuck with the problem.

While these kids were more likely to have behavioral problems to begin with, excessive gaming appeared to cause additional mental woes.

On concerns of adverse impact of the US Federal Reserve’s further steps to more ease its monetary policy on the global economy Singapore let its currency rise sending Asian stocks and copper to two-year peaks and gold to a record high. This resulted in a sharp decline of dollar price against a basket of currencies which heated global currency tensions that have sparked a war of words among policymakers. The dollar dropped to a new 15-year low against the yen.

PayPal is partnering with a Singapore government over developing and promoting mobile commerce in the state. PayPal takes part in the ‘digital concierge’ program launched by Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) agency.

The agency launched the program to speed the growth of the "mobile services ecosystem" in a country where eight out of ten handsets bought are smartphones. PayPal will power the infrastructure for the program helping retailers to accelerate the growth of m-commerce by enabling secure transactions via handsets.

eBay have partnered with Young Bae Ku, the founder of Gmarket, Korea’s leading e-commerce company acquired by eBay in 2009, to form a joint venture that will allow Gnarket to expand into existing markets in Japan and Singapore while strengthening eBay’s position in these regions.

Most Southeast Asian stock markets slid today, with Singapore falling from its highest in more than a year and Thailand coming off an eight-week high as investors trimmed positions in risky assets ahead of the year-end book closing.
Singapore’s index shed 0.02 per cent, led by a 3 per cent loss in CapitaMalls Asia, Singapore Telecommunications declining 0.3 per cent and DBS Group, Southeast Asia’s top lender, off 0.1 per cent lower.

The mobile phone is increasingly being used for a wide variety of applications - from games, to Internet browsing, checking email and personal banking. According to some estimates, about 60 per cent of all mobile phone users in Singapore do just that. But some mobile phone users are finding it hard to track their data usage - with many suffering from bill shock when their phone bills are significantly higher than expected.

 Media Development Authority of Singapore plans to consider the adoption of stricter rules for the bloggers to disclose payments and incentives they get from the companies and businesses when reviewing their products.

Earlier the US Federal Communication Commission released a set of rules that regulate how bloggers should disclose payments and gifts when they make paid review of some products. The rules are applied only when a payment is directly tied to a product review, and does not include general advertising.

 According to some sources over ¼ of the personnel at the Singapore office of private bank RBS Coutts have resigned from the company and joined Swiss rival BSI. Meantime, RBS Coutts, part of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, reported on Tuesday that "a little over 70 people" had left the bank.

A few moths earlier Hanspeter Brunner, former co-CEO of RBS Coutts, and Raj Sriram, head of its South Asia unit, decided to resign from the wealth manager. Both are joining BSI and some staff will join them.

 Electronic payment provider NETS has launched a new smartcard called the FlashPay card offering Singaporeans more cashless payment possibilities. 

The new stored-value card promises to bring convenience in a flash. 

The NETS FlashPay card can be used for public transport, ERP gantries and carparks, as well as at over 2,500 retail outlets.