Asia

January 21, 2020 @ 3:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Monerium, a licensed e-money issuer will be utilizing the Algorand blockchain protocol to provide fiat currency transactions, according to a company release. Monerium is registered in Iceland and is authorized by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Iceland. The company received regulatory approval last June. The… Read More

January 20, 2020 @ 2:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-headquartered neobank Tonik Financial Pte. Ltd. has reportedly been awarded an operational license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), in order to offer financial services in the Philippines. The license will allow Tonik, via its local division Tonik Digital Bank Inc., to offer a… Read More

January 20, 2020 @ 1:14 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Banking group DBS announced on Monday it has launched a new solution to transform cash and paper-based B2B payments and collections landscape for businesses in Singapore. The bank reported its QR-code based solution is powered by DBS RAPID and DBS MAX and addresses Singapore’s aim… Read More

January 20, 2020 @ 11:20 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The global investments into China’s Fintech startup ecosystem have declined significantly by more than seven times at roughly $4.9 billion last year, after reaching an all-time high of $34 billion in 2018. The investments have dropped considerably for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) Fintech firms… Read More

January 20, 2020 @ 10:43 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Hong Kong-based fintech Liquefy announced on Monday it has appointed former COO of Turner Sports, Matt Hong, as the inaugural member of its new advisory board. The company reported it will “tap” Hong to bring his experience in the sports industry to advise the fintech… Read More

January 19, 2020 @ 8:28 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Ant Financial is reportedly working with several banking institutions in order to revive its plans for conducting an initial public offering (IPO). The Fintech company’s decision to go public has come more than a year after China’s leading mobile payments firm postponed the process after… Read More

January 18, 2020 @ 5:54 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Tencent LiCaiTong Releases “Online Wealth Management Behavior and Security Report (2019)“ On January 14th, LiCaiTong, Tencent’s wealth management platform, and National Institution for Finance & Development (NIFD) jointly released the “Online Wealth Management Behavior and Security Report (2019)”. The report published the 2019 online wealth… Read More

January 18, 2020 @ 10:38 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based Fintech firm CredoLab has confirmed that the Financial Services Authority (OJK) has officially recognized it as an established provider of financial technology services to companies in Indonesia. Michele Tucci, chief product officer at CredoLab, stated: “Clients can rely on the OJK’s assessment and audit… Read More

January 17, 2020 @ 9:15 am By Cali Haan  |  

Korean cryptocurrency trading platform Upbit reinstated deposits January 13th after shutting them down in late November in response to a $50 million USD hack. Deposits have now been restored following an upgrade to the exchange’s wallet system, the exchange writes in a notice. Customers will, “need… Read More

January 16, 2020 @ 10:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

We recently caught up with Shaun Djie, co-founder and chief operating officer at Digix, one of the first “smart-asset” companies leveraging blockchain tech to account for the authentication and provenance of 99.99% investment-grade gold bullions. Shaun currently serves as a board member for Singapore’s IT… Read More

January 16, 2020 @ 6:49 pm By Cali Haan  |  

One of the world’s most famous cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance, will no longer be serving cryptocurrency speculators in Japan. Binance made the announcement on its Japanese language page. The announcement, according to an automated translation, reads: “Thank you for always patronizing Binance. Binance.com will be phasing… Read More

January 16, 2020 @ 9:25 am By Cali Haan  |  

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) plans to further reduce allowable limits on leveraged cryptocurrency bets, down from 4X of customer deposits to 2X. Japan’s Cabinet voted to greatly reduce leveraged crypto trades on local platforms last April. At that time, permitted leveraged trades were reduced… Read More

January 15, 2020 @ 10:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Amazon Pay in India has received a capital injection of INR 13.5 billion (appr. $19.3 million) from its Singapore and Mauritius-headquartered parent entities, according to a filing with the registrar of companies (RoC). As noted in the financial documents available on business intelligence and information… Read More

January 15, 2020 @ 11:02 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Ant Financial Services Group (Ant Financial), a China-based tech company and the operator of Alipay, is set to host its upcoming fintech conference in Shanghai. Ant Financial reported that the INCLUSION Fintech Conference is an event that aims to bring together the global financial and… Read More

January 14, 2020 @ 11:08 am By Omar Faridi  |  

HSBC, a British multinational investment bank and financial services holding company with over $2.5 trillion in total assets, has reportedly been voted as the leading trade finance bank in the Middle Eastern country of Bahrain in the Euromoney trade finance survey for 2020. This is… Read More

January 14, 2020 @ 8:02 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

iSTOX, a regulated capital markets platform that provides digital security issuance and trading, announced on Tuesday it secured a $5 million investment from South Korea-based Hanwha Asset Management. This new investment comes just a couple of months after iSTOX received a $5 million investment from… Read More

January 14, 2020 @ 7:46 am By Omar Faridi  |  

“Beijing Tong,” a mobile-based app developed and released by Beijing’s municipal government, has reportedly registered data from more than 1,000 local business offices on its “menu blockchain” system. Confirming the development on January 11, 2020, during a scheduled session of the Municipal People’s Congress, Feng… Read More

January 14, 2020 @ 12:06 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Qatar Financial Center (QFC), one of the largest and fastest-growing business and financial centers in the Middle Eastern country, ended 2019 with a significant 33% growth, as nearly 200 companies registered on QFC’s platform. The number of firms establishing operations out of the QFC… Read More

January 14, 2020 @ 12:04 am By JD Alois  |  

A consortium led by Enigma Group has applied for a Digital Full Bank license in Singapore, according to a company release. The co-applicants are said to include Singapore-based companies, Qrypt Technologies, 2359 Media and Blockchain Worx, along with UK-based Enigma Global Holdings. The group adds… Read More

January 13, 2020 @ 11:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The global payments industry is evolving rapidly and will only be developing faster in the coming years according to several reports. From digital transformation efforts to the increasing competition among Fintech firms to innovate, it is becoming more important for companies to upgrade their tech… Read More