Insyte Weekly: Apple Intelligence, Retailtech Frustrations, Fintech Innovation and More

This was an interesting week in the business world. Here’s a breakdown of some of the week’s top stories.

Media & Entertainment

During its WWDC showcase Apple introduced Apple Intelligence, a new personal intelligence system integrated into iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Utilizing generative models and personal context, Apple Intelligence delivers relevant and useful capabilities while maintaining high privacy standards. Integrated with iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, it offers features like Writing Tools for rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text, Priority Messages in Mail, and advanced language understanding in notifications and the Notes app. Additionally, the new Image Playground allows users to create fun images, and Genmoji offers personalized emoji creation. Enhanced Photos features include natural language search and the Clean Up tool. Siri, powered by Apple Intelligence, now offers richer language understanding and context-based actions. Moreover, Apple is integrating ChatGPT across its platforms, allowing Siri to utilize ChatGPT's expertise with user consent, and embedding it in Writing Tools for content generation. ChatGPT access will be available for free, with privacy protections in place, and will roll out later this year powered by GPT-4o.

Fintech

As reported by Jiaxing Li, Surfin-Meta, a Singapore-based fintech start-up, is disrupting the financial services market by using AI to provide financial services to the underbanked populations in developing markets. Founded by Yanan Wu, the company offers a range of services including lending, credit cards, payment remittance, and wealth management, targeting young adults aged 23 to 30 who previously lacked financial access. With over 50 million registered users across nine markets, Surfin-Meta utilizes AI to create initial credit scores based on users' internet behaviour and activity. The company has seen rapid growth, boasting a transaction volume of over $2.5 billion in six years and achieving profitability since 2021. Recently, the firm raised $10 million in debt capital from Europe and aims to secure an additional $20 million from Asian investors, alongside a $20 million equity round led by Singaporean venture capital funds. Wu envisions transforming Surfin-Meta into a regional digital banking powerhouse, emphasizing inclusivity, scalability, and sustainability through AI-driven customer interactions.

Technode broke the story that Elevate, a Y Combinator-backed fintech startup based in London and Dubai, has raised $5 million to expand its operations in the Philippines, bringing its total funding to $10 million. Elevate offers FDIC-insured USD accounts to Filipino freelancers, simplifying the process of receiving payments from international employers and providing competitive foreign exchange rates. The platform also includes a Mastercard debit card for online spending. CEO Khalid Keenan highlighted the company's partnership with Bangor Savings Bank, which ensures users' funds are protected up to $250,000. Since its early 2024 launch, Elevate has gained over 150,000 users, with the Philippines emerging as a key market for remote work, having surpassed other countries in 2023 as the leading country for workers on Deel, a remote work platform. The Asia-Pacific region, particularly the Philippines, has been the fastest-growing area for remote work, alongside EMEA.

Startup Daily reported that Sydney-based fintech Bridgit raised $14.2 million in a Series A round led by existing investor OIF. Founded in 2021 as TechLend, Bridgit offers short-term bridging loans for up to 12 months to homeowners looking to buy a new property before selling their current one. The company charges just under 10% interest on loans ranging from $300,000 to $4 million, with a 1% establishment fee. Loans can be approved within a day, often in less than an hour, and the fintech lends up to 80% of the property's value. Bridgit, which previously raised $7.5 million two years ago, is currently writing around $600 million in lending annually, with typical loans of around $1 million repaid within four months. The fintech targets older generations looking to downsize, leveraging recent changes to superannuation rules that allow individuals over 55 to contribute up to $300,000 from property sale proceeds to their superannuation fund.

Tourism

As explained by Mahamadou Simpara, Morocco's tourism industry is experiencing a strong resurgence, with over 5.9 million tourist arrivals by the end of May 2024, a 15% increase from the same period last year. In May alone, 1.3 million visitors entered the country, marking an 18% increase from May 2023. Foreign tourists, who constitute 56% of total arrivals, increased by 17% in the first five months of 2024. Visits from Moroccans abroad also rose by 13%. Minister of Tourism Fatim-Zahra Ammor praised the sector's progress, attributing it to collaborative efforts with industry professionals. The tourism sector's recovery, driven by strategic marketing and infrastructure investments, highlights Morocco's appeal with its diverse landscapes, cultural heritage, vibrant cities, and luxurious resorts.

Retail

Fiona Briggs shared some insights from Scandit’s latest retail technology report. The report surveyed 2,000 global retail store associates, revealing a preference for practical, scanning-related technologies over more hyped technologies like AI. Key findings show that store associates prioritize features like scanning in challenging conditions (50%) and faster scanning capabilities (45%), with a particular focus on inventory management and price checks. Advanced capabilities such as ID scanning (51%) and multi-barcode scanning (48%) are more valued than AI (35%). However, the report also identifies significant technology limitations that hinder customer service, with store associates struggling due to issues like delayed access to information (68%) and ineffective customer interactions (48%). Despite the potential benefits of technology in reducing manual tasks (76%), nearly a quarter of store associates (22%) report that their devices actually hinder their ability to deliver better service.

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