Asia Blockchain Review recently spoke to Qiuyan Tian, Founder of WealthUp, a one-stop financial literacy platform that provides much-needed resources and support for individuals and enterprises in Asia. Tian talked about the fintech industry in the region, her experiences running startups, the importance of financial management, and the company’s mission to educate consumers about investment options.  

Asia Blockchain Review: Can you tell us about your experiences founding startups? What has been your key to success?

Qiuyan Tian: During my years at the University of Toronto, I studied Actuarial Science and Economics, after which I then headed back to Singapore as a fresh graduate.  I took a position at Goldman Sachs and, after almost four years, gave in to my entrepreneurial tendencies.

I learned a lot from my first venture, including almost an entire lifecycle of a business in a relatively short period of time. I also learned the value of having a “fresh pair of eyes” around, and I filled that need (among others) with other interns/colleagues.

ABR: Why did you decide to combine the two brands, Wealth In Asia and Hive Up, into WealthUp? What are the areas of expertise offered by these two brands?

QT: The WealthUp team shares a vision of making wealth management and financial literacy accessible to everyone — regardless of where they come from or where they’re going. 

With that in mind, Wealth In Asia and Hive Up joined forces to better educate every consumer about their investment options and to ensure every person can be connected with a broker. Through the use of our tight-knit financial community, our customers will be empowered to take control of their financial health through our regular and relevant content, informative events, engaging webinars, interactive workshops, and attentive service to connect consumers to the right financial advisors. 

ABR: How will Prive Technologies, which had just acquired WealthUp, help you accelerate the firm’s mission of bringing wealth management to the masses?

QT: As a leading financial solutions software provider, Prive Technologies would support the technology initiatives of WealthUp, including the website and mobile application development.

Additionally, WealthUp would collaborate with Prive Technologies to open up WealthUp initiatives to Prive Technology clients, across financial literacy, lead management, and content engagement.

ABR: What are some of the biggest issues in financial management that WealthUp aims to tackle?

QT: We want to remove the notion that investing is scary and empower consumers to better their financial wellbeing by first educating and improving their financial literacy. Other than filling that gap in education, we saw an opportunity to revolutionize the technology used by financial institutions.

With the era of digital transformation now upon us, businesses have the opportunity to embrace that change and all the benefits that it can bring. Our commitment is to provide innovative digital tools and attentive service, bringing both businesses and their clients into the digital era with reliability, efficiency, and profitability.

ABR: What are the keys to a successful financial journey for ordinary people with ordinary income?

QT: Manage your time as you would your money. Good time management is more than just meeting deadlines; it’s beating them with time to spare for other tasks. Similarly, with money, manage your income to “have a little extra” in mind. 

On that note, recognize that financial security for most people is the result of a lifetime of accumulation — not a lucky draw nor a sudden miracle. It takes time to plan for success. And, of course, subscribing to our weekly newsletter at WealthUp.co (haha!).

ABR: In your opinion, how do millennials approach financial management? How is this different from the generations before?

QT: Millennials today tend to lead very different lifestyles as compared to generations before. They have different priorities, goals, or milestones they want to achieve, and demands that are tied to them. They might define “financial success” differently. While older generation(s) might count financial freedom as being able to live debt-free, millennials today enter the workforce already burdened with student debt. 

Despite that, millennials may seem to be better with money than their reputation might lead you to believe. They’re more financially literate, have bigger (financial) aspirations, and plan to achieve these aspirations at a much younger age compared to their baby boomer counterparts.

ABR: How should the banking and financial sector adapt to better service the new generation of users and address the emergence of digital assets and cryptocurrency?

QT: As a cashless society, millennials expect service to be convenient, speedy, and efficient and possess more than one electronic device. They have their smartphones, laptops, and tablets, and it is important for banks to have a strong portfolio of seamless digital offerings to appeal to this demographic. To be a one-stop financial resource for millennials, it is critical for banks to understand the banking habits of millennial customers and strive to implement user-friendly and low-friction services.

Millennials also have a shorter attention span. It is important that banks keep engagement levels high with their customers and understand that not everything is about selling a product or making money from the customer. 

ABR: Do you have any suggestions for those looking to invest in cryptocurrency?

QT: This is easier said than done, but expect the unexpected. Experienced cryptocurrency investors are accustomed to huge price swings that you often don’t find in traditional markets. Mentally prepare for these unfavorable investment performances, so that you will be able to act rationally instead of emotionally in times of unexpected price drops.  

And with almost every single coin having easily accessible whitepapers online, take ownership of brushing up your knowledge on potential future investments. One other tip is to start small and go through a cycle of ups and downs before putting your eggs in the basket.

ABR: What are some of the new projects or features that we will see from WealthUp this year? What are the next big things to look out for with WealthUp?

QT: WealthUp is looking to increase its offerings on the financial literacy front, expanding the breadth of financial literacy to cover key financial topics such as insurance, investments, savings, lifestyle, as well as topics centered around awareness of financial industry trends.

On the technology side, the focus of WealthUp would be to increase the quality of its customer engagement. The biggest development here is that customers can expect a new and improved mobile application sometime in the last quarter of the year, with innovative tools to help an individual understand finance in a simple and intuitive manner.

Follow Asia Blockchain Review on:

• Telegram: https://t.me/asiablockchainreview
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/asiablockchainreview
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/abr_blockchain
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asia-blockchain-review/
• Website: https://www.asiablockchainreview.com/
• Email: [email protected]
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMQ5CVu0c9-pMlwB8LUvkiA