Asia

May 17, 2023 @ 6:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Malaysia (C4IR Malaysia) was officially launched by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, and the President of the World Economic Forum, Børge Brende. C4IR Malaysia will “play a crucial role in driving the advancement of the digital… Read More

May 16, 2023 @ 10:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Emirates Islamic, which claims to be one of the leading Islamic financial institutions in the UAE, has launched the new Emarati Absher Business Account designed exclusively “to provide a comprehensive suite of premium banking solutions for Emarati start-ups in the UAE.” The new business banking… Read More

May 16, 2023 @ 10:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Macau Pass has been officially approved to provide acquiring services to Alipay+ market-leading partner e-wallets from the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand. This means that in addition to Alipay, AlipayHK, WeChat Pay, Simple Pay and other e-wallets launched by other banks in Macau, Macau Pass payment… Read More

May 15, 2023 @ 3:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

At one point, China was the top Fintech jurisdiction in the world, dominating online lending and other Fintech verticals along with a robust digital asset sector. That was then, and this is now – Fintech has been siloed into specific, approved businesses, and cryptocurrencies are… Read More

May 15, 2023 @ 3:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

Fintech ZestMoney appears to be falling apart after its founders announced they were departing the firm. ZestMoney, is a digital EMI/  BNPL platform that has announced multiple partnerships with some pretty big firms during its brief existence. A deal with PhoneRE was in the works… Read More

May 14, 2023 @ 9:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

PayNearby, which claims to be one of India’s leading branchless banking and digital networks, launched PayNearby Mall—a meta commerce platform to enable easy availability of good and services, in an assisted mode at the last mile. This will soon be “integrated with the Open Network… Read More

May 14, 2023 @ 3:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Quantum Brilliance, the developer of room-temperature miniaturized quantum computing products and solutions, today announced the first quantum software reseller agreement through PTC, a Singapore-based provider of enterprise data management solutions and services to Asia. The agreement enables PTC customers “to explore hybrid classical-quantum computing for… Read More

May 14, 2023 @ 12:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

On the back of strong growth in the Middle East, Ripple, the enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions provider, is expanding its presence in Dubai by “opening a new office location in the heart of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and bringing Swell Global 2023, the… Read More

May 13, 2023 @ 4:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Last year, it was reported that late-stage tech backer Liquidity Group had raised $775M for its Fintech platform from Apollo (private equity) and MUFG (a Japanese bank). Liquidity is “part tech platform and part lender, using its technology to make decisions on deploying debt facilities… Read More

May 13, 2023 @ 9:43 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently announced the re-appointment of three existing members to its Board of Directors and the re-appointment of its Managing Director. Mr Lucien Wong, Attorney-General, and Mr Chaly Mah, Chairman of NetLink NBN Management Pte Ltd, will be “re-appointed to… Read More

May 12, 2023 @ 7:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

ABHI, which claims to be a growing embedded finance platform in the MENAP region, announces it has made history by issuing Islamic bonds worth PKR 2 billion (US$7.1 million). The bond issue is considered to be “a significant milestone for both ABHI, and the region,… Read More

May 11, 2023 @ 1:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in order “to collaborate on digital assets, including digital asset custody.” Subject to regulatory approval, Standard Chartered plans “to launch digital asset custody services, starting in DIFC and… Read More

May 9, 2023 @ 10:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) seeks public consultation on the draft “Rules for Regulating Buy Now Pay later (BNPL) Companies.” In the interest of transparency and wider participation, SAMA reportedly “invites stakeholders and public to provide suggestions and observations on the draft Rules by visiting… Read More

May 9, 2023 @ 10:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

PolicyStreet, an emerging regional insurtech company, has recorded exponential growth in FY22, with its topline growing by five times compared to the previous financial year (FY21) and attaining sum insured of more than USD 6 billion. Despite the challenging business environment in FY22, PolicyStreet claims… Read More

May 9, 2023 @ 9:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Uppsala Security, a provider of award-winning security tools and services for Crypto AML/CTF, Transaction Risk Management, Regulatory Compliance and Transaction Tracking has announced a partnership with CODE, a South Korean-based virtual asset service provider (VASP) compliance solution. As part of this partnership, CODE has “launched… Read More

May 9, 2023 @ 4:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

QistBazaar, a Pakistan-based Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) Fintech, announces an equity and Shariah-Compliant embedded finance partnership with Bank Alfalah – one of Pakistan’s largest commercial banks. The partnership is “worth PKR 500 million (US$1.7m) , and includes Bank Alfalah taking a 7.2% equity stake… Read More

May 8, 2023 @ 11:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Global payments provider Checkout.com has entered an agreement with Mamo, the fintech powering payments for SMEs across MENA, making Checkout.com the payments provider of choice for their flagship product Mamo Business. This deal further supports Mamo’s mission “to accelerate the growth of SMEs in the… Read More

May 8, 2023 @ 10:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

OCBC Bank (SGX: O39) will be ramping up its Digital Silvers program with the aim of upskilling 2,000 elderly customers from now until the end of the year. Given this ambitious target, the bank will “increase the frequency of its workshops from around twice a… Read More

May 8, 2023 @ 7:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

PT Bank Maybank Indonesia, Tbk. (Maybank Indonesia or the Bank) announced its Consolidated Financial Results ended 31 March 2023, “with Profit before Tax (PBT) increased by 33.3% to Rp750 billion from Rp562 billion last year.” This was “derived from improved earning on its assets composition… Read More

May 7, 2023 @ 2:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has reportedly imposed on DBS Bank Ltd (DBS Bank) an additional capital requirement, “following the widespread unavailability of DBS Bank’s digital banking services on 29 March 2023 and a subsequent disruption to its digital banking and ATM services on… Read More