Asia

March 26, 2021 @ 10:38 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

        Ping An Insurance Group announced earlier this week it has teamed up with Zhongshan Hospital for healthcare service enhancements, medical research innovation, and talent incubation across the healthcare, finance and technology fields to help deliver on the national Healthy China initiative…. Read More

March 25, 2021 @ 11:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital asset marketplace Coinbase has revealed that it’s planning to hire in India, a country that has been attempting to ban “private” cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. However, the nation’s authorities recently clarified that they’re not going to shut off crypto activity completely, meaning digital currencies may… Read More

March 24, 2021 @ 11:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Supported by an upcoming generation of talented tech professionals, the Fintech industry is evolving rapidly in Pakistan. Fintechs could begin to make major contributions to the Asian country’s nearly $400 billion GDP. Professionals leading the country’s finance ministry and its reserve bank (the State Bank… Read More

March 24, 2021 @ 11:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Dr. Saeeda Jaffar, Board Member, Managing Director and Head of Middle East at Alvarez & Marsal, notes that research performed by Checkout.com at the end of last year suggested that digital commerce and the digital payment sectors in the Middle East region were “set for… Read More

March 24, 2021 @ 10:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

China’s officials have addressed concerns that the digital yuan may be violating or infringing on user privacy. They’ve looked into questions related to “controllable anonymity” as well. STCN reports that on March 20, 2021, Mu Changchun, Director of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the… Read More

March 23, 2021 @ 11:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

ZA Bank, which is one of Hong Kong’s eight digital banks, has confirmed that it has now acquired around 300,000 users. This milestone has been reached right before its first year anniversary. ZA Bank was notably the first to carry out a soft launch of… Read More

March 23, 2021 @ 9:19 pm By JD Alois  |  

Payments platform Airwallex has raised an additional $100 million in an extension of its Series D funding round that brings the total to $300 million. Airwallex was valued at $2.6 billion in the round. To date, Airwallex reports having raised almost $500 million in equity… Read More

March 23, 2021 @ 1:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Indian digital payments giant Paytm recently confirmed that its pleased to share that Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) has been given approval for its @Paytm UPI handle from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to “enable fast and seamless payment mandates for IPO… Read More

March 23, 2021 @ 12:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Islamic or Sharia-compliant Fintech services are being increasingly adopted in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and internationally as well, according to a report from Arabian Business. As reported by the news outlet, the largest transaction volumes have come from Saudi Arabia, the UAE,… Read More

March 22, 2021 @ 10:52 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Southeast Asia-based all-digital banking challenger Tonik has officially launched the first neobank in the Philippines. Tonik is regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the nation’s central bank. Tonik’s deposits will reportedly be insured by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC). The digital banking… Read More

March 20, 2021 @ 10:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at SadaPay, a Pakistan-based online payments provider, notes that when products are developed with technology at the “core of the value proposition,” the customer interactions “tend to be digital as well.” As mentioned in a blog post by the Fintech firm, the human… Read More

March 20, 2021 @ 7:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and M7, a creative start-up hub that’s operated under Qatar Museums, are introducing Scale7, which is a business incubator for MENA region entrepreneurs. Scale 7 aims to support a creative and artistic ecosystem. The initiative will help Qatari entrepreneurs, local… Read More

March 20, 2021 @ 10:22 am By Xu Gao  |  

China Imposes Further Restrictions on Online Consumer Loans for College Students Over the past few years, some internet finance platforms have targeted college campuses and made inductive marketing through cooperation with technology companies. Such practices led some students into excessive consumption and even debt traps…. Read More

March 20, 2021 @ 9:45 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Indian neobank Razorpay points out that it seems like banks have been “around forever.” In India, for example, the history of banking “dates way back to 1750 BC,” the company reveals. It also mentions that we’ve traditionally or historically been dependent on banking institutions for… Read More

March 18, 2021 @ 10:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Zilliqa, a blockchain ecosystem that seeks to offer services to enterprises, has announced an annual investment fund of up to USD$ 5 million for 15 companies building on the Zilliqa blockchain. Zilliqa strives to address the shortcomings of some established blockchains by providing a robust… Read More

March 18, 2021 @ 9:23 am By JD Alois  |  

Railsbank, a Banking as a Service (BaaS) platform, has expanded into Australia in partnership with digital bank Volt. Founded in 2016, Railsbank is based in the UK and offers APIs and apps for financial services firms to offer modern services. Volt is the first digital… Read More

March 18, 2021 @ 8:47 am By JD Alois  |  

M2P Solutions- YAP has raised $10 million in a Series B funding round led by Flourish Ventures and Omidyar Network India. YAP’s existing investors—Beenext, 8i Ventures and Better Capital also participated in the financing round. Terms of the round were not disclosed. Based in Chennai,… Read More

March 17, 2021 @ 11:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

BPC Technology’s payment division, O-City, is partnering with the Philippines’ Land Bank of the Philippines to pilot the country’s digital payments in Public Utility Vehicles such as buses and jeepneys. O-CITY is expected to ensure urban transit systems are interoperable and travelers can pay seamlessly… Read More

March 17, 2021 @ 10:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has confirmed that it is getting ready to work on a national virtual currency. Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the 138-year-old institution, stated that the BoJ, the nation’s reserve bank, would begin “preparing thoroughly” for a future that may include a… Read More

March 16, 2021 @ 11:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ant Group, the Fintech division of digital commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA), has made a commitment to become carbon neutral by 2030. Ant Group’s management stated that to achieve the carbon neutral target within the coming decade will involve establishing a carbon… Read More