Asia

October 22, 2020 @ 11:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ajay Bhalla, President, Cyber and Intelligence Solutions, Mastercard, notes that artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms are part of the payment company’s “first line of defense” in protecting over 75 billion transactions that Mastercard processes on its network every year. Bhalia recently revealed the different ways that… Read More

October 22, 2020 @ 10:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nexia TS, a Singapore-based accounting firm, notes that the use of blockchain or distributed ledger tech (DLT)-based solutions can potentially “improve compliance” and “decrease risks” typically associated with digital transformation processes. DLT-enabled solutions might also improve the overall efficiency of a company’s operations. The Nexia… Read More

October 22, 2020 @ 10:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ocean Protocol (OCEAN), which allows software engineers to build marketplaces and other apps to privately and securely publish, exchange, and consume data, is now available on Kyber Network, a protocol that facilitates automated, “decentralized,” instant, and low-cost exchanges of Ethereum-based digital assets. The Kyber Network… Read More

October 22, 2020 @ 9:40 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Ant Group, which was previously known as Ant Financial, the world’s most valuable Fintech firm and a subsidiary of the Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA), has reportedly received approval from China’s top securities regulator for the registration of its Shanghai offering. As reported by Reuters, the… Read More

October 21, 2020 @ 11:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Pakistani Fintech firm SadaPay has appointed Safraz Baig, a former Careem executive, to lead its customer experience team. The SadaPay team claims that not many business leaders in Pakistan truly understand the value of great customer experience. They also note in a blog post that… Read More

October 21, 2020 @ 9:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Lizzie Chapman, CEO and Co-Founder at ZestMoney, which claims to be one of the largest and fastest-growing Fintech firms in India, notes that as the festive season begins in India, the company has seen a significant increase in demand for online “affordability” solutions from its… Read More

October 21, 2020 @ 9:16 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mastercard, IDEMIA, and MatchMove will be piloting a fingerprint biometric card in Asia in order to improve the security and safety of contactless payments. According to a release, Mastercard will be partnering with IDEMIA, which offers “Augmented Identity” solutions, and MatchMove, a Singapore-based Fintech firm…. Read More

October 21, 2020 @ 11:31 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

LINE Corporation announced on Tuesday the launch of LINE BK, which is a “social banking” platform in Thailand. According to Line, LINE BK will connect Thailand’s “most popular” social media platform and one of Thailand’s leading banks. LINE BK was launched under the Wallet Tab… Read More

October 20, 2020 @ 11:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Triyono Gani, the head of digital finance innovation at Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK), notes that it may have taken a long time for people to understand one of Bill Gates’ quotes, “Banking is necessary, but banks are not.”  Gani points out that Gates actually… Read More

October 20, 2020 @ 10:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Dr. Ahmed Abdulkarim Alkholifey, the Governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), the nation’s reserve bank, says that central bank digital currencies or CBDCs seem to be promising and are worth further exploration. Dr. Ahmed’s comments came during a recent webinar held by the International… Read More

October 19, 2020 @ 11:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Pondicherry University, which is located in South India (in Kalapet, Pondicherry, Union Territory of Puducherry, India), has introduced an MBA program in Financial Technology or Fintech. The new program will be offered during the 2020-21 academic year. Gurmeet Singh, Vice-Chancellor of the University, has helped… Read More

October 19, 2020 @ 10:02 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

  Dubai Economy recently brought together the main stakeholders in the country’s cashless economy ecosystem at the Future Economy Lab event (workshop). The event was conducted as part of the UAE’s ongoing efforts to address COVID-19 related challenges. The Middle Eastern country is focused on… Read More

October 19, 2020 @ 8:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

Singapore based Proptech Propseller has raised a S$1.7 million (USD $1.2m) seed round, according to a note from the company. Propseller is described as the “modern real estate agency” that facilitates sales, purchases and property rentals. Propseller reports that it is currently transacting around S$… Read More

October 19, 2020 @ 1:19 pm By JD Alois  |  

Hedera Hashgraph, an enterprise-grade blockchain platform, has announced a partnership with Onchain to provide custody services in Asia. Onchain will be providing custody for Hedera’s native digital asset HBAR. Holders of HBAR will have the option to secure their HBAR tokens with Onchain’s SAFE digital… Read More

October 19, 2020 @ 7:58 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Ant Group, which was previously known as Ant Financial, the world’s most valuable Fintech firm and subsidiary of the Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA), has reportedly received approval from Chinese regulatory authorities for the Hong Kong leg of its planned initial public offering (IPO). The Ant… Read More

October 18, 2020 @ 10:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

ING Bank, which is part of the ING Group (AMS: INGA), a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam, has confirmed that it will continue supporting startups focused on Fintech solutions. ING and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will be working… Read More

October 18, 2020 @ 8:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Philippine National Bank (PNB), one of the largest financial institutions in the country, is reportedly considering the possibility of launching a digital bank as one of its subsidiaries. Jose Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso, president and CEO at PNB, stated: “We’re discussing internally with the principals…. Read More

October 18, 2020 @ 5:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bitmain, a leading manufacturer of cryptocurrency mining hardware, has sold 5,100 Antminers to Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ: RIOT). Bitmain had also finalized the sale of 8,000 additional Antminers (in September 2020) to Riot Blockchain, which is a Nasdaq-listed digital currency mining company. According to a release,… Read More

October 18, 2020 @ 5:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

David Jimenez Maireles, Customer Experience Officer at TNEX, a Vietnam based digital bank, claims that despite the skeptics, banks have been “no laggard when it comes to cloud adoption.” Banks have been migrating incrementally, and today “the average bank has 58% of its workloads in… Read More

October 17, 2020 @ 5:00 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Insurtech Platform Nanyan Information Technology Secures 250-million-yuan Series C Round of Financing On October 14th, Chinese Insurtech platform Nanyan Information Technology (hereinafter referred to as “Nanyan”) announced that it had secured 250 million yuan in a Series C round of financing. The investment was led… Read More