Asia

March 16, 2021 @ 11:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Southeast Asian ride-hailing and food delivery giant Grab Holdings is reportedly holding discussions regarding its plans to go public via a potential merger with a US-based special purpose acquisition company or SPAC. Grab Holdings may be valued at around $53 to $54 billion if these… Read More

March 16, 2021 @ 2:30 am By JD Alois  |  

OurCrowd has revealed that NTT Finance, a subsidiary of NTT Group (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone), will establish NTT Finance Israel LP in partnership with OurCrowd. According to OurCrowd, NTT Finance will initially commit $15 million for a dedicated investment program. OurCrowd will provide early access… Read More

March 15, 2021 @ 11:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Indonesia-based Validus’ subsidiary Batumbu has obtained regulatory clearance to serve as a licensed and authorized online financing platform. The approval has been given by the Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK). Since it first began offering services in 2019, Batumbu has reportedly issued more than S$207… Read More

March 15, 2021 @ 10:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

After the rollout of Trusple, which is AntChain’s global trade and financial services platform, DBS (SGX:D05) has confirmed that it’s the first major Asian banking institution to finalize a trade financing transaction via the platform. The digital transaction was valued at more than $40,000. The… Read More

March 15, 2021 @ 10:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Malaysia-based Ouch!, a digital or online insurance company, has secured RM 1.5 million (appr. $360,000) in seed funding via a round led by Vynn Capital and Temokin, along with participation from several angel investors. The Ouch! team says it will use the capital raised from… Read More

March 14, 2021 @ 9:53 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the nation’s central bank, stated on Wednesday (March 11, 2021) that all local banking institutions should offer a set of minimum services for Internet banking and mobile banking. The SBP says it wants to encourage or promote the use… Read More

March 14, 2021 @ 6:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Earlier this year, the team at Elliptic, which works to assist with categorizing financial crime typologies while protecting legitimate crypto-asset users from illicit activities, had explained how proper and effective compliance can prevent (potential) money laundering activities using Bitcoin (BTC) or other digital currencies. Elliptic… Read More

March 14, 2021 @ 2:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The third edition of Startupbootcamp Fintech Dubai’s accelerator program has now concluded. During the Demo Day, there were 11 startups that pitched their ideas to potential investors, corporate partners, industry experts, mentors, and the general public. Startupbootcamp Fintech Dubai was introduced in 2018 through a… Read More

March 13, 2021 @ 4:37 pm By Xu Gao  |  

E-signature Service Provider Fadada Completes 900-million -yuan D round financing led by Tencent  On March 11th, Chinese leading e-signature service provider Fadada declared the completion of a 900-million-yuan D round of financing. The investment was led by Tencent, followed by ZWC Partners and Centurium Capital…. Read More

March 12, 2021 @ 10:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Capital confirms that India has been going through a major regulatory process related to the nascent cryptocurrency markets. The Capital notes that the advancements in other areas of crypto such as the innovation in decentralized finance (DeFi) in the 21st century might have taken… Read More

March 12, 2021 @ 10:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Ant Group CEO  Simon Hu has resigned from the Fintech according to multiple reports. Ant Group has seen its trajectory diminish in recent months following the decision of securities regulators to halt a pending initial public offering. Some reports linked the halted IPO to comments… Read More

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

South Korean authorities have stated that they’re planning to impose heavy penalties or fines on individuals and businesses violating applicable guidelines for cryptocurrency transactions. The Korean financial regulator stated that it would impose a fine on virtual currency exchanges if they fail to report suspicious… Read More

March 11, 2021 @ 8:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

India’s Fintech industry is on track to reach a valuation of $150-$160 billion by 2025, according to a new report. The report, titled “India Fintech: A $100 Billion Opportunity,” pointed out that over the last 5 years, India-based Fintechs have acquired around $10 billion in… Read More

March 9, 2021 @ 11:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Vietnamese banks are becoming a lot more aware of Open Banking policies and are beginning to realize that they should look into leveraging open APIs in order to remain relevant in the evolving digital financial services sector. There are at least two local banks in… Read More

March 9, 2021 @ 11:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Indonesia’s digital wallet platform LinkAja has chosen Indian software firm PureSoftware’s Arttha digital payments suite which will be powering the wallet provider’s core systems. The move is said to be consistent with LinkAja’s goal to further expand and strengthen its market presence as a payment… Read More

March 9, 2021 @ 10:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Indian government may not completely ban (or attempt to) the use of decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). During a recent interview (conducted on March 5, 2021), India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified that she intends to support innovative crypto initiatives. #CNBCTV18IBLA… Read More

March 8, 2021 @ 11:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

United Arab Emirates’ first “independent” virtual banking platform has just launched with more than 25,000 applicants that had pre-registered during the past few months in order to use the bank’s Fintech app. UAE-headquartered digital bank YAP will be allowing locals to open a bank account… Read More

March 8, 2021 @ 10:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech industry experts from Qatar and Bangladesh recently talked about potential opportunities in the financial services sector during a webinar.  Bangladesh Forum Qatar (BFQ) had organized the webinar on “An Exploration of the Qatar – Bangladesh Startup and Fintech Opportunities” along with assistance from the… Read More

March 8, 2021 @ 10:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Chinese authorities have increased their scrutiny of the nation’s Fintech sector. China’s regulators have now cracked down on JD Technology’s (potentially) $3 billion initial public offering. JD Technology, the Fintech division of Chinese digital commerce giant JD.com Inc., is reportedly looking into withdrawing its application… Read More

March 8, 2021 @ 10:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

WeLab, an established Asian Fintech firm, has finalized its Series C-1 $75 million funding round, which was led by Allianz X. Allianz X is the digital investment division of Germany’s Allianz Group, one of the world’s largest insurance service providers and fund managers. Since launching… Read More