Asia

February 14, 2023 @ 9:53 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In line with the vision of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, and Chairman of the Central Bank of the UAE’s (CBUAE) Board of Directors, the CBUAE launched its Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program (FIT program)… Read More

February 14, 2023 @ 9:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In a “first” for biometric payments in the UAE, Network International, the enabler of digital commerce in the MENA region, and Carrefour, owned and operated by Majid Al Futtaim in the UAE, announced that they have “implemented the Face Pay face verification platform for payments… Read More

February 14, 2023 @ 5:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Wirex, a crypto payments platform, has signed a long-term strategic global partnership with payments company network, Visa. This includes “becoming a member of Visa in APAC and the UK that will allow Wirex to directly issue crypto-enabled debit and prepaid cards themselves to over 40… Read More

February 13, 2023 @ 11:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) and the Financial Affairs Office of Nanjing Municipal People’s Government (Nanjing FAO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) “to strengthen cooperation, and in particular support Nanjing-based companies that are interested in seeking a listing in Hong Kong.” Under… Read More

February 12, 2023 @ 10:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

SMBC has announced the launch in March 2023 of “Olive,” an all-in-one card “that combines a Sumitomo Mitsui Banking account, credit, debit, and point payments.” SMBC, or Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, is a global financial services firm based in Japan. SMBC has been active in… Read More

February 12, 2023 @ 9:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Uppsala Security, a provider of security tools and services for Crypto AML/CTF, Transaction Risk Management, Regulatory Compliance, and Transaction Tracking, announced that it has signed a Virtual Asset Customization (Consignment) contract with Korea Digital Asset (KODA). Through this contract, KODA’s virtual asset consignment system “will… Read More

February 12, 2023 @ 7:54 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tazapay, a fintech company specializing in cross-border payments, announced that it has raised $16.9 million in its Series A funding round. Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia led the investment round, “with EscapeVelocity (escp.vc), PayPal Alumni Fund, as well as renowned angel investor Gokul Rajaram joining as… Read More

February 12, 2023 @ 7:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) reaffirmed the close ties between the two authorities “at the fourth BDCB-MAS Bilateral Roundtable, and discussed new areas of collaboration.” At the Roundtable, BDCB Managing Director, Rokiah Bakar and MAS Managing Director, Ravi… Read More

February 12, 2023 @ 6:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

MONIX Co., Ltd., a Bangkok-based AI-powered digital lending platform, announced that the company has secured US$20 million in the first close of its pre-IPO fundraising. The investment round was “led by the mothership SCBX and a new investor Lombard Asia, a Southeast Asia’s growth-focused private… Read More

February 10, 2023 @ 12:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

Republic, a US-based online capital formation platform, now operating in Europe, has launched the website for Republic Asia. Last year, Republic closed on its acquisition of Seedrs – a large UK-based platform that has also been operating on the European continent. In March of 2022,… Read More

February 8, 2023 @ 9:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Cashfree Payments, India’s payments and API banking solutions company, launched ‘Co-lend’, a fully automated escrow management solution for co-lending. ‘Co-lend’ has been developed in line “with the digital lending guidelines announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).” It facilitates instant disbursal “with auto reconciliation… Read More

February 8, 2023 @ 8:51 am By JD Alois  |  

Matrixport has had its UK wholly-owned subsidiary, Matrixport Advisors Limited, appointed as an Appointed Representative (AR) of Varramore Partners Limited (Varramore), which is authorized and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The relationship allows Matrixport to conduct a range of investment-related activities in the UK…. Read More

February 7, 2023 @ 11:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Innoviti Technologies in collaboration with Reliance Retail, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank announced the launch of in-store acceptance of retail payments via Digital Rupee – Retail [e₹-R]. After being the first to introduce dynamic QR based in-store UPI payments, Reliance Retail, in continuance of… Read More

February 6, 2023 @ 7:02 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Binance, which claims to be the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, has invested in GOPAX, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange licensed “to provide fiat-to-crypto services to customers, as part of its Industry Recovery Initiative (IRI).” In November 2022, GOPAX halted “the withdrawal… Read More

February 5, 2023 @ 6:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Gobi Partners, the “most interconnected” Pan-Asian venture capital (VC) firm with US$1.5 billion (RM6.5 billion) in assets under management has “onboarded four more promising Malaysian startups to its Gobi Superseed II Fund (Gobi SSII Fund).” The four firms “being onboarded are Islamic-themed streaming service Durioo+,… Read More

February 5, 2023 @ 1:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued the consultation conclusion to the discussion paper on crypto-assets and stablecoins (the “Consultation Conclusion”), summarizing the feedback “received in relation to the paper and the HKMA’s response.” In the Consultation Conclusion, the HKMA proposes “to bring certain activities… Read More

February 2, 2023 @ 9:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

ZA Bank Limited, one of the first regulated digital banks in Hong Kong, has announced the appointment of Ronald Iu as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director. According to the bank, Iu joined ZA International, the parent company of ZA Bank, as Chief Strategy Officer… Read More

February 2, 2023 @ 8:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

MNT-Halan, Egypt’s “fastest growing” fintech ecosystem, announced that Chimera Abu Dhabi has invested more than $200 million in equity in exchange for over 20% of the company. In addition, the company claims it is “in advanced stages with leading international investors to raise $60 million… Read More

February 2, 2023 @ 3:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mastercard (NYSE: MA), a technology firm focused on the global payments industry, has partnered with Bahrain’s fintech and payment service provider Eazy Financial Services (EazyPay) that will now be powered by Mastercard Payment Gateway Services (MPGS). MPGS is a trusted platform that “provides financial institutions… Read More

February 2, 2023 @ 11:24 am By JD Alois  |  

QED Investors has appointed Melissa Ho as its lead in Southeast Asia as the Fintech VC focuses on the hot Asian market. QED is one of the leading Fintech venture capital firms in the world. Ho, based in Singapore, will be looking for Fintech firms… Read More