Asia

May 31, 2020 @ 10:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Global analytics software firm FICO reports that Malaysian consumers are more comfortable with using their mobile devices to open and manage bank accounts when compared to US and Canadian residents. FICO’s Consumer Digital Banking Survey reveals that 23% of Malaysians would rather open a bank… Read More

May 31, 2020 @ 2:29 pm By Xu Gao  |  

China’s Top Financial Authorities Roll Out 11 Financial Reform Measures On May 27th, the Office of the Financial Stability Development Committee of the State Council issued a press release that the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, People’s Bank of China, China Banking… Read More

May 30, 2020 @ 7:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

  Efi Pylarinou, a Fintech and Blockchain Advisor based in Switzerland, notes that funding is “on everybodys’ mind,” which might particularly be true for early-stage startups that have not yet acquired a significant user base. Pylarinou confirms that the valuations of later-stage Fintech companies have… Read More

May 30, 2020 @ 4:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

China Merchants Port, the largest port operator in the country, has teamed up with e-commerce giant, Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA), and its Fintech-focused subsidiary, Ant Financial. Through the partnership, the companies will work towards developing a blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT)-enabled platform, which will aim… Read More

May 29, 2020 @ 11:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bank Central Asia, or BCA, (PT Bank Central Asia Tbk), an Indonesian bank that overtook Singapore’s DBS Bank (in 2016) as Southeast Asia’s largest lender by value, with a market cap of about $24.5 billion, has reported a significant increase in its digital banking transactions… Read More

May 29, 2020 @ 9:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Global Impact Fintech (GIFT), a multinational non-profit think tank of government, regulatory, industry, technology and financial technology professionals from over 35 countries (including India and Singapore), continues to expand its presence across the globe. GIFT is a forum that brings together policymakers and Fintech, general… Read More

May 29, 2020 @ 8:56 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Accern, a U.S.-based artificial Intelligence (AI) start-up, announced on Thursday it secured $13 million through its Series A funding round, which was led by Fusion Fund with participation from Mighty Capital, Allianz Life Ventures, Vectr Fintech Partners and Viaduct Ventures. Founded in 2014, Accern explained… Read More

May 29, 2020 @ 12:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Indian Fintech U GRO Capital, an online lending platform for SMEs, has teamed up with Global Value Creation Partners (GVCP), in order to provide better financing services to small businesses. GVCP has appointed two expert advisors, Vincent Polizatto and William Haworth, to the U GRO… Read More

May 28, 2020 @ 11:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

SATYA MicroCapital Ltd, a fast-growing micro-lending firm based in India, has secured INR 105 crore (appr. $13.85 million) in equity funding from Gojo & Company, Inc. This is reportedly one of the first investments in the nation’s microfinance sector after the COVID-19 outbreak, and government-enforced… Read More

May 28, 2020 @ 12:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

Skymind Global Ventures (SGV), the venture arm of Skymind, has announced its first spin-off – Konduit.  According to the company, Konduit offers a portfolio of open source tools that support machine learning practitioners. The company’s goal is to bridge the gap between research and enterprise… Read More

May 27, 2020 @ 10:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mumbai-based Home Capital, a Fintech firm focused on supporting housing initiatives for younger people, has acquired seed funding via a round led by the Varanium NextGen Fund. Shalin Shah, Singapore Angel Network, JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation, Venture Catalysts, and Venture Gurukool also took part… Read More

May 27, 2020 @ 8:53 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) recently noted that it has not yet provided a definite timetable on a formal or official virtual yuan launch. During a recent interview, PBoC Governor Yi Gang clarified that the institution was only performing “routine work for the research and… Read More

May 27, 2020 @ 1:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fundbox, a Fintech firm focused on “disrupting” the global $21 trillion B2B commerce ecosystem with its payment and credit network for B2B transactions, confirmed on May 26, 2020, that it received a fresh equity investment from MUFG Innovation Partners Co., Ltd., the corporate VC division… Read More

May 27, 2020 @ 9:55 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

GoBear, a Singapore-based fintech, has reportedly secured $17 million through its latest investment round. The investment brings GoBear’s total funding to $97 million. Founded in 2014, GoBear claims to be Asia’s leading financial supermarket whose purpose is to improve financial health. The platform empowers consumers… Read More

May 27, 2020 @ 8:09 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Delta Exchange, an established cryptocurrency derivatives exchange that maintains offices in Singapore, has received funding from New York-headquartered blockchain investment firm, CoinFund. As mentioned in a release shared with CI, the new investment will provide Delta Exchange with the resources needed to scale its operations… Read More

May 27, 2020 @ 12:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech adoption in Qatar is on the rise, as more consumers are making digital or online payments, instead of using cash due to COVID-19. The nation’s residents have been asked to follow safe distancing measures in order to prevent the further spread of the Coronavirus…. Read More

May 26, 2020 @ 11:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hong Kong-based HKT Financial Services, the Fintech division of the HKT Group, has launched another Fintech project, HKT Flexi, a digital or online financing platform that allows users to make payments via the HKT Flexi App. HKT Financial Services offers mobile payments, merchant services, O2O… Read More

May 26, 2020 @ 11:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

Tencent, a massive Chinese conglomerate that also operates WeChat, is planning to invest $70 billion over the next five years. The money will go into “new infrastructure” including areas like artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cybersecurity, big-data and more. This is according to a report in… Read More

May 26, 2020 @ 11:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

12CM (pronounced One-two-cee-em), the “smart” stamp software platform provider and a member company of the Born2Global Center, has partnered with Naver Business Platform (NBP). 12CM has reportedly been an active Born2Global Center member for the past couple of years. Through the partnership, 12CM will work… Read More

May 26, 2020 @ 1:16 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb announced on Monday it has appointed Back Young Heo as its new CEO. According to Bithumb, Heo joined Bithumb in 2017 as the head of compliance and prior to Bithumb, worked in traditional finance for 14 years at Citibank, CitiCapital,… Read More