Asia

June 17, 2021 @ 8:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Visa (NYSE: V) has confirmed the appointment of Dr. Saeeda Jaffar as Group Country Manager, and SVP for its operations across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Dr. Jaffar will reportedly be joining the digital payments leader to manage and oversee its presence in six… Read More

June 17, 2021 @ 7:54 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Amazon Payment Services, a payment processing service for the MENA region, has introduced the Amazon Fintech Lab in the DIFC Innovation Hub. The project is reportedly the latest in Amazon Payment Services’ efforts to provide support to the Fintech ecosystem in the MENA region. The… Read More

June 17, 2021 @ 12:03 am By JD Alois  |  

The ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN) has partnered with R3 to build and test central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). CBDCs have emerged as a hot topic of governmental innovation – fueled in part by the rise of stablecoins utilized as digital references of fiat currency…. Read More

June 16, 2021 @ 11:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Small and micro businesses (SMBs) account for over 90% of global businesses, and more than half or around 50% of global employment, and contribute over 60% of the GDP of developing nations, the Visa (NYSE:V) team writes in a blog post. However, 2020 was quite… Read More

June 16, 2021 @ 10:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

Igloo, previously doing business as “Axinan”, is said to be the first full-stack Insurtech firm to emerge from Singapore. Currently, Igloo has offices in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Igloo has distributed a note claiming 3X growth in GWP [gross written premiums] in… Read More

June 15, 2021 @ 11:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

WeLab Bank, a homegrown digital bank that has been authorized by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), reveals that it’s offering its customers Apple Pay, which is described as a safe, secure and private way to make payments. It allows clients to not have to… Read More

June 15, 2021 @ 10:02 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

IFIN (Islamic Finance Initiation Network), the Islamic Fintech firm, has introduced its operations in the Sultanate of Oman by teaming up with Alizz Islamic Bank and Danube Home. Bahrain-based IFIN, a company that digitally connects Islamic finance service providers to retail outlets, aims to offer… Read More

June 15, 2021 @ 6:06 pm By Priyanka Pani  |  

South-East Asia’s largest automotive marketplace Carro is the newest Unicorn in the region. A full-stack service for all aspects of car ownership, Carro has raised USD $360 million in a Series C funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund.  Indonesian fund EV Growth and insurance… Read More

June 14, 2021 @ 11:57 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nomura has reportedly chosen Refintiv, a multinational provider of financial market data and infrastructure, in order to leverage the Fintech firm’s wealth management solutions across Hong Kong and Singapore. The Refinitiv Workspace for Wealth Advisors will be used as the main platform to provide up-to-date… Read More

June 14, 2021 @ 10:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

BC Technology Group, a digital asset and Fintech-focused firm as well as the parent of OSL, has acquired a $70 million (appr. HKD 543.19 million) investment from Singapore’s GIC, the city-state’s sovereign wealth fund. BC Technology Group says it’s planning to further develop and improve… Read More

June 14, 2021 @ 10:00 pm By Priyanka Pani  |  

Alibaba-backed Indian major Fintech major Paytm is reported to be in talks with a few domestic payment gateways for a possible acquisition as it firms up its strategy to go public this year. Paytm, owned by financial services firm One97, plans a $3 billion initial… Read More

June 14, 2021 @ 6:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Quant trading platform SIGTech has been selected by MasterLink Securities, one of Taiwan’s largest securities dealers, according to a release shared with Crowdfund Insider. As mentioned in the announcement, SIGTech, the provider of quant trading tech for international investment managers, has secured a contract from… Read More

June 13, 2021 @ 5:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Egypt’s venture capital investment ecosystem has become one of the most fast-evolving markets in the MENA region. It’s been expanding at a 100% CAGR during the last 5 years, according to the 2020 Egypt Venture Investment Report released by Magnitt in collaboration with Egypt’s IT… Read More

June 13, 2021 @ 3:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Earlier this week, Merchantrade Asia, a digital money services business operator and e-money issuer, teamed up with palm plantation management services provider LintraMax in order to digitize the payroll system for underserved plantations workers in Malaysia. Through the partnership, Merchantrade Asia and LintraMax plan to… Read More

June 13, 2021 @ 10:34 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Malaysia-based myTukar, a pre-owned car purchasing and selling platform, has teamed up with Insurtech company PolicyStreet.com in order to provide insurance policies for pre-owned automobile purchases. Through the partnership, myTukar’s wholesale and retail clients may get timely insurance quotations along with convenient access to most… Read More

June 12, 2021 @ 7:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Line has reportedly introduced its third digital banking platform in Southeast Asia through a partnership with PT Bank KEB Hana Indonesia. The introduction of the smartphone-only bank in Indonesia has come after similar launches in Taiwan and Thailand. The partnership between Line and Hana Bank… Read More

June 12, 2021 @ 10:59 am By Xu Gao  |  

National Internet Finance Association of China: Standardized Cosmetic Surgery-Related Financial Products and Services The past few years have seen the rapid development of cosmetic surgery in China. In order to better serve their customers, some financial institutions have cooperated with third-party cosmetic surgery agencies to… Read More

June 12, 2021 @ 9:59 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Zack Voell, a cryptocurrency mining specialist, writes in a blog post published by Compass that Iran has banned Bitcoin mining for four months in the country’s most recent “legal pivot” away from the “begrudged but enduring segment of miners” operating in the country. Voell points… Read More

June 11, 2021 @ 2:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based Zilliqa Research Pte. Ltd., the “high” security, high speed, and low fee Layer 1 blockchain protocol firm, and its sister company Zilliqa Capital Pte. Ltd, the tech firm whose goal is to become the “central business and investment hub” for Zilliqa, recently announced that… Read More

June 11, 2021 @ 1:06 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This year’s UEFA EURO extravaganza will have a distinct blockchain influence for the first time. Ant Group’s blockchain arm AntChain has signed a five-year agreement with the football body which will see it become the official blockchain partner of UEFA EURO 2020 and UEFA national… Read More