Asia

April 2, 2021 @ 6:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Uppsala Security has revealed that it received a Financial Sector Development Grant from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Uppsala Security, an established provider of tools for Crypto AML, Risk Management, Regulatory Compliance, and Cybersecurity confirmed on April 2, 2021, that they were chosen by… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 9:47 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Endowus, a Singapore-based wealthtech, announced on Thursday it raised $23 million through its Series A funding round, which was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from SoftBank Ventures Asia. Founded in 2017, Endowus stated it is seeking to empower people to “take control” of… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 8:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Atome Financial, the parent firm of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) company Atome, has reportedly finalized its acquisition of financing service provider PT Mega Finadana Finance in Indonesia. The terms of the deal have not been shared publicly. The acquisition should help Atome Financial with… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 10:34 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Paidy, a Japan-based buy now pay later brand, announced on Wednesday it raised $120 million through its Series D funding round, which included participation from JS Capital Management LLC, Soros Capital Management LLC,  Tybourne Capital Management Ltd, and Wellington Management. Paidy reported that since late… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 10:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) revealed on March 31, 2021, that Singapore plans to take part in global efforts to improve the overall capacity of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide assistance to “vulnerable” low-income nations in “dealing with the economic fallout from… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 12:57 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  imToken, a Singapore-based blockchain technology company, announced on Tuesday it raised $30 million through its Series B financing round, which was led by Qiming Venture Partners, with participation from its lead Series A investor IDG Capital and new investors including Breyer Capital, HashKey, Signum… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 12:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, is reportedly looking into adopting a virtual banking framework so that it may be leveraged to enable greater financial inclusion. The new digital banking guidelines are being developed to support a regulatory environment… Read More

March 30, 2021 @ 11:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bangkok Bank, one the largest commercial banks in Thailand, has introduced an international QR payments solution that will run between Thailand and Vietnam. The solution is reportedly being deployed with assistance from the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and State Bank of Vietnam (SBV). Bangkok Bank… Read More

March 29, 2021 @ 11:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

Ripple has agreed to acquire a 40% stake in cross-border payments Fintech Tranglo, according to a public release. Tranglo, based in Malaysia but operates across Asia, reports 1300 partners having completed 20 million transactions at $4 billion in value. Tranglo claims to be one of… Read More

March 29, 2021 @ 11:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fitch Ratings reports that the Islamic banking ecosystem in Oman is expected to continue growing during 2021-2022 after rather strong momentum last year. This, despite the COVID-19 outbreak and historically low oil prices, Fitch Ratings noted. Islamic financing in the MENA region country expanded by… Read More

March 29, 2021 @ 10:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based #dltledgers, a blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform for conducting cross-border trade, trade finance, and handling supply chain digitization, has secured $7 million in capital through a Series A round. The firm’s investment round was led by Regis and Savoy Capital, Vittal, Walden… Read More

March 28, 2021 @ 8:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh (India) has revealed that the area has set a new record in the number of digital transactions performed. Lucknow, The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh reports that banks are now playing a key role in promoting digital… Read More

March 28, 2021 @ 8:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the nation’s central bank, announced on Friday (March 26, 2021) that it has started working on a separate set of guidelines for virtual banks which will focus on “regional regulatory trends,” according to a report from local sources. As… Read More

March 28, 2021 @ 12:51 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Insurtech platform Shuidi closed its mutual insurance service On March 26th, Insurtech platform Shuidi announced that it would close its mutual insurance service at 18:00 on March 31st, 2021. Prior to this, members who were unfortunately diagnosed with a serious illness could continue to apply… Read More

March 27, 2021 @ 7:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital wallet provider Boost recently revealed that it’s now a part of the PayNet Real Time Retail Payment Platform (RPP). Boost confirmed that it will be adopting DuitNow QR (beginning on March 26, 2021). DuitNow QR is the national QR code standard used in Malaysia…. Read More

March 27, 2021 @ 6:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Aspirasi, an online micro-financing and micro-insurance platform operating under Axiata Digital, is providing a more convenient and all-digital financing option for online consumers via Aspirasi CashNow. Now available via digital commerce platform Lazada Malaysia, Aspirasi CashNow is currently open for applications to all Malaysia-based residents… Read More

March 27, 2021 @ 5:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Local sources in India have commented on why the government may want residents to disclose their digital currency holdings. Industry professionals in the country have pointed out that the Indian corporate affairs ministry could be looking for disclosures from firms in order to get a… Read More

March 27, 2021 @ 3:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

  Quinlan & Associates have published a report, titled Branching Off: The Outlook for Hong Kong’s Virtual Banks. The report, which has been authored by company CEO and Managing Partner Benjamin Quinlan and Consultant Eashan Trehan, notes that it’s been a year now since the… Read More

March 26, 2021 @ 11:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital payments in India are being increasingly adopted by businesses and individual consumers. Online lending platforms are also becoming more popular in the country that’s home to around 1.5 billion residents. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced several initiatives that are aimed at… Read More

March 26, 2021 @ 10:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Qatar’s Islamic or Sharia-compliant Fintech sector is on track to record significant growth in the next 5 years, according to local sources. As digital transformations accelerate Islamic finance ecosystems worldwide, we are happy to share with you the Global Islamic Fintech Report 2021 produced by… Read More