Asia

November 2, 2023 @ 10:13 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary, Paul Chan Mo-po, has asserted that stringent regulation of virtual assets is crucial for market development, defending the region’s new licensing regime in the wake of JPEX‘s collapse earlier this year. The unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange is currently under investigation, but Chan… Read More

November 2, 2023 @ 9:56 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Funding Societies (Modalku), a unified small and medium enterprises (SME) digital finance platform in Southeast Asia, has announced raising $7.5 million in debt from Norfund, Development Financial Institution (DFI) operated by the Norwegian government. DFIs have played a significant role in impact investments in Southeast… Read More

November 2, 2023 @ 4:21 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, today announced expanded support for JCB, a card network in Japan and one of the top payment networks in the world. JCB is now available on Stripe “in 39 countries and territories, making it easy for businesses in… Read More

November 1, 2023 @ 7:31 pm By JD Alois  |  

Hong Kong is showing its support for digital assets today as ZA Bank, one of a handful of regulated digital banks in the jurisdiction, has announced support for crypto exchange OKX Hong Kong. ZA Bank has issued a statement indicating they will provide an operating… Read More

October 31, 2023 @ 11:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fave, a consumer fintech platform in Southeast Asia and India, has announced its participation in the SGQR+ POC led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The SGQR+ POC will be limited “to Districts 16 and 17 of Singapore and showcased during the Singapore FinTech… Read More

October 30, 2023 @ 9:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

One more business partner, LoanPlus from Sri Lanka, joins the PeerBerry platform. LoanPlus will reportedly offer PeerBerry investors investments “in short-term loans with an 11.5% annual return.” Loans provided by LoanPlus to PeerBerry investors “include a buyback and a group guarantee.” LoanPlus (legal name AISIT… Read More

October 30, 2023 @ 11:15 am By JD Alois  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA), the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), and the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will partner on digital asset innovation, including pilots in fixed income, foreign exchange and asset management products…. Read More

October 30, 2023 @ 6:11 am By Michael Wong  |  

YouTrip, a multi-currency digital payments platform in Southeast Asia, has successfully secured $50 million in its latest Series B fundraising round, according to an announcement. This round was led by Lightspeed, a global venture capital firm and a new investor in YouTrip, propelling the company’s… Read More

October 29, 2023 @ 11:14 pm By Michael Wong  |  

Cambodia has recently taken a significant step forward in the financial technology sector with the unveiling of the Fintech Policy directive for 2023-2028. This strategic move is poised to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), propelling the nation into the forefront of the rapidly evolving fintech… Read More

October 28, 2023 @ 4:22 pm By Michael Wong  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has initiated a public consultation process as it seeks to revamp the regulatory framework governing fund managers. The proposal aims to disband the existing Registered Fund Management Companies (RFMCs) regime, providing an opportunity for current RFMCs to transition to… Read More

October 27, 2023 @ 6:02 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Thunes, the global B2B payment infrastructure platform, and China Construction Bank (CCB), a commercial bank in China, have announced partnership to collaborate on cross-border payments. With the new relationship, Thunes will support the bank “to enable international payment acceptance for Chinese small to medium-sized businesses… Read More

October 27, 2023 @ 12:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

We recently spoke with Markus Prommik, CEO and Co-founder of Finfra, a Fintech platform that develops white-labeled lending products for non-Fintech companies seeking to integrate financial services into their platforms. Based in Jakarta, Indonesia, Finfra not only provides practical embedded lending solutions to their clients… Read More

October 27, 2023 @ 10:34 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Binance, which is being sued by US regulators for a wide range of issues while also facing major operational challenges globally, announces that Kyrylo Khomiakov, Binance’s Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) General Manager, has been appointed the Regional Head for both the CEE and Central… Read More

October 22, 2023 @ 10:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tonik, the digital bank in the Philippines, is pleased to announce its newest strategic partnership with life insurance company Sun Life Grepa Financial, Inc.. This transformative collaboration aims “to enhance the financial well-being of the companies’ valued customers.” The focal point of this groundbreaking partnership… Read More

October 22, 2023 @ 9:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Temenos (SIX: TEMN) announced that Lien Viet Post Joint Stock Commercial Bank (LPBank), one of the top 10 private commercial banks in Vietnam in terms of assets and equity, has selected Temenos in order “to modernize its core banking platform for retail and corporate banking.”… Read More

October 22, 2023 @ 6:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nium, the real-time global payments provider, has expanded its B2B travel payments offering in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, “building on rising demand for its virtual card solution offering globally.” Travel intermediaries and operators use Nium’s virtual card solution “to efficiently pay suppliers around the… Read More

October 22, 2023 @ 5:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. of Japan and Kudasai Corp. have formally partnered to enhance the content dissemination of the Web3 learning application “Web3 Pocket Campus”. SlowMist will contribute by “providing high-quality research reports and content as teaching materials to support Web3.” As a blockchain security… Read More

October 22, 2023 @ 2:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Finastra, a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, is partnering with ELCY, a specialist in e-commerce solutions for the processing of international trade finance, to provide a trade finance solution for corporates. The Corporate Trade Finance Portal from Finastra and ELCY will “enable… Read More

October 22, 2023 @ 12:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) signed a cooperation agreement with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in Riyadh, in the field of Fintech and innovation. The agreement was signed by Ayman Al-Sayari, Governor of SAMA, and Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of… Read More

October 22, 2023 @ 11:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a global firm focused n mission-critical, real-time payment solutions,  announced that Nymcard, a card issuer in the MENA region, has enhanced its fraud platform with ACI Fraud Management in order “to better protect its customers from the growing threat of financial… Read More