Asia

December 1, 2022 @ 11:23 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Binance, which claims to be the world’s “leading” blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, announced it has “acquired 100% of Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC), the Japanese-registered crypto exchange service provider.” Through this acquisition, Binance enters “the Japanese market, as a Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA)… Read More

December 1, 2022 @ 9:15 am By JD Alois  |  

Singapore-based Funding Societies has surpassed THB 1 Billion (USD $27.8 million) in online lending in Thailand, according to a note from the company. Funding Societies secured a license in Thailand in 2021. Funding Societies is a platform providing access to capital for SMEs in multiple… Read More

December 1, 2022 @ 7:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

SEBA Bank AG, which claims to be a leading crypto bank in Switzerland having a suite of fully regulated banking services, officially opened its Hong Kong office for its subsidiary, SEBA (Hong Kong) Limited (SEBA Hong Kong). SEBA Bank says that it has “a strong… Read More

November 30, 2022 @ 10:16 pm By JD Alois  |  

Insurtech bolttech has partnered with Max Solution Service Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of PTG and the company behind Max Card, to offer insurance on the card’s Max Me application. The Max Me app will provide Max Card customers with a simple way to purchase insurance… Read More

November 29, 2022 @ 10:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

ChainUp Group, a global blockchain technology solutions provider, announced the launch of the IPFS Infrastructure Flagship Fund I (the Fund) by its subsidiary Bedrock Trust Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based and licensed asset and wealth management firm. Bedrock Trust will “be the manager of the Fund,… Read More

November 29, 2022 @ 9:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

Singapore-based finbots.ai has signed its first customer in Mongolia, a neobank called M-Bank. finbots.ai is an Accel-funded Fintech that provides B2B software as a service (SaaS). finbots.ai’s  utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to provide a credit modelling solution that aims to enable M bank to rapidly… Read More

November 29, 2022 @ 10:17 am By JD Alois  |  

Bitfront, a US-based crypto exchange and yield provider, has decided to shut down. Bitfront is just the latest casualty during a time of crypto contagion following the collapse of multiple large digital asset platforms. Bitfront, previously known as BITBOX – located in Singapore, is a subsidiary… Read More

November 29, 2022 @ 8:15 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Regional Insurtech Igloo announced that it has successfully “raised an additional $27 million in its Series B extension, bringing a close to its Series B funding round at $46 million.” The initial Series B capital raise of $19M in March this year was “led by… Read More

November 28, 2022 @ 11:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Checkout.com releases the second phase of its Digital Transformation in MENA 2022 report. Following the launch of part one last month – which included insights from 15,000 consumers in the region – the next chapter “interviews businesses and their leaders at the forefront of the… Read More

November 28, 2022 @ 10:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

ABA Bank, which claims to be Cambodia’s leading financial institution, has become the first bank in the country “to launch instant card issuance kiosks using Compass Plus Technologies solutions.” This new service “enables the issuance of international debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, and UnionPay) and local… Read More

November 28, 2022 @ 9:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A total of 1,456 venture capital (VC) funding deals worth $19.3 billion were announced in India during January to October 2022, which is a 7.5% growth in deal volume but 29.8% decline in deal value compared to the same period last year,” finds GlobalData, a… Read More

November 27, 2022 @ 10:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has “highlighted the risk of crypto investment with a number of investors having to write off their losses” including Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd. The company recently announced that “it would write off $275 million invested… Read More

November 27, 2022 @ 9:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Checkout.com, the cloud-based payments service provider, announced a partnership with Xiaomi in order “to provide an end-to-end payment solution for its Hong Kong and Macau payments.” The partnership will “enable Xiaomi to greatly simplify the payment process to support its global payment strategy and development… Read More

November 27, 2022 @ 3:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Thunes, a global cross-border payments network, announced that it has partnered with Tencent Financial Technology, Tencent’s fintech arm, “becoming the first payment infrastructure partner connecting with it.” This collaboration will “allow members of Thunes‘ global network to send international payments to Weixin users, giving them… Read More

November 26, 2022 @ 7:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

UAE-headquartered fintech Qashio has raised $10 million in a seed round, “with participation from strategic international and regional investors to accelerate expansion into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” The investment round is “supported by global investors such as One Way Ventures (early investors in Brex),… Read More

November 26, 2022 @ 6:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

QUANTIFEED, the provider of digital wealth management solutions, announces that it has acquired ALPIMA, a London-based portfolio construction, visualisation, and analytics fintech company. Alex Ypsilanti, Co-Founder and CEO of Quantifeed, said: “We are very excited about bringing together two hugely talented teams of financial engineers… Read More

November 26, 2022 @ 9:01 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The UK and Singapore have agreed a new MoU “boosting fintech trade and cooperation at their 7th Financial Dialogue in Singapore.” The UK and Singapore agree a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) “on the UK–Singapore FinTech Bridge to remove barriers to fintech trade and boost cooperation.”… Read More

November 25, 2022 @ 4:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Sygnum, which claims to be the world’s first digital asset bank and first Swiss bank to open a hub in the metaverse, leverages its oversubscribed USD 90m Series B “to expand internationally into Abu Dhabi’s high-growth crypto-hub.” In addition to this, Sygnum is further strengthening… Read More

November 25, 2022 @ 12:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Experian – which claims to be a leading global information services company – has announced its official appointment by the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) and the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Working Group “as the bureau operator for Singapore’s BNPL Working Group.” The appointment “involves… Read More

November 24, 2022 @ 8:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CoverGo, the global no-code insurance SaaS platform for P&C, health, and life, is expanding to the Middle East “after a US$15 million Series A funding, with a Middle East insurance fund Noria Capital joining as one of the strategic investors.” CoverGo has been “adopted by… Read More