Asia

August 4, 2022 @ 7:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

India-based Fintech firm Tartan has secured funding to scale its business operaitons. The investment round included contributions from 500 Global, InfoEdge Ventures, Naval Ravikant-supported AngelList Quant Fund, among other investors. The company has acquired about $6 million in capital, to date. It intends to double… Read More

August 4, 2022 @ 3:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

Are central bank digital currencies a solution looking for a problem? That seems to be what the Japanese believe, as it has been widely reported that the Bank of Japan has halted its potential pursuit of a digital yen. https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1553899519359737859?s=20&t=sSopC7cJnxHkiSeg_b9oTw Sayuri Shirai, of Keio University… Read More

August 4, 2022 @ 9:53 am By JD Alois  |  

  Robocash Group, an operator of online lending and investment platforms, has announced that Natalya Ischenko is the new Chief Executive Officer and Ivan Adamovich is now Chief Financial Officer. Sergey Sedov, who founded and led the company will remain as Chairman of the Board…. Read More

August 2, 2022 @ 10:57 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Alif, a Central Asian Fintech operating as a “full-fledged” Bank in Tajikistan and as e-commerce and Fintech company in Uzbekistan, has announced “a record 150%+ year-on-year revenue growth in the 12 months leading to June 2022.” During the same period, the total number of Alif… Read More

August 2, 2022 @ 2:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Singapore government has posted a response to questions emanating from Parliament pertaining to the collapse of TerraUSD – LUNA. TerraUSD was an aspiring algorithmic stablecoin that was tied to LUNA. TerraUSD sought to maintain a US dollar peg but failed in its mission, thus… Read More

August 1, 2022 @ 11:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Finance Secretary (in the Philippines) Benjamin Diokno recently noted that the government will be focused on accelerating the rollout of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys ID) in order to further expand public access to financial products/services while achieving “e-governance.” Former President Rodrigo Duterte had reportedly… Read More

August 1, 2022 @ 10:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

TNG Digital, the owner and operator of the Touch ‘n Go eWallet, has secured RM 750 million (appr. $168.5 million) as part of its latest round of equity funding. This investment round has been led by a fresh investment from the Lazada Group and a… Read More

August 1, 2022 @ 7:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Komainu, a regulated digital asset custody provider built by institutions for institutions, today announced provisional regulatory approval from the Government of Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority [VARA] to “commence operational readiness even as the application goes through the warranted due diligence in accordance with VARA… Read More

August 1, 2022 @ 9:44 am By JD Alois  |  

Webull, a trading platform that offers both traditional securities as well as crypto, has launched services in Singapore, according to a corporate statement. Singapore residents have been able to trade using Webull since May accessing US-listed equities, ETFs, options, and fractional shares, as well as… Read More

July 31, 2022 @ 8:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

FTX Exchange FZE announced that it has received approval “to enter Dubai’s ‘Minimum Viable Product’ (MVP) program for Virtual Assets under the world’s only specialist regime for this sector operated by the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA).” As a subsidiary of FTX Europe, FTX Exchange… Read More

July 31, 2022 @ 7:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Razer Merchant Services (RMS), the B2B arm of Razer Fintech, has partnered with Atome, which claims to be Asia’s leading Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) brand, to “enable flexible deferred payment acceptance during checkout at online and offline RMS merchants.” Starbucks is among the first… Read More

July 31, 2022 @ 7:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on supervisory cooperation “in the presence of the Honorable Prime Minister of India Shri. Narendra Modi at GIFT City, Gandhinagar, India.” The MOU provides… Read More

July 31, 2022 @ 2:47 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based equity management company Qapita announced that it has completed the acquisition of India’s ESOP Direct via a full cash transaction. This should see Qapita secure complete ownership of ESOP Direct’s operating entities from its existing shareholders. With this strategic acquisition, Qapita should become one… Read More

July 29, 2022 @ 9:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Dbank, a Pakistan-based Fintech company established by two ex- Google professionals, has acquired $17.6 million via a seed round that has been co-led by Sequoia Southeast Asia and Kleiner Perkins. Brazil’s virtual banking platform Nubank, RTP Global, Rayn and business partner Askari Bank also took… Read More

July 29, 2022 @ 9:36 am By JD Alois  |  

Singapore based Zipmex has filed for insolvency under Singapore law. According to a blog post, Zipmex attorneys have filed five applications under Section 64 of Singapore’s Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 on behalf of several of the firm’s entities, aiming to gain global moratoriums… Read More

July 27, 2022 @ 10:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Financial technology firm FIS (NYSE: FIS) is continuing to broaden its global merchant services footprint, announcing that its Worldpay from FIS merchant solutions are available in the fast0growing South Korean markets. Worldpay from FIS has teamed up with Seoul’s TossPayments, which is a South Korea… Read More

July 27, 2022 @ 10:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

Digital securities marketplace ADDX has listed a private credit fund managed by Helicap Investments. Helicap Fund I is the flagship fund of the company and it is designed to promote financial inclusion in South East Asia, according to a company statement. The Fund aims to… Read More

July 27, 2022 @ 9:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Google Cloud have jointly launched the Point Carbon Zero Program “to drive the innovation, incubation and scaling of climate FinTech solutions in Asia.” The Program is “a collaboration under MAS’ Project Greenprint and seeks to use climate FinTech… Read More

July 26, 2022 @ 11:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tech firm Bloom recently announced that their members may get spending rebates in the form of virtual currency. This move should see the Bloom App become one of Hong Kong’s first-ever spending apps that supports digital currency rebates for Visa card transfers made in Hong… Read More

July 25, 2022 @ 10:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ablr, a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) platform, recently revealed that it has now gone live in Malaysia. At present, the company has a network of more than 30 different brands in Malaysia and Singapore, which span around 250 merchant points. First-time consumers may download… Read More