Asia

August 12, 2022 @ 9:19 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) jointly announced the addition of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) track to the Global Fast Track 2022, “giving local and global firms valuable opportunities to partner with the central banking institution to boost… Read More

August 11, 2022 @ 9:53 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), in partnership with Bloomberg, has reportedly established a “Fin Lab” in order to support the next generation of capital markets professionals. Supported with a suite of market data and analytical tools from Bloomberg, the Fin Lab has entered working… Read More

August 10, 2022 @ 9:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nearly 70 female secondary students across 26 schools in Singapore got the opportunity “to develop technology solutions for real world problems” in the country’s second annual edition of GenerationTech – J.P. Morgan’s flagship youth program that “aims to close the gender gap in technology careers.”… Read More

August 9, 2022 @ 10:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Crypto.com, which claims to be the world’s “fastest-growing” cryptocurrency platform, announced that it has secured Electronic Financial Transaction Act and Virtual Asset Service Provider registration by “acquiring payment service provider ‘PnLink Co., Ltd.’ and virtual asset service provider ‘OK-BIT Co., Ltd.’.” Kris Marszalek, Co-Founder and… Read More

August 9, 2022 @ 9:12 am By Omar Faridi  |  

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), which claims to be the global leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software, recently announced an agreement with Japan’s central domestic payment network, Japan Card Network, Inc, CARDNET, in order “to modernize its digital payments infrastructure.” The agreement will “see ACI work… Read More

August 8, 2022 @ 9:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Malaysian card payments market is “set to record a robust growth of 15.2% in 2022, supported by the gradual rise in consumer spending, government’s financial inclusion measures, and increasing preference for contactless payments,” forecasts GlobalData, a data and analytics company. According to GlobalData’s Payment… Read More

August 8, 2022 @ 10:22 am By JD Alois  |  

Hodlnaut, a Singapore-based crypto platform, has halted all withdrawals, token swaps, and deposits – effective immediately. Holdlnaut is a crypto lending and borrowing platform that was founded in 2019 by Bitcoin maximalists Juntao Zhu and Simon Lee. Hodlnaut supported seven different digital assets: BTC, WBTC,… Read More

August 8, 2022 @ 9:34 am By JD Alois  |  

ZA Bank, one of the few approved digital-only banks in Hong Kong, has announced the launch of a new investment fund service. In a company statement, Rockson Hsu, CEO of ZA Bank, stated: “Virtual banks are playing an increasingly important role under the new normal,… Read More

August 7, 2022 @ 10:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

BigPay, a Capital A venture firm, recently revealed that it has added 38 new countries to its global remittance services network. This reportedly includes England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in the UK, and 34 nations across Europe, including France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Spain…. Read More

August 7, 2022 @ 9:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

SC Ventures recently revealed that it has introduced Appro, which is a Fintech that digitizes and enhances the retail banking customer experience. Supported by SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s Fintech investment and ventures unit, the “bank-agnostic” platform intends to signifiantly reduce the time taken to finalize… Read More

August 7, 2022 @ 8:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Consumer Credit Oversight Board Task Force in Malaysia recently shared the Consumer Credit Act consultation document, which is the new act that aims to properly regulate and consolidate all consumer credit activities under its unit, and to also support “fair” lending and “responsible” conduct… Read More

August 7, 2022 @ 7:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS), which is Singapore’s payment services group, and National ITMX, Thailand’s inter-bank payment infrastructure and central data processing system, recently confirmed the expansion of their cross-border QR payment partnership. This collaboration will aim to support inbound and outbound international payments between… Read More

August 7, 2022 @ 5:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

ShopBack, a Temasek-supported shopping and rewards platform, recently revealed that it would be expanding its presence to Hong Kong with a “soft launch” scheduled for August 8, 2022. ShopBack‘s management noted that they’ve onboarded more than 250 merchants in Hong Kong ranging from domestic to… Read More

August 6, 2022 @ 9:54 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

JP Morgan Payments has introduced a cross-border liquidity solution in Saudi Arabia, enabling customers to connect to liquidity pools in London and other cities across the globe. The service will aim to offer clients with a pipeline to link their balances to liquidity structures globally…. Read More

August 6, 2022 @ 8:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Roxe, a blockchain infrastructure company powering the next generation of payments and digital commerce solutions, has announced a partnership with the Philippines’ micro financial services provider, Cebuana Lhuillier. The partnership will “facilitate seamless cross-border remittance payments for clients in the Philippines by utilizing Cebuana Lhuillier’s… Read More

August 6, 2022 @ 3:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Unstoppable Domains is pleased to announce their partnership with GMO Internet Group, which operates Japan’s largest domain registration service, Onamae.com, “with more than 28 million domain registration records.” Via this partnership, GMO Internet has “launched a brand new registration service, ‘CryptoName by GMO,’ offering NFT… Read More

August 6, 2022 @ 11:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

​Ms. Vachira Arromdee, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Thailand (BOT), has noted that central banks around the world “have focused closely on the development of Retail CBDC and see the potential of Retail CBDC as being the foundation of the future financial system.” The… Read More

August 5, 2022 @ 6:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Pakistan-based Fintech firm OneLoad, which aims to serve micro-retailers, has secured $11 million in order to support a growth phase as it focuses on tapping one of the world’s largest unbanked/underbanked nations. The recent investment round has been led by Sarmayacar and Shorooq Partners, along… Read More

August 4, 2022 @ 11:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has granted Digital Treasures Center (DTC) the Major Payment Institution (MPI) license. Securing the full license “means DTC has exited from the exemption status and is now a fully regulated provider (MAS license number: PS20200531) of Digital Payment Token… Read More

August 4, 2022 @ 10:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tabby, which is MENA’s payments and shopping app, has acquired $150 million in debt financing from Atalaya Capital Management and existing investor Partners for Growth (PFG). Based in New York, this facility “marks Atalaya Capital Management’s first deal in the MENA region.” In addition, San… Read More