Asia

May 18, 2025 @ 10:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Dubai Finance (DOF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Crypto.com, a global cryptocurrency trading platform, to facilitate government service fee payments using cryptocurrencies—marking a pioneering milestone in digital finance on a global scale. The agreement was formalized by Ahmad Ali Meftah, Executive Director… Read More

May 18, 2025 @ 10:47 am By Michael Wong  |  

The Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) and GFH Financial Group have formed a strategic partnership to develop a comprehensive book on Islamic capital markets, in a move aimed at reinforcing Bahrain’s status as a global hub for Islamic finance education and innovation. The… Read More

May 18, 2025 @ 7:48 am By Michael Wong  |  

Gulf International Bank B.S.C. (GIB) has closed its debut $500 million syndicated Murabaha financing facility, marking a milestone in its funding strategy and expanding its footprint in the Islamic finance market, according to a company announcement. The three-year Shariah-compliant facility was significantly oversubscribed, attracting strong… Read More

May 17, 2025 @ 12:02 pm By Michael Wong  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has proposed reforms aimed at simplifying initial public offering (IPO) requirements and expanding outreach to investors, as part of broader efforts to strengthen the city-state’s position as a competitive equities hub. In a consultation paper, MAS outlined a three-pronged… Read More

May 17, 2025 @ 11:01 am By Michael Wong  |  

BillEase, a digital consumer finance platform in the Philippines, has partnered with Maya Business, the country’s largest digital payments processor, to bring its Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service to Maya’s ecosystem. The integration enables installment-based payments at checkout via QRPh-enabled point-of-sale (POS) terminals and… Read More

May 14, 2025 @ 2:12 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Global fintech platform Pine Labs and India’s private sector J&K Bank, seek to enhance credit issuance in India by introducing a tech-first RuPay Credit Card for the bank’s customers. The RuPay Credit Card can also be “linked to UPI for seamless credit transactions.” Developed using… Read More

May 13, 2025 @ 11:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hidden Road announced that its ADGM entity, Hidden Road Partners CIV (AD) Limited, received In-Principle Approval (IPA) from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM to operate as a regulated financial services firm. Pending final regulatory approval, Hidden Road will be “authorized to offer… Read More

May 12, 2025 @ 10:39 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

EBANX, a global technology company specializing in payment services for emerging markets, has integrated UPI Autopay — the recurring payments feature of India’s instant payments system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) — into its cross-border payments platform. Operating in India in a partnership with YES BANX, a private sector… Read More

May 11, 2025 @ 9:54 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

AltNovel, an Abu Dhabi-based private markets platform regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), has partnered with 3iQ, a global digital asset investment manager, to launch the AltNovel Digital Access Portfolio, what it claims is the first ever digital asset multi-strategy fund in the… Read More

May 11, 2025 @ 7:03 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Global payments and digital assets platform ONE.io has partnered with BoomFi to launch ONE Gateway, a new service embedding cryptocurrency payment capabilities into its core offerings, the companies said. The integration allows ONE.io clients to accept major cryptocurrencies through pay links, invoices, checkout flows, and… Read More

May 11, 2025 @ 11:56 am By Michael Wong  |  

Development finance institutions Swedfund, Finnfund, and the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) have jointly committed $55 million in loans to Indonesian microfinance platform Amartha, the groups said in a joint statement. The financing is part of a broader syndicated facility of up to… Read More

May 10, 2025 @ 1:21 pm By Michael Wong  |  

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) mobilized a record $8.7 billion in nonsovereign cofinancing in 2024, highlighting the expanding role of private sector partnerships in driving development across Asia and the Pacific, the bank said in a statement. The milestone contributed to a total cofinancing volume… Read More

May 10, 2025 @ 12:22 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Cryptocurrency exchange HTX and TRON founder Justin Sun have launched the Mars Program: Special Edition, a $6 million campaign offering one user a fully funded space voyage, Business News Asia reported. The campaign, which runs from May 7 to May 13 (UTC), invites all HTX… Read More

May 10, 2025 @ 11:26 am By Michael Wong  |  

Filipinos spent approximately 1.54 billion seconds — or about 49 years — using non-bank digital lending applications in 2024, according to new analysis released by digital lender Digido. The study examined activity across 47 digital lending apps registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),… Read More

May 7, 2025 @ 7:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech PhonePe announced the launch of its “next-gen” SmartSpeaker, an upgraded version, designed to meet the evolving business needs of merchants. Built on the foundation of the original SmartSpeaker, the “next-gen version is Made in India.” The latest upgrade reportedly “retains the features of its… Read More

May 7, 2025 @ 7:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Akur8, the pricing and reserving Platform, is pleased to announce a collaboration with Post Telecommunication Joint Stock Insurance Corporation (PTI), a non-life insurer in Vietnam. PTI will leverage Akur8 Pricing platform to “strengthen its actuarial capabilities and deliver both fair and competitive insurance pricing in… Read More

May 7, 2025 @ 4:53 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and the Bahrain’s Labour Fund (Tamkeen) announced a partnership to explore the launch of the Mastercard Strive program in the Middle East, aimed at advancing financial and digital readiness for SMEs in Bahrain. This collaboration seeks to empower Bahraini… Read More

May 7, 2025 @ 11:03 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Tether, which claims to be the largest company in the digital assets industry today, announced it has created a native deployment of Tether’s USD₮ on the Kaia blockchain. LINE NEXT Corp., LINE’s venture dedicated to developing and expanding the Web3 ecosystem, and Kaia, a public… Read More

May 7, 2025 @ 7:58 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Ant Group, the fintech affiliated with Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE: BABA), is reportedly weighing a significant move to list its international arm, Ant International, on the Hong Kong stock exchange. This development signals a push to unlock value in its global operations, as the company… Read More

May 6, 2025 @ 9:03 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

MAG, a real estate developer in the United Arab Emirates, has signed a $3 billion tokenization agreement with MultiBank Group, a financial derivatives institution based in Dubai, and Mavryk, a blockchain firm, marking what the parties claim is the largest real-world asset tokenization initiative globally… Read More