AI is shaping financial outcomes for Singaporeans

● Nearly nine in 10 Singaporeans use digital platforms, including AI-powered chat tools, to manage or seek information about their personal finances. 

● Almost one in five Singaporeans who use AI tools for financial purposes have made financial decisions based primarily on AI-generated advice. 

● Despite high digital adoption, trust gaps still exist, and human supervision and expertise remain crucial.

 
Singaporeans are increasingly using digital tools not only to manage their money, but also for AI-generated advice to guide their financial decisions, according to a recent survey by MDRT, an association of financial professionals. 

Nearly nine in 10 (89%) are using at least one platform, such as mobile banking apps, financial websites or AI-powered chat tools, to manage their finances or seek financial information. Among these users, more than a third of Singaporeans (35%) now use AI tools for financial purposes, from information gathering to real-world financial actions, signalling a growing shift towards AI-assisted financial management. 

Source: MDRT infographic. Singaporeans are using AI to build financial literacy and compare different products.

Of those who have acted on AI-generated advice or used it as a starting point, 60% say it has influenced their savings or budgeting habits:

- Almost half (47%) have used it when choosing or switching financial products, such as loans, credit cards or insurance plans

- Four in 10 say it has informed major financial decisions, including large investments or property purchases 

- Nearly one in five AI users (19%) even rely primarily on AI-generated advice when making financial decisions

“Singaporeans are increasingly comfortable using technology in their everyday lives. I’m seeing more people use AI to better understand financial concepts or prepare for financial conversations, which is helpful. 

"However, AI is only as effective as the information it receives. It may not identify gaps in our thinking or ask follow-up questions that uncover important aspects of our financial situation. The risk is that decisions made based on incomplete information or narrowly framed questions may overlook critical considerations,” said Laura Hoi, a 22-year MDRT member with six Court of the Table qualifications. Court of the Table is an accolade given to MDRT members who have achieved specific milestones. 

While AI tools are gaining traction, established digital platforms remain the most commonly-used among Singaporeans, led by banking websites and mobile apps (52%), government financial portals (43%) and financial comparison websites (30%). 

That said, 29% use generative AI chat tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, while 14% turn to AI-powered chatbots offered by banks or financial institutions. They mainly do so to better understand financial concepts such as mortgages, investing and taxes (54%), as well as to compare financial products such as loans, credit cards and insurance (51%). 

The appeal lies largely in convenience (57%) and cost accessibility (52%), alongside the ability to simplify complex information (40%) and the freedom to ask follow-up questions (37%), MDRT said. 

Usage patterns reflected different levels of engagement with emerging digital tools across generations. Millennials and Gen Z are more likely to use AI to actively manage their finances, including budgeting and financial planning, while Gen X and baby boomers tend to use it primarily as a source of information. 

Despite AI's growing role in personal finance, most Singaporeans (81%) remain measured in how they use these tools, turning to them primarily to build knowledge and explore options rather than replace professional advice. Among those who have not acted or would not act on AI-generated advice (36%), the top concerns were the lack of human oversight or reassurance (45%), the fear of bias or errors (36%), and the risk of generic or automated responses (36%). 

Only 37% of Singaporeans who use AI tools are comfortable using them for personalised financial advice, and just 31% would use AI to review long-term financial plans, suggesting a strong preference for human guidance in financial decision-making. Those who currently work with a financial advisor show a similar preference, indicating that AI is seen more as a complement, rather than a replacement, to the client-advisor relationship. 

Face-to-face interaction is still highly valued. While digital communication is now widely accepted, around four in 10 Singaporeans who work with financial advisors still prefer meeting in person, particularly when discussing complex financial topics (42%), making important financial decisions (41%) or reviewing long-term financial plans (38%). 

In-person engagement becomes even more crucial during periods of market volatility or financial uncertainty, with half (50%) favouring face-to-face meetings with their advisors, highlighting the enduring importance of personal guidance and reassurance that direct human interaction provides when navigating critical financial decisions.

“AI can provide answers based on a snapshot of information, but financial planning goes beyond that. It’s about knowing the questions to ask, understanding each individual’s unique circumstances, and helping clients adapt their financial plans as their lives and goals evolve. 

"I believe the future is about combining the speed and accessibility of AI with the empathy, judgment, and long-term perspective that only trusted human relationships can provide to help people make more informed and confident financial decisions,” said Hoi.

*The survey was conducted online by market research and insights agency Opinium between April 6 and April 9, 2026. The Singaporean survey was fielded in English among a sample of 2,000 Singaporean adults, weighted to be nationally representative based on age, race and gender.

Kaspersky uncovers how people use AI during the holidays

Kaspersky has illuminated a shift in AI usage during the holiday season. Besides being a reliable shopping or planning assistant, AI has emerged as capable of delivering emotional support – particularly among the Gen Z and Millennial cohorts. However, Kaspersky experts warn that placing too much trust in AI can threaten data security.

In the run-up to the Christmas holidays, Kaspersky conducted a survey* to find out how people leverage AI-powered tools to make the most of their free time and streamline holiday preparations, and to highlight the potential cyberthreats that result.

It turns out that AI’s popularity in the 2025/2026 holiday is rather high, with 74% of survey participants indicating they plan to incorporate AI into their holiday activities. The younger generation demonstrated the strongest enthusiasm for AI usage, with 86% of respondents aged 18-34 expressing their intention to resort to AI during the holiday period.

According to the survey, more than half of AI users planned to use the tools during the holidays to search for recipes (56%) or restaurants and accommodation (54%), underscoring AI's ongoing significance in simplifying research processes and reducing search-related time commitments. 

However, AI-as-idea generator also received a great response from the audience. The survey found that 50% of users rely on AI assistance for brainstorming gift ideas, ways to celebrate, or tips on Christmas decoration. The same number of respondents plan to ask AI to generate ideas on how to spend their free time.

During the holidays half of respondents regard AI as a shopping assistant, which can help them to create shopping lists, find the best deals or analyse reviews. The younger generation showed high interest in AI as a budget planner (50%), while older people (aged 55+) are less passionate about allowing AI to manage their expenses (31%), preferring to use it to search for recipes (59%) and generate gift ideas (41%).

Modern AI tools enable holiday shoppers to find offers that perfectly match individual preferences and budget constraints with just a few clicks. However, the reliability of chatbot-generated information remains a significant concern. Kaspersky recommended that shoppers check all links provided by AI before clicking on them, as they may contain malicious or phishing content. To mitigate this risk, cybersecurity experts recommend employing a security solution empowered with AI-based phishing detection tools.

Beyond its capacity to tackle diverse challenges and generate new ideas, AI has assumed a new role: serving as a virtual companion capable of offering emotional assistance. Nearly three in 10 (29%) of those who use AI during holidays consider talking to it when they feel unhappy. Zoomers (Gen Zers) and Millennials show the biggest interest in AI-powered support among all ages, with 35% of respondents voting for this option. The older generation demonstrated a more restrained interest – only 19% of respondents aged 55 and older consider talking to AI when they're upset.

Kaspersky highlighted that while communication with AI services may seem personal and private, most chatbots are owned by commercial companies with their own data collection and processing policies. To enhance data privacy the company suggested:

- Before starting any conversation, review the privacy policy of the AI tool you’re using. Some AI providers may use your emotional conversations to infer information about you, which can be used for targeted advertising or even sold to third-party marketing firms. Check whether you can opt out of using your chats for such purposes as model training or marketing to minimise the amount of data collected.

- Try to avoid sharing deeply personal, identifying, or financial information with AI chatbots. Treat your messages as you would a public social post – never assume absolute confidentiality.

- Stick to AI services from reputable companies with strong privacy and security track records. Avoid using anonymous or unknown bots that could be designed to harvest data. Malicious or fake AI bots may attempt to extract personal information to commit fraud, phishing, or blackmail. To protect your data, use a security solution that prevents clicking on unreliable links.

“As LLM models rapidly evolve, their potential for engaging in meaningful dialogue with users grows as well. However, it's important to bear in mind that they learn to answer from data, most of which is sourced from the Internet, meaning they are prone to regurgitate the error and biases from the text used for training. It’s highly recommended to approach AI suggestions with a healthy dose of scepticism and try to avoid oversharing,” commented Vladislav Tushkanov, Group Manager at Kaspersky AI Technology Research Center.

*The study was conducted by Kaspersky’s market research centre in November 2025. Three thousand respondents from 15 countries (Argentina, Chile, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, KSA, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, UK, and the UAE) took part in the survey.

MasterCard Start Path Global wants to accelerate the APAC startup journey

Start Path immersion weeks are held in
different cities around the world.

The MasterCard Start Path Global programme has seen success in the Asia Pacific region and is intensifying its search regionally as a continuing reminder of the innovation potential of the area. The programme began in the US and Europe and is now focused on expanding both in the Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa regions, said Stephane Wyper, global lead of MasterCard Start Path.

Since 2014, Start Path has provided more than 60 startups a variety of operational support, mentorship, and investment to develop the next generation of commerce solutions. In Asia Pacific, the program is currently working closely with startups such as Japan-based Moneytree and ViSenze from Singapore.

Moneytree joined the Start Path programme late last year. The startup’s cloud-based personal finance app and financial data aggregation platform lets users track their financial account balances. Through Start Path, Moneytree is exploring technology integration and new business opportunities with MasterCard partners in other markets. The programme also provides access to customised mentoring from MasterCard experts and connections in geographic locations where Moneytree is looking to expand.

ViSenze, a machine intelligence startup and a spinoff of from the National University of Singapore, makes advanced visual search and image recognition solutions to help businesses in e-commerce, m-commerce and online advertising. Using machine learning and computer vision technology, ViSenze addresses the challenges of keyword searches by recommending visually similar items to an uploaded image, either on e-commerce platforms, or on content publisher platforms like social media and video networks.

Today, ViSenze allows shoppers to use an image of a product to locate similar products on sale at major e-retailers such as Reebonz, Lazada, Zalora, Rakuten, and Flipkart, and is exploring the use of its AI visual search engine outside of the e-commerce space, such as with intellectual property databases. The company is working on a new solution that applies the same AI engine to search videos.

"I'm pretty happy that I participated in this programme. As an artificial intelligence (AI) company in visual search, payment is not our fore. Having them introduce different domain experts on different parts of the customer journey that we are not experts in allowed us to move faster," said ViSenze CEO and Co-founder Oliver Tan.

Tan shared that Start Path brokered introductions to the right people at the major firms that his core solution targets. "These conversations are very useful as I get to learn what problems they have. You can decide very early whether you can solve their problems," he said.

“Startups are actively experimenting with new solutions aimed at transforming the status quo across a wide variety of industries including financial services, retail, and healthcare,” said Wyper. “We can provide critical support through operational expertise and access to a steady pipeline of customers, channels and partners. In just two years, Start Path Global has a strong record of helping startups transform innovations into sustainable business propositions.”

The Start Path journey, Wyper said, includes an initial immersion week that gives access to a breadth of MasterCard's business lines, as well as to customers. "We bring (customers) in and try and create potential opportunities, define specific areas we are going to support," he explained. There is regular engagement thereafter, culminating in a second immersion week after 23 months that focuses more on commercial execution. Wyper noted that startups in the programme receive assistance tailored to their unique challenges and products. "We help with the payment process, conduct pilots with startups, and connect them with our own customers such as banks and telcommunications providers," he elaborated.

Start Path also maintains relationships for the long term with alumni. "A lot have continued to see solid growth," Wyper shared.

Wyper added that up to 15% of Start Path members are working on security and payments, MasterCard's traditional business offerings. Other companies focused on solutions before or after the transaction, he said, listing AI,  financial inclusion, wearables beacons and biometrics as some of the unique selling propositions of member startups. "We're making sure that we aren't just focused the traditional innovation markets," he said.

Tan advises startups aspiring to join the programme to be very clear about what problems their products can solve. "If you communicate that very clearly then MasterCard can put you in touch with the people you need to meet and there's very little time wastage," he said. "Be very clear and keep an open mind. You will be able to discover things you never knew, just by joining a programme like this."

Interested?

Each quarter, MasterCard Start Path recruits a new class of startups to embark on a six-month virtual programme. The programme is currently accepting applications from non-US based startups for its next class up till March 21, 2016. Twenty companies will be shortlisted and invited to a Pitch Day in Toronto, Canada on May 11 and 12, 2016, after which eight companies will be invited to join the programme. Apply

Download the ViSenze app (iOS)

Hashtags: #startups, #StartPathGlobal, #startpath

posted from Bloggeroid

Leaders can easily become laggards in new application economy

Lim May-Ann, MD, TRPC, presents the results of the CA Technologies Asia Pacific & Japan Application Economy Index 2016.

Singapore may be No. 1 in the Asia Pacific and Japan when it comes to the application economy today, but it could well fall to fourth in terms of future potential, according to the inaugural edition of its Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ) Application Economy Index (AEI) 2016, which identifies the readiness of 10 APJ markets to thrive in today's digital world. Singapore led the top half followed by Australia, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong respectively, while Malaysia, mainland China, Thailand, India and Indonesia made up the rest of the ranks.

The results of the study - developed and commissioned by CA Technologies and carried out by research consulting firm TRPC, and unveiled at last month's CA Technologies APJ Media & Analysts Summit 2016 - give a snapshot of where Asia's economies are today in terms of how conducive their market environments are for application development and market entry.

“The Application Economy Index segments markets based on their ability to integrate, develop and benefit from application usage,” explained Lim May-Ann, MD, TRPC. “We found Singapore, Australia, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong most ready to maximise opportunities provided by the application economy, placing them in the 'Disruptors' group. China and Malaysia form the 'Challengers' group in the middle, while Thailand, India and Indonesia make up the 'Mainstream' group that needs to focus on developing conditions for businesses to thrive in the application economy.”

However, a different picture emerges when the study examined future leaders of the application economy through the use of what the survey terms 'market potential accelerators' (MPA), an index that evaluates factors which have the ability to impact and accelerate market potential in the new application economy.

In our increasingly connected world, every business is really in the software business and needs to embrace digital transformation, CA Technologies said. The index evaluates three main pillars that are critical for a vibrant application economy:

Pillar 1, also known as government use and support of technology and innovation: To develop sound technology policies and promote innovation, governments themselves should understand and use software and applications.

Internet and mobile infrastructure, pillar 2: Without the necessary infrastructure and enabled access to technology, an application economy cannot fully develop. Basic connectivity and network backbones must be in place, along with an environment which supports business growth and transformation.

Business agility is the third pillar: The ability to move nimbly and quickly in driving – and capturing – market disruption. For this to be possible, countries need to have an environment conducive for entrepreneurship and new forms of commerce to happen.

Source: CA Technologies infographic. Singapore, Australia and Korea lead rankings, while China, India and Indonesia could well overtake if they capitalise on opportunities.

TRPC studied the number of smartphone users in a market, the number of people who use mobile Internet on a daily basis, the use of virtual social networks, the daily use of mobile applications, and the size of the youth demographic in the market, re-ranking the countries studied accordingly. Lim of TRPC noted that apps are now the window to the Internet for many Asian users, and not the URL, making apps more critical to success in the application economy. She recounted that consumers would tell her they do not use the Internet, but that they are actively using the Facebook app on their phones.

China, India and Indonesia were found to have the potential to leapfrog to the top three places if they capitalise on the opportunities before them. On the other hand, the earlier leaders – Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia and Japan, run the risk of falling behind if they do not act quickly to address the gaps in their markets.

According to CA Technologies Singapore’s drop in rankings in the MPA highlights how the pace of innovation must keep up with the rapid pace of disruption in today’s application economy. Enterprises must act fast to capture market share, and governments need to push ahead with policies to improve infrastructure ahead of demand.

“The arrival of the application economy has challenged the status quo,” said Kenneth Arredondo, President & GM, Asia Pacific & Japan, CA Technologies. “The pace of innovation must match the pace of disruption, and forward-looking, pro-active strategies for managing risks and capitalising on opportunities must be put in place if businesses are to succeed in the application economy.”

“In anticipation of the future marketplace, the best bet is still for enterprises to act fast to capture market share, and governments to improve the enabling infrastructure for businesses to develop and adapt quickly to changing market environments.”

TRPC's Lim agreed. "People are going to need to move very quickly, to capitalise on the opportunities that the application economy brings to them," she said. "The risks are there, the opportunities are there. The early mover advantage is very important. If you can overcome some of these indicators which we and CA Technologies have identified, if you can minimise the risks and capitalise on the opportunities then (the rankings) won't make sense next year."

Singapore’s ranking was boosted with its top placings for government use of technology, strength of intellectual property protection and innovation. The country’s ranking was also lifted by strong numbers for business agility, with lead scores in the time taken to set up a business, debit card penetration and mobile payments readiness. However, Singapore’s cybersecurity strength was an outlier where it ranked 6th, suggesting that this area requires more attention.

“Singapore’s leadership position is unsurprising, given its consistently high scores across all categories, especially in the government use and support of technology is especially strong,” said Nick Lim, VP, Asia South, CA Technologies. “While Singapore is in good stead to thrive in the application economy, dynamic socioeconomic conditions in the region will create unique opportunities in emerging markets, so businesses will find it more critical than ever to harness software to stay competitive and relevant in a fast changing world.”

When MPAs are taken into account, Singapore risks slipping to 4th place if it fails to address gaps in its market. Some of the challenges faced by Singapore include a mature mobile market with limited share for new applications, an ageing population and a small total size of smartphone users. However, opportunities exist for the country in the form of strong daily mobile Internet use, daily use of applications and use of virtual social networks.

Country studies

Singapore

Singapore is consistently strong across all categories, especially in pillar 1, top in IP protection, top in innovation parameters, and top in government use of technology.

Challenges include the mature state of mobile market, and relatively small population of smartphone users (4.8 million), but there are opportunities as reflected by:

• High statistics for daily mobile Internet use, app use, and use of virtual social networks
• Proactive government policies such as the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network
• Personal data privacy protection act 2012, and the Infocomm Media Masterplan 2025

Australia

Australia is consistently strong across all categories, especially in pillar 2. It is second in Internet penetration, third in average mobile connection speeds, and third in smartphone penetration.

Challenges include being 4th in IP protection, 5th in mobile payments readiness, and 8th in the ratio of youth population to overall population. Opportunities include leveraging on virtual social networks as the use of networks like Facebook is wide.

Mainland China

China had mostly mid-level scores for pillar 1: 7th in government use of technology, 5th in IP protection, 6th in innovation

Challenges include pillar 3, where China had the weakest scores. China scored 9th in terms of time taken to set up a business, 9th in strength of cybersecurity, and 4th in mobile payments readiness. Opportunities identified include the government 'Internet plus' strategy to drive economic growth through new technologies and services, and the more than 1 billion smartphone users in China; 93% of them access the mobile Internet daily, Lim of TRPC said.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong's forward-looking government policies drove strong scores. Hong Kong is second for government and the support of technology and innovation, 2nd in innovation and 3rd in IP protection.

The city's challenges include a relatively small population of smartphone users - scoring 9th, as well as a small youth demographic, where Hong Kong is also ranked 9th.

India

India had consistently low scores across all parameters with the exception of cybersecurity, where it scored third.

Its challenges include a unique mobile phone usage pattern due to infrastructural challenges and a complicated mobile tariff regime. For opportunities the country will have an estimated 236 million mobile Internet users by 2016. It will also have 427 million smartphone users in its marketplace. There is a sizeable proportion of youth in its market, as nearly two in 10 (18.1%) of its population is aged between 15 and 24.

Indonesia

Indonesia could leapfrog from No. 10 to No. 3 by leapfrogging straight into the mobile economy. For many Indonesians their first computer is going to be a mobile phone. The country had poor scores in most of the parameters, such as 10th in innovation, 10th in average mobile connection speeds, 10th in time taken to set up a business and 10th for mobile payments.

Challenges include more protection needed for innovation and ideas, higher debit/credit penetration and mobile payments readiness will be needed to encourage e-commerce. For opportunities Indonesia has an above-average score for the number of people who use mobile Internet and apps daily, as well as social network usage.

Japan

Japan enjoys strong IP protection (No. 2), but pillar 1 generally needs improvement. It has high pillar 2 scores, coming in 1st in Internet penetration, and second in average mobile connection speeds.

Challenges include low smartphone penetration at 8th, and not being well-versed in the use of apps (9th) nor social networking (8th). It also has the smallest youth demographic population in the region. Opportunities include excellent Internet connectivity, and the time taken to start a business is shorter than the regional average. Japan also has good business agility scores.

Malaysia

Malaysia scored in the midrange across parameters, but is first in strength of cybersecurity.

Challenges include the relatively small market of smartphone users (21 million) and the lowest number of people who use mobile Internet daily. Opportunities include an above average percentage of youth population between age of 15 and 24, standing it in good stead in the age of digital natives.

South Korea

South Korea had strong scores for pillar 2 - it is first in average mobile connection speed, first smartphone penetration, and third in Internet penetration.

Challenges include a below-average number of people who use mobile Internet on a daily basis (8th) and who use social networks (7th). Opportunities-wise, the government has been proactive in adjusting regulations which improve economic prospects of the application economy with initiatives such as the Cloud Computing Promotion act. It also has a fairly large user base of smartphone users at 42 million.

Thailand

Thailand had low scores for pillar 1, where it is 8th in terms of government use of technology, 8th in innovation, and 10th in IP protection. The country also had low scores for pillar 2, being 8th in Internet penetration, ninth for average mobile connection speeds, and 7th for smartphone penetration.

Challenges include work needed to improve IP protection and strength of cybersecurity. Opportunities, on the other hand, are plentiful. Thailand tabled 10 Digital Economy Bills, TRPC's Lim said, ranging from personal data protection and cybersecurity to electronic transactions and digital development. Thailand is also ranked 4th in daily use of apps and the degree of use of social networks.

"Winners and losers have yet to be determined," said Lim of TRPC. "Those who move quickly into the market, who can capture marketshare (will win). You want to move quickly into the market with the most number of users."

Interested?

Read more about CA’s APJ Application Economy Index 2016 (PDF)
View the infographic

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post about how to win in an application economy

Hashtag: #CAAPJSummit

*Methodology: The 10 parameters of the CA Technologies APJ Application Economy Index (AEI2016) and five MPAs are sourced from publicly-available indices. As indicators used had different units and scales, any indicator that did not use a 10-point scale was normalised to make the indicator values comparable, as well as to construct aggregate scores for each economy.

Riva launches free software for workplace communications

Riva, a startup in the communication space, has launched Flock, a free messaging app to power workplace communications. 

Source: Flock website.

Flock provides a way for teams to connect and communicate with each other across all platforms and operating systems. Flock allows teams to chat one-to-one or in a group setting after signing in using their work email. The app automatically syncs the entire office directory to every employee's device, creating a workplace-only environment and eliminating the need to blend work and personal IDs and messages.

"We are passionate about increasing productivity through efficient workplace communications, and are building a set of tools that enable rapid interaction and decision making," said Bhavin Turakhia, CEO and founder of Riva. "Flock just works - it is easy to use, secure, simple and stays out of the way."

Features include:

• Mobile and desktop support
• File and image sharing within the application
• Group chats
• Encrypted messaging
• Auto-updated company directory
• Synced conversations across multiple devices
• Read and delivery receipts
• Unlimited chat history
• Admin interface to manage employee exits

"Flock gives employees the opportunity to chat in real time in a single place without mixing their personal and work messages," said Ninad Rawal, Product Manager, Riva. "Public instant messengers were never meant for workplace communication. Flock eliminates any chance of accidentally mixing your work or personal messages, or sending your personal ID to clients."

Flock is available on Windows, Mac, Chrome, iOS and Android platforms worldwide. To download it, please visit flock.co or download via the Apple App Store or Google Play. To view the accompanying video, click here.

Aptugo creates the web software you want, no training needed

Aptugo, a software tool which helps people with no programming experience to create their own websites, is now in beta* and will be available from 2015, say its developers, also called Aptugo.

"Aptugo will reduce the gap between large and small companies. It doesn't require knowledge of programming at all," emphasised Gaston Gorosterrazu, Head of Aptugo. "At the same time, having some knowledge allows the user to extend what they can do with Aptugo, as it is designed with the idea to empower the user and take him a few levels beyond." 

The Aptugo software is targeted at small business owners and can help them to tailor-make web software such as an online video library. Traditional software development is expensive, may not deliver exactly as conceptualised, and takes months. In contrast, the Aptugo tool guides users into developing their own software, completing it in minutes, the company said. 

Source: Aptugo. The Aptugo software.

Other advantages include:

• Support for different programming languages 
• Ability to reuse the basic structure in future projects
• Optimised for speed: Websites built by Aptugo respond in 40ms to 150ms without expensive hosting infrastructure. The Aptugo website is built on Aptugo, and a reflection of the response times which are possible.

Gorosterrazu said the software should deliver more value than its cost. "It will be 100% free for non-profit organisations of any size," he said.

View a video of how Aptugo works here. In the beta stage, Aptugo is limited to producing web applications in PHP. The ultimate goal is to support the creation of applications for any platform and operating system, Gorosterrazu said.

Existing registered users from Asia Pacific include those from the Philippines, India, Indonesia, and then Australia, Gorosterrazu added.

*Beta software is not fully final, so some features may not yet work as advertised.