Asia

January 8, 2023 @ 5:57 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Malaysia-based payments network and infrastructure provider PayNet has recently appointed Gary Yeoh as the firm’s new Chief Commercial Officer. The appointment to oversee PayNet’s commercial operations comes after quite a notable year for Yeoh, who is reportedly a veteran of the Malaysian payments sector and… Read More

January 8, 2023 @ 5:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announced the launch of the Open Banking Lab according to the Open Banking Framework issued by SAMA November 2022. The Open Banking Lab aims “to enable innovation and accelerate the development of open banking services in the Kingdom as it… Read More

January 7, 2023 @ 5:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bengaluru-headquartered Fintech lending platform KreditBee has reportedly extended its Series D funding round with a $100 million investment from private equity firm Advent International. The Advent funding has now topped up the first tranche of the Series D investment round, which also netted $100 million… Read More

January 7, 2023 @ 3:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

With Singapore consumers living their lives online, nearly eight out of 10 (around 77%) would like the option to control their data instead of leaving it up to the discretion of firms and governments, according to Consumer Data Confidence Research shared by Visa (NYSE: V)…. Read More

January 7, 2023 @ 11:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Global blockchain technology solutions provider ChainUp Group announced the appointment of Ms. Tan Bin Ru as its Deputy Chief Executive Officer cum Chief Operating Officer, “effective 3 January 2023, as part of the company’s business growth plan.” In this role, Ms. Tan will “work closely… Read More

January 7, 2023 @ 11:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

China Mobile, the parent firm of Pakistan’s telecommunications network, Zong 4G, showcased its first digital payments solution ‘PayMax,’ during an exclusive product showcasing event at Zong HQ in Islamabad. This initiative aims to empower the consumers of Pakistan with a financial solution that is secure… Read More

January 7, 2023 @ 9:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank, has partnered with the world’s fastest-growing digital banking enterprise, OPEN, “to provide a fully native digital current account journey for its customers including SMEs, freelancers, homepreneurs, influencers and more.” This partnership “offers the larger business community access… Read More

January 6, 2023 @ 7:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

ICICI Bank (NYSE:IBN) announced the launch of digital solutions for exporters, “a comprehensive set of banking and value-added services on a single platform.” In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the industry, the suite of solutions “digitize the entire export life-cycle– from discovery of export markets, export… Read More

January 6, 2023 @ 7:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Maybank announced that it is offering Flood Relief Assistance to individual, SME and other non-retail customers “affected by floods arising from heavy rainfall recently.” The relief assistance is “aimed at easing the financial burden of Maybank customers impacted by the floods.” The Flood Relief Assistance… Read More

January 6, 2023 @ 6:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

PayBy, a Fintech firm recently acquired by Astra Tech in August 2022, has been licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE “to conduct Stored Value Facility (SVF) and Retail Payment Services (RPS) operations.” The license “represents one of the country’s highest levels of financial… Read More

January 6, 2023 @ 5:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

You may quibble about totals, but the value lost in digital assets during 2022 was pretty enormous. If you exited at the end of 2021 – congratulations. If you remained invested or HODLed. Sorry. On top of that, multiple centralized crypto platforms imploded, and the… Read More

January 6, 2023 @ 8:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

On 28 December 2022, the High Court in Singapore sentenced Mr Soh Chee Wen (also known as John Soh), and Ms Quah Su-Ling to a total of 36 and 20 years’ imprisonment respectively “for, among other things, orchestrating an elaborate scheme to manipulate the shares… Read More

January 5, 2023 @ 9:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a financial institution, announced the launch of the region’s first tokenized, contactless payment methods “through the options of clasp and ring ‘ADIB PAY’, in partnership with token enablement service provider Tappy Technologies and global digital payments leader, Visa.” ADIB Visa… Read More

January 4, 2023 @ 10:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In a bid to further strengthen Abu Dhabi’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, Flat6Labs, the MENA region’s seed-stage program and early-stage venture capital firm, and Wio Bank, the region’s first platform bank, have “signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).” Under the agreement, startups from Flat6Labs Ignite, a specialized… Read More

January 3, 2023 @ 9:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the Philippines revealed that it will be making a full shift towards all-digital payments by February 1, 2023. The general public residing in the Southeast Asian country will be using the eSPAYSEC that was introduced in March 2022,… Read More

January 3, 2023 @ 9:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Binance has partnered with Kazakhstan’s government organizations in charge of financial technology, education, digital development, and innovation “with the goal of delivering blockchain education to 40,000 people by 2026.” To plan and execute this large-scale initiative, Binance joined forces with the Research Lab’s Blockchain Center,… Read More

January 3, 2023 @ 8:49 am By Omar Faridi  |  

In the scope of the first-phase studies of the Digital Turkish Lira Project, conducted under the leadership of the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT), the first payment transactions on the Digital Turkish Lira Network were “executed successfully.” The CBRT will “continue to… Read More

January 3, 2023 @ 7:34 am By Omar Faridi  |  

BNY Mellon (NYSE: BK) announced it has been selected by the Employees Provident Fund Board of Malaysia (EPF) to deliver a transformational investment accounting project. In addition to custody solutions BNY Mellon provides for the EPF, this broader remit aims to deliver “a solution for… Read More

January 2, 2023 @ 8:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at FSN is pleased to announce a channel partnership with Chainlink Labs in order “to accelerate the widespread adoption of NFTs and the NFT ecosystem in South Korea.” The channel partnership between Chainlink Labs and FSN will “help boost the adoption of the… Read More

January 1, 2023 @ 9:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Darwinbox, which claims to be one of the fastest-growing HR technology unicorns, announced the appointment of Panuwat Benrohman (Ben) as the Managing Director and Country Head for Thailand. Panuwat (Ben) is the latest addition to Darwinbox’s growing Regional Leadership team and will be “at the… Read More