Asia

January 11, 2021 @ 9:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Dubai-headquartered investment advisory firm Sarwa is reportedly expanding its business operations to Saudi Arabia after acquiring a temporary or experimental Fintech license from Saudi’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA). This development has come about a year after Sarwa secured $8.4 million in capital, which was one… Read More

January 10, 2021 @ 11:19 pm By JD Alois  |  

Propine, a digital asset custody service provider, has “graduated” from the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Fintech Sandbox program. The company has been granted a Capital Markets Services (CMS) license and is now fully regulated by MAS. It is the first regulated firm of its… Read More

January 10, 2021 @ 9:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Citi and Grab, which is Southeast Asia’s super app, have extended their partnership in consumer lending with the introduction of the bank’s API-powered lending solution for consumers in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Starting off in Singapore with additional markets in the APAC region to… Read More

January 10, 2021 @ 7:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Deutsche Bank Securities Services and Hashstacs Pte Ltd (STACS) are reportedly working on a proof-of-concept (PoC) that will involve exploring the technological and practical feasibility of digital assets. The PoC will take into consideration factors like the level of interoperability, liquidity, cross-border connectivity, and various… Read More

January 10, 2021 @ 7:00 pm By Jayanta Roy  |  

Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending has come a long way since its early days as a casual crowdfunding platform. Today, individual borrowers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can access loans without the hassle of going through banks and lengthy financial assessments. Still, P2P lending is a… Read More

January 10, 2021 @ 6:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Myanmar-based Wave Money, a mobile financial services provider, facilitated 12 trillion Myanmar kyat (appr. $ 8.7 billion) in total transactions during 2020 as the country’s residents increasingly began using digital financial services following the COVID-19 outbreak. Wave Money confirmed that these transaction volumes were nearly… Read More

January 10, 2021 @ 5:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Qatar-based Fintech firm Cwallet has finalized a $220,000 pre-seed investment round from its founders and MBK Holding, the company’s CEO has confirmed. Michael Javier, who’s also Co-founder at Cwallet, noted that the Fintech company is now working cooperatively with the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) in… Read More

January 10, 2021 @ 9:10 am By Xu Gao  |  

Shanghai Reveals 2nd Batch of Projects for its Fintech Sandbox On December 31st 2020, the Shanghai Fintech Innovation Supervision Pilot Working Group revealed the second batch of projects for its fintech sandbox. The 5 innovative projects focused on cutting-edge technologies such as big data, multi-party… Read More

January 9, 2021 @ 5:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital payments in Saudi Arabia surged by 75% last year, as consumers increasingly began shopping online following the COVID-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, cash withdrawals from ATMs and other payment points declined 30% during the same time period. Point of sale (PoS) refers to a location where… Read More

January 9, 2021 @ 12:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

US-based digital currency exchange Gemini recently welcomed Eugene Ng as the firm’s new APAC Head of Business Development. Gemini’s management confirmed on January 7, 2021 that they’re pleased to announce that Eugene Ng will be serving as the crypto firm’s Head of Business for the… Read More

January 8, 2021 @ 10:07 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Globe Fintech Innovations, Inc. (Mynt), the Fintech arm of Globe Telecom and operator of the country’s preferred mobile wallet in GCash, announced on Friday it has attracted fresh capital investment from ASP Philippines LP, a limited partnership fund managed by investment firm Bow Wave… Read More

January 8, 2021 @ 12:06 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Malaysia-based Fintech firm Soft Space has teamed up with Japan’s GMO Financial Gate (GMO-FG), a payment service provider, in order to offer payments solutions to Japanese consumers. Through the partnership, Soft Space will be supporting the secure and seamless Europay, Mastercard, and Visa (EMV) transactions…. Read More

January 7, 2021 @ 11:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

China’s reserve bank stated on January 6, 2021 that it will be making its monetary policy more flexible, targeted and appropriate this year. The country will begin focusing on supporting smaller companies as the Chinese economy tries to recover following the COVID-19 outbreak. The People’s… Read More

January 7, 2021 @ 11:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Philippines-based digital wallet GCash reportedly reached PHP 1 trillion (appr. $20.8 billion) in total transactions for the year 2020, which represents a 254% year-over-year (YoY) increase in transfers. Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), which manages GCash, is part of the portfolio firms of 917Ventures (one… Read More

January 7, 2021 @ 11:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Syfe, a digital wealth management firm that’s licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has introduced the Syfe Cash+ portfolio which is the company’s cash management product. Syfe Cash+ aims to help all Singapore based consumers with growing their savings while being able to… Read More

January 7, 2021 @ 10:57 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

India’s B2B digital commerce platform Udaan has secured $280 million in funding via its extended Series D investment round from new and existing investors. Octahedron Capital and Moonstone Capital are listed as new investors. They’ve joined Udaan’s existing backers which reportedly includes Altimeter, DST Global,… Read More

January 6, 2021 @ 10:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore’s fast-growing 1,000+ Fintech sector includes a thriving Wealthtech segment which is on track to continue growing and maturing. It’s being supported by an increased interest from local investors, strategic acquisition deals, and the growing demand for automated financial advisory services (or Robo-advisors). Many younger… Read More

January 6, 2021 @ 9:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based Silent Eight, a Regtech firm that leverages AI to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing activities, has revealed that it has agreed to a multi-year partnership with HSBC which aims to assist the bank with improving its compliance measures and related operations. HSBC chose… Read More

January 6, 2021 @ 12:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

US President Donald Trump has signed an order that aims to place a ban on US transactions with eight major Chinese apps – which reportedly includes Ant Group’s Alipay and Tencent Holdings’ online wallets. Notably, this order has arrived just days before the Trump administration… Read More

January 5, 2021 @ 10:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Agoda, a fast-growing online travel platform, has teamed up with Singapore-based Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platform Atome in order to provide flexible instalment plans for accommodation bookings. These payment options will first be offered in Singapore and Malaysia, and then rolled out to several… Read More