Aspial Lifestyle 5UF 0.00% says its e-commerce website for jewellery brand Goldheart has been breached. This was due to illegal and suspicious activities from an external party that had targeted the site specifically.

 

The incident, which took place on May 24, saw the personal information of close to 42,000 customers compromised.

 

However, the brand&rsquo s personal information from November 2022 has not been compromised, says the group.

 

&ldquo We took immediate steps to mitigate any further illegal access by suspending our e-commerce website, securing our systems, and working with cyber security experts and relevant authorities. Our top priority is to protect the data of our customers and prevent any further unauthorised access,&rdquo says Goldheart.

 

According to the group, the unauthorised access was limited to customers&rsquo names, addresses, email addresses, dates of birth and phone numbers.

 

The Personal Data Protection Commissioner and the police have been notified, along with all of the customers who were affected.

 

No other data, including financial data such as credit card information or passwords, have been compromised.

 

&ldquo Due to the nature of the compromised data, we believe there is limited risk of fraudulent activity for those affected. That said, we have asked all affected customers to take all necessary precautions, including ensuring that emails received are from legitimate senders and to review email links carefully,&rdquo says Goldheart.

 

Aspial Lifestyle was formerly known as Maxi-Cash Financial Services Corp. In July 2022, Mainboard-listed Aspial Corporation, the controlling shareholder of then-Maxi-Cash, sold a group of businesses into the latter for $87.8 million. The businesses include Aspial Lee Hwa Jewellery Singapore Gold Purple and BU2 Services, which runs the Lee Hwa and Goldheart jewellery brands.

 

SGX-listed pawnbroker Maxi-Cash has announced that it will be powering its neobanking service, MaxiPay, with fintech company MatchMove.

 

MaxiPay is a personal mobile e-wallet that comes with a virtual account. The account also comes with a prepaid MatchMove-enabled Mastercard-branded virtual and physical card.

 

The service is said to improve the end-to-end engagement for consumers to remit their money.

 

With MaxiPay, Maxi-Cash users will now be able to top-up and transfer out money in real time. They will also be able to spend via their prepaid virtual cards and perform domestic FAST transfer. International remittances will also be cheaper with the service.

 

&ldquo As an innovative leader in the pawnbroking industry, Maxi-Cash aspires to provide access to greater demographics by leveraging fintech providers like MatchMove, which enable us to offer neobanking. Providing convenience and meeting short-term financial needs of our customers have been core to the growth of Maxi-Cash,&rdquo says Ng Kean Seen, CEO of Maxi-Cash.

 

&ldquo With the addition of MaxiPay to our business, we are able to offer more convenience to the consumers, by accessing a digital banking-like experience at their fingertips,&rdquo he adds. &ldquo The MatchMove team has shown great support in launching MaxiPay and has also helped educate our customers on how best to leverage the app&rdquo .

 

&ldquo MatchMove is deeply committed to advancing financial inclusion across the region, for individuals and businesses, and we are excited to partner with Maxi-Cash in taking this vision forward,&rdquo says MatchMove&rsquo s chief commercial officer, Amar Abrol.

 

&ldquo With our Lightspeed technology solution, Maxi-Cash has launched MaxiPay, its own branded app to provide best-in-class digital financial services to the underserved segments of society, like migrant workers. We are confident that this solution will solve the challenges faced by these consumers with cheap and convenient money transfers as well as accessing other digital payment services,&rdquo he adds.

CATALIST-LISTED pawnbroker Maxi-Cash Financial Services Corp is launching another S$36.75 million in Series 003 Notes, after " interest from its investors" , the board has said.

 

The new set of 6.05 per cent notes due 2025 will be issued on Jan 24 and, combined with the initial notes announced earlier this month, will take the final aggregate principal amount of the Series 003 Notes to S$60 million, the board said on Monday (Jan 17).

 

Maxi-Cash disclosed that investors - including some directors and controlling shareholders or their associates - had shown interest in launching more notes under the issue, which is part of the group' s S$300 million multi-currency medium-term programme.

 

Such investors have been allocated some 42.9 per cent of the extra notes - which takes their share of subscription to a substantial 40.4 per cent of the entire Series 003 Notes issue.

 

Series 003 Note holders also have the option to require Maxi-Cash to redeem their notes if chairman Koh Wee Seng and his siblings Ko Lee Meng and Koh Lee Hwee no longer have a combined shareholding interest of more than 50 per cent in the company.

 

Net proceeds from the issuance of the latest set of notes will be used for general corporate purposes, such as refinancing or repayment of borrowings, as well as investments, acquisitions, expansions, working capital and/or capital expenditure requirements, the board added. CIMB and DBS have been appointed the joint lead managers and bookrunners.