Asia

May 18, 2020 @ 11:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Payments giant Mastercard (NYSE:MA) has committed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hub71, a technology ecosystem based in Abu Dhabi Global Market Square that supports global Fintech initiatives and leading tech firms. As mentioned in the announcement, Hub71 is a flagship project of the… Read More

May 18, 2020 @ 10:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Indian Fintech firms that issue loans to SMEs have welcomed the government’s efforts to provide greater liquidity to the banking system. However, financial technology companies are concerned about the poor monetary transmission by local banks and the capping of interest rates. India’s non-bank lenders have… Read More

May 18, 2020 @ 10:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital banking services are increasingly being adopted in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. The use of all-digital banks and platforms is expected to increase further in the coming years. This, as 63% of consumers responding to a recent survey said they’d be willing to switch… Read More

May 18, 2020 @ 9:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ant Financial, the Fintech division of Chinese multinational e-commerce giant Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA), has teamed up with Digital Money Myanmar (Wave Money), in order to promote financial inclusion and help the country’s unbanked and underbanked population. Ant Financial will offer its expertise in mobile and… Read More

May 18, 2020 @ 9:01 am By Omar Faridi  |  

C.C. Puan, the CEO at Packet One Networks (P1), a major wireless broadband provider focused on becoming an established mobile telecom by making access to the Internet a great experience for Malaysian residents, is planning to acquire a digital banking license. Puan remarked: “Getting the… Read More

May 18, 2020 @ 8:00 am By Omar Faridi  |  

    We recently caught up with Zon Chu, CEO at Constant, a “fully secured” peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform. Constant started as a stablecoin project in 2019 (CONST) announced at CES but has since morphed into a lending platform. Constant notes that P2P lending has… Read More

May 18, 2020 @ 7:54 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Norbert Gehrke, founder and representative director at Tokyo Fintech, an initiative that supports community-led innovation in Japan’s financial services sector, notes that the country’s economy and business transactions are still “highly paper-based.” Gehrke has worked as managing director at Goldman Sachs’ Technology Division and Barclays… Read More

May 17, 2020 @ 11:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ripple company partner and investor, SBI Holdings, is planning to integrate the Fintech firm’s technology, in order to process transactions via ATMs throughout Japan. SBI’s management noted in its recent financial report that it will integrate the Ripple technology-based settlements solution, MoneyTap, with ATMs operated… Read More

May 17, 2020 @ 4:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based Anquan Capital Pte. Ltd, a group of technology firms, has teamed up with the Fintech division of Germany’s WEG Bank AG, which offers services under the TEN31 brand name. Anquan Capital has established several innovative tech companies including Anqlave, Aqilli, and Zilliqa. TEN31 Bank,… Read More

May 17, 2020 @ 11:08 am By Xu Gao  |  

PBC, CBIRC, CSRC and SAFE Release Opinions on Providing Financial Support for the Development of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area To fully implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, upon the approval of the State Council, PBC, CBIRC,… Read More

May 17, 2020 @ 10:58 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech firm EedenBull will be expanding its presence in the evolving B2B payments sector. The Norwegian and Scottish company revealed recently that it’s planning to introduce its commercial cards platform to banks interested in exploring the vast potential opportunities in the B2B space. EedenBull’s management… Read More

May 16, 2020 @ 8:32 am By Omar Faridi  |  

India’s only publicly-listed Fintech company, 5paisa, has introduced a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform. 5paisa also provides share trading services online. The firm’s management confirmed that they will allow users to issue loans from INR 500 (appr. $6.60) to Rs 50 lakhs (appr. $65,900) to several… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 2:42 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com announced on Friday its MCO Visa card is now shipping to a total of 31 countries in Europe. The platform claims it is the only crypto card provider offering cards in Asia, the full EU, and the U.S. Crypto.com reported… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 2:08 pm By JD Alois  |  

  The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has posted a response to a consultation regarding the regulation of derivative contracts on payment tokens (ie digital currencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum used as a method of payment). The original consultation was launched in November 2019… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 9:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Wirex, a payments platform, reports that it is working closely with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in order to acquire a license under the new Payments Services Act. The license will allow Wirex to continue to provide services in Singapore, including enabling users the… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 8:12 am By JD Alois  |  

  Singapore based Fintech Spark Systems has closed on a “Series BB” funding round raising S$15m (USD $10.5m). The funding comes from Citi and HSBC as well as OSK Ventures. They will join the existing investor base including; Vickers Venture, Dymon Asia Ventures, Dymon Asia… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 9:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of MoneyGram International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGI), has entered into a partnership with the Federal Bank Limited – a private bank in India. MoneyGram is a global payments and transfer Fintech. The collaboration will see MoneyGram services made available for… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 7:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Libra Association has added three new members: Temasek, Paradigm, and Slow Ventures. Launched by Facebook, the Libra Association is a Switzerland-based independent entity seeking to launch a blockchain-based payment system. Recently, Libra tweaked its white-paper backing away from its original intent to launch a… Read More

May 13, 2020 @ 9:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-headquartered Validus, a financing platform focused on SMEs, has secured more than $14 million in funding, with $20 million in committed capital, from a Series B+ investment round. Validus’ round was co-led by Kuok Group’s Orion fund (managed by K3 Venture Partners) and the Vertex… Read More

May 13, 2020 @ 12:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has launched a Bitcoin Mining Map that tracks the creation of BTC. As we all know, Bitcoin just completed its periodic “halving” event when the creation or mining of Bitcoin is cut in half. As one may expect,… Read More