Ye Ting Song (CTO), Wong Joo Seng (CEO), Jason Wang (COO)
What does Spark Systems’ core product offerings include?
We started off as an aggregator, catering to buyside clients who consume liquidity from Banks and ECNs. As we engage our clients, a handful of bank clients have asked us to solve for some specific use cases, which eventually developed into our Bank Sellside product. This product enables banks to market make and stream FX prices and liquidity to their clients via various channels.
What types of clients are you providing these products and services for?
Most of our clients are large hedge funds and regional banks.
Spark Systems’ unique proprietary technology and robust architecture help to deliver a complete e-FX solution
In what ways are you leveraging proprietary technology to deliver much more complete and powerful e-FX solutions than many of your competitors?
Coupled with our knowledge and experience of FX, our technology team was able to use the latest cutting edge technology to solve the various use-cases that were asked by our clients. Nothing is perfect, but through many iterations of sitting down with our clients and showing prototypes, we were able to deliver to our client’s satisfaction.
Spark’s e-FX platform is built entirely in-house. What are the advantages of that?
We are in absolute control over our timelines and also able to innovate. If we were to outsource the development, it would just be a perfectly tailored solution without some of the extra delightful features and innovations.
The Spark e-FX platform is a cutting edge system
How customisable and flexible are your solutions to meet the unique workflows of clients?
Asia is very diverse and we need to architect our platform to be flexible and customisable, and yet scalable, to be able to cater for their different needs. A client in Singapore would be different from Malaysia, Taiwan or even Korea. And yet, our modular architecture has enabled us to deliver for our clients. We are also able to provide a completely SaaS solution, or a on-premise solution, based on the client’s needs.
Spark Systems was the first FinTech on the ESGpedia registry platform. Why is that important and what benefits does it provide?
While ESG reporting is not currently mandatory for non-listed entities, Spark Systems aims to proactively establish ESG practices in anticipation of future regulatory changes for SMEs and startups. By doing so, we seek to lead by example and set a proactive standard in the industry. As a first step, we have voluntarily started recording our carbon data and sharing it on ESGPedia to drive data driven actionable insights.
Last year Spark Systems was listed as one of Singapore’s fastest growing companies. What makes the City state such a good place to be running a disruptive fintech firm like yours?
Singapore have a very supportive central bank, the MAS, who is able to help build out a bustling ecosystem for Fintechs such as Spark. Annually, the MAS organises the Singapore Fintech Festival, which is now a global flagship event for Fintechs to showcase to the world. The event is the largest of its kind globally and is well recognised by global leaders and players. With a thriving eco-system, we are able to tap on talent and also build up a strong client base.
What plans do you have for expanding your geographical footprint around the world?
We started in Asia, to fill some of the solution gaps for clients in Asia. However, FX is a global product and we do have ambitions to expand to London and New York in the next 12 – 18 months. Watch this space!