Asia

April 11, 2023 @ 10:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

FWD Group Holdings Limited recently completed its majority investment, with other investors, in Gibraltar BSN Life Berhad, “marking its entry into the Malaysian life insurance market.” The transaction was originally “announced on 20 February 2023.” As a result, FWD Group can now “provide a full-service… Read More

April 11, 2023 @ 10:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

FYST, a “one-stop” payments consultancy for ecommerce businesses, has released the first part of a new three-part report, ‘The Map of World Payments’, that drills deep into ecommerce payment trends, with this instalment focusing on the MENA region, and shows how merchants serving these regions… Read More

April 10, 2023 @ 6:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Apptile, an SaaS startup specializing in no-code mobile app development, has secured $2.5 million in seed funding. The funds will be used “to launch Apptile’s innovative platform, allowing Shopify businesses to create customized, high-performance mobile apps without the need for coding or design experience.” The… Read More

April 9, 2023 @ 6:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Backbase, the global fintech focused on Engagement Banking, has partnered An Binh Bank (ABBANK) to transform the banking experiences “for millions of Vietnamese customers.” Supported by their local partner CMC Technology and Solution, Backbase will deliver the full suite of the Engagement Banking Platform, “which… Read More

April 9, 2023 @ 3:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Asian e-wallets have recorded strong increase of use in Japan at cherry blossom season. Spending by consumers from South Korea and Malaysia “saw most growth since October when Japan first resumed a visa waiver policy.” As the ongoing cherry blossom season drives up travel demand,… Read More

April 9, 2023 @ 2:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Soft Space Sdn. Bhd., a financial technology player, announced it has raised $31.5 million in its latest funding round. Southern Capital Group (SCG) Pte. Ltd, led the investment round, “with participation from returning investor transcosmos Inc., strategic investor JCB (previously announced), and venture capital fund… Read More

April 6, 2023 @ 10:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has launched its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Implementation Strategy in collaboration with R3, G42 Cloud and Clifford Chance. For Phase 1, R3 and G42 Cloud have been “selected as the technology and infrastructure providers of the initiative… Read More

April 6, 2023 @ 8:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Matrixport, which claims to be one of the world’s largest and trusted digital assets financial services ecosystems, announced that its institutional qualified custodian service, Cactus Custody, has integrated with NEAR Protocol, a Layer 1 blockchain ecosystem. The partnership “enables seamless support of the NEAR Protocol… Read More

April 6, 2023 @ 11:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

CoinTrade, an app-based trading platform, cryptocurrency exchange and staking services provider owned by Mercury Co., Ltd, has announced its integration with Fireblocks, a platform to create innovative products on the blockchain and manage day-to-day crypto operations. Whilst the digital assets industry has evolved rapidly over… Read More

April 5, 2023 @ 9:53 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Temenos (SIX: TEMN) announced that Saudi Export-Import Bank (Saudi EXIM Bank) has implemented Temenos core banking platform, going live in just six months. Temenos enables Saudi EXIM Bank “to drive operational and financial efficiency, making it faster and easier for businesses to access trade finance,… Read More

April 5, 2023 @ 12:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Surer has released its latest feature that allows insurance intermediaries to build and launch their personal websites within minutes. Called the Personal Website Builder, insurance intermediaries “can showcase their professional profile, achievements and most importantly, the insurance products that they distribute.” Their clients can now… Read More

April 4, 2023 @ 10:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

Pine Protocol has announced its launch on the Polygon blockchain. Polygone enables Ethereum scaling solutions powering some big platforms like Aave, Uniswap, and OpenSea. Pine Protocol is a “decentralized non-custodial protocol that facilitates NFT asset-backed loan transactions between lenders and borrowers.” Borrowers may leverage their NFTs… Read More

April 4, 2023 @ 6:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hadhramout Commercial Bank (HCB) has successfully gone live on ICS BANKS Innovative Core banking, Digital Banking, and Islamic Banking solutions from ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS), the global software and services provider for banks and financial institutions. Hadhramout Commercial Bank is “a newly established Yemeni bank… Read More

April 4, 2023 @ 3:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tranglo recently announced the launch of instant SEPA payments to Europe. It reportedly marks the company’s first large-scale expansion “in that region and comes amid an influx of cross-border funds in recent years.” As noted in the update, SEPA “facilitates over 43 billion transactions annually,… Read More

April 3, 2023 @ 9:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Central Bank of Bahrain has issued amendments to its Crypto-assets (“CRA”) Module in March 2023, “following a consultation process with the industry stakeholders.” The amendments aim “to cater to the ongoing developments in the crypto-assets markets and comply with the industry best practices while… Read More

April 2, 2023 @ 6:18 am By Omar Faridi  |  

NdcTech, a technology services firm transforming banks and financial institutions globally has successfully modernized the core banking system of Samba Bank onto the latest release of Temenos Transact. Samba Bank Limited is “a subsidiary of Saudi National Bank (SNB) KSA in Pakistan, offering personal and… Read More

March 31, 2023 @ 4:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) have partnered to announce QR codes for payments will now be accepted bilaterally. Users at participating financial firms will now accept in-person payments by scanning a physical code displayed on merchants as well as… Read More

March 31, 2023 @ 8:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

bolttech, the international insurtech, and Tune Protect Group, the region’s digital lifestyle insurer, have announced a partnership “to launch a new generation of device protection solutions and support services in Malaysia.” Tune Protect Malaysia, the Malaysian General Insurance arm of the Group, is the exclusive… Read More

March 30, 2023 @ 5:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Alipay platform announced an incentive plan worth 10 billion RMB (approximately 1.45 billion USD) to further support its service provider partners (ISVs). The ISVs are independent software vendors that “utilize Alipay’s digital capabilities to create solutions for merchants, such as mobile food ordering, digital… Read More

March 30, 2023 @ 11:11 am By JD Alois  |  

Do Kwon is expected to stand trial in Montenegro before facing charges in other interested jurisdictions. Kwon is the founder and CEO of Terraform Labs, the crypto company that created TerraUSD and LUNA. TerraUSD was an aspiring algorithmic stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. The… Read More