Asia

August 20, 2020 @ 11:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Malaysian Fintech firms are regulated according to the requirements provided by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the nation’s central bank. Suhaimi Bin Ali, director of the Financial Development and Innovation Department at BNM, explained (during the introduction of the Fintech Booster program earlier this month): “We… Read More

August 20, 2020 @ 11:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Pakistan’s Easypaisa, a leading online wallet provider, has teamed up with the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) in order to support digital payments in the country. The agreement was made official and signed by Khurram Malik, Head of Easypaisa, Telenor Microfinance Bank and… Read More

August 20, 2020 @ 10:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The COVID-19 outbreak and nationwide lockdowns in India have forced many local residents to re-evaluate how they conduct business and manage their finances. An analysis performed by ETMoney reveals that the overall spend by India’s residents between March and June 2020 dropped by around 40%,… Read More

August 20, 2020 @ 10:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

More Singapore based companies and businesses are expected to use the latest Fintech platforms and services in the coming year. Firms operating in the Asian country aim to streamline their business by adopting the latest digital technologies, according to a report from CPA Australia, a… Read More

August 20, 2020 @ 9:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

South Korea’s ICONLOOP, a major blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT)-focused firm, revealed on August 19, 2020 that Jeju Island, the nation’s most popular local tourist destination, will be using its Decentralized Identity (‘DID’) blockchain tech to offer private, secure COVID-19 contact tracing to (approximately)… Read More

August 20, 2020 @ 4:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ravi Menon, the Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), recently delivered a speech on “Powering the next stage of Singapore Fintech” at the Singapore Fintech Festival Just five years ago, the country’s leaders had a vision that focused on making Singapore a… Read More

August 20, 2020 @ 7:58 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Neat, a digital bank based in Hong Kong, announced on Wednesday a $4 million extension to its $11 million Series A investment round, which originally closed in April 2020. MassMutual Ventures, Pacific Century Group, Linear Capital, and Robby Hilkowitz as well as new investor Vectr Fintech… Read More

August 20, 2020 @ 12:42 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Blockchain platforms Ontology, Neo, and Switcheo have announced the launch of Poly Network, a “heterogeneous” distributed ledger technology (DLT) interoperability protocol alliance. The Poly Network will enable cross-platform interoperability, which should significantly increase transparency and accessibility. As mentioned in a blog post by Ontology: “Enterprises… Read More

August 19, 2020 @ 11:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Pakistan needs to work on its economic development strategy. The country has a population of over 210 million, but its GDP hasn’t grown nearly as fast. The country’s GDP is around $300 billion and the average income is about $1,500 per year which is significantly… Read More

August 19, 2020 @ 9:36 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Bahrain introduced its first Open Banking product for the MENA region during December of last year. The central bank of Bahrain is among the first major institutions in the Middle East to propose and create regulations that require the adoption of Open Banking technologies by… Read More

August 18, 2020 @ 11:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech Saudi, an initiative that aims to transform Saudi Arabia into an innovative Fintech Hub with “a thriving and responsible” financial technology ecosystem, has been supporting the Kingdom’s economy by establishing an ecosystem directory and an online jobs portal dedicated to Fintech professionals. Fintech Saudi… Read More

August 18, 2020 @ 7:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Conflux Network, a permissionless blockchain network, has received a second public endorsement from a Chinese government entity. In a release, Conflux said that the Hunan government has joined the Shanghai government in blessing their blockchain. Conflux notes that they are the only privately created blockchain… Read More

August 18, 2020 @ 2:29 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Chinese peer-to-peer lending platform Hexindai (NASDAQ: HX) recently announced it has launched an upgraded version of its new form of social e-commerce platform Xiaobai Maimai, offering high-quality and affordable branded products. According to Hexindai, Xiaobai Maimai uses its cooperation with domestic e-commerce platforms and… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 9:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The COVID-19 outbreak had led to many Asian countries exploring the adoption of blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) in order to securely manage data, according to an update from the Nikkei Asian Review. Tomohiro Maruyama, senior manager of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Consulting, told Nikkei that… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 8:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Huobi Group, a major blockchain and digital assets service provider that operates cryptocurrency exchanges and related services, has revealed that it has launched Huobi DeFi Labs. According to a release, Huobi DeFi Labs will focus on research, investment, and incubation of decentralized finance projects. The… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 7:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Supply@ME recently committed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Khaled Abdulla Almass and his investment firm, iMass LLC, in order to focus on the expansion and ongoing development of Supply@ME into the Middle East region. Supply@ME is a Fintech firm that’s owned by Italy’s… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 6:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Abu Dhabi based NymCard, a card issuing and processing platform, has reportedly been granted “in-principle” approval from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of the Abu Dhabi Global Market. The Fintech firm aims to assist financial service providers including banks, and other financial technology companies… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 4:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

This past week, it was announced that Israel has established diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a ground-breaking shift in foreign relations for a volatile region. The deal was announced by President Trump, Israel, and the UAE that the countries have agreed to… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 10:27 am By JD Alois  |  

CoinDCX, a crypto exchange that claims to be the largest in India, says its fiat to crypto product Insta has experienced 38% month over month growth in volume, according to a statement by the firm. The company claims that Insta has become India’s most trusted… Read More

August 17, 2020 @ 7:26 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Standard Chartered Plc, a British multinational banking and financial services company with over $700 billion in total assets, is reportedly getting ready to introduce its second all-digital bank in Asian markets. Standard Chartered will be partnering up with a division of Singapore’s largest labor union,… Read More