Asia

November 9, 2023 @ 10:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

PhonePe recently announced that it has crossed 500 million lifetime registered users on its platform. With this milestone, 1 in 3 Indians are now on PhonePe, the Fintech firm claims. The company is the first Indian Internet company to “have reached this scale globally.” This… Read More

November 9, 2023 @ 11:18 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Following a “strong” year of growth, global fintech platform Airwallex has recently  announced business highlights in Singapore. In the first half of 2023, Airwallex Singapore “saw 13x growth (1213%) in year-on-year revenue and more than 11x growth (1015%) in total transaction volume as businesses in… Read More

November 7, 2023 @ 9:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Liv, UAE’s digital bank launched by Emirates NBD, a banking group in the MENAT region, has launched a new digital offering. Till the end of 2023, eligible Liv customers can benefit from instant personal loans without any fees via the Liv app. The digital bank… Read More

November 7, 2023 @ 7:25 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Terazo, a private market investment platform in India, has joined forces with Tokeny, the leading tokenization platform, “to spearhead the first regulated tokenized real estate asset in India under the regulatory sandbox framework established by the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).” Tokeny is a… Read More

November 6, 2023 @ 11:53 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore small business owners are dipping into their personal savings, increasing their prices, and not paying themselves to mitigate rising costs and make a profit, according to a new report from global small business platform Xero. The report titled “Money matters: navigating the impact of… Read More

November 5, 2023 @ 11:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

DigiFT, the regulatory-compliant real-world asset (RWA) exchange, and OKLink, a global provider of Web3 on-chain data and compliance solutions, announced strategic partnership to empower the accessibility of regulatory-compliant RWA on-chain. The two-fold partnership will see DigiFT offering OKLink Trust’s clients “the option to subscribe to… Read More

November 5, 2023 @ 10:29 pm By Michael Wong  |  

The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) now allows crowdfunding platforms to register as official gatekeepers of qualified institutional and individual investors, a move that forms part of the government’s efforts to bolster the capital market. This development stems from the SEC’s latest issuance, Memorandum… Read More

November 5, 2023 @ 8:22 pm By Michael Wong  |  

A recent study conducted by the United Overseas Bank (OUB) suggests that Vietnamese consumers are increasingly turning to digital banking and modern payment methods, with convenience and speed as among the major factors cited for the preference. The report, “ASEAN Consumer Sentiment Study”, indicates a significant… Read More

November 5, 2023 @ 5:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tabby, the MENA region’s shopping and financial services app, has raised $200 million in equity financing led by Wellington Management, which claims to be one of the world’s major independent investment management firms. The equity financing drew additional participation “from growth equity investor Bluepool Capital,… Read More

November 5, 2023 @ 7:20 am By Michael Wong  |  

Digital asset XRP has been granted approval by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) for utilization within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), marking a significant endorsement for cryptocurrency usage in financial services in Dubai, according to Ripple. As the first virtual asset sanctioned by… Read More

November 4, 2023 @ 2:46 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Hong Kong and Thailand aims to revolutionize the way travelers handle currency exchange with the launch of interoperable digital payment systems. From December 4, residents from both regions will be able to make transactions using their local digital payment platforms, thanks to a landmark agreement… Read More

November 3, 2023 @ 9:50 pm By Michael Wong  |  

The Dubai Integrated Economic Zone (DIEZ) has announced the official launch of Oraseya Capital, a venture capital fund that will invest in financial technology (fintech) startups in the gulf nation. This strategic initiative, announced during the Dubai Business Forum, aligns with the Dubai Economic Agenda… Read More

November 2, 2023 @ 11:11 pm By Michael Wong  |  

The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) of Hong Kong has announced a set of groundbreaking initiatives during the Hong Kong FinTech Week 2023, aimed at integrating fintech developments with the real economy. The comprehensive plan includes the launch of an Integrated Fund Platform… Read More

November 2, 2023 @ 10:13 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary, Paul Chan Mo-po, has asserted that stringent regulation of virtual assets is crucial for market development, defending the region’s new licensing regime in the wake of JPEX‘s collapse earlier this year. The unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange is currently under investigation, but Chan… Read More

November 2, 2023 @ 9:56 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Funding Societies (Modalku), a unified small and medium enterprises (SME) digital finance platform in Southeast Asia, has announced raising $7.5 million in debt from Norfund, Development Financial Institution (DFI) operated by the Norwegian government. DFIs have played a significant role in impact investments in Southeast… Read More

November 2, 2023 @ 4:21 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, today announced expanded support for JCB, a card network in Japan and one of the top payment networks in the world. JCB is now available on Stripe “in 39 countries and territories, making it easy for businesses in… Read More

November 1, 2023 @ 7:31 pm By JD Alois  |  

Hong Kong is showing its support for digital assets today as ZA Bank, one of a handful of regulated digital banks in the jurisdiction, has announced support for crypto exchange OKX Hong Kong. ZA Bank has issued a statement indicating they will provide an operating… Read More

October 31, 2023 @ 11:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fave, a consumer fintech platform in Southeast Asia and India, has announced its participation in the SGQR+ POC led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The SGQR+ POC will be limited “to Districts 16 and 17 of Singapore and showcased during the Singapore FinTech… Read More

October 30, 2023 @ 9:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

One more business partner, LoanPlus from Sri Lanka, joins the PeerBerry platform. LoanPlus will reportedly offer PeerBerry investors investments “in short-term loans with an 11.5% annual return.” Loans provided by LoanPlus to PeerBerry investors “include a buyback and a group guarantee.” LoanPlus (legal name AISIT… Read More

October 30, 2023 @ 11:15 am By JD Alois  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA), the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), and the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will partner on digital asset innovation, including pilots in fixed income, foreign exchange and asset management products…. Read More