Asia

January 29, 2023 @ 6:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Hong Kong credit and charge card payments market is set “to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.9% between 2022–2026 to reach HKD 831.9 billion ($106.7 billion) in 2026, driven by a significant shift in consumer preferences towards non-cash payment methods… Read More

January 28, 2023 @ 8:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Worldline [Euronext: WLN], a key player focused on payments services, announced the launch of its Buland Bharat digital payments suite, which is designed specially “keeping in mind the needs and wants of small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India.” The Buland Bharat digital payments suite… Read More

January 26, 2023 @ 9:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Open Ecosystem RegTech provider, Konsentus, establishes its MENA regional base in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia “to provide open data infrastructure and technology services to regulators and financial services providers in the Kingdom and surrounding territories.” The team is “led by Managing Director MENA, Konsentus,… Read More

January 25, 2023 @ 8:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tabby, one of MENA’s shopping and financial services apps, has raised $58 million from Sequoia Capital India, STV, PayPal Ventures, Mubadala Investment Capital, Arbor Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst in a Series C round which values the company at $660 million. The fundraise will be used… Read More

January 25, 2023 @ 8:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Newly launched Filipino digital bank GoTyme Bank has partnered with global cloud banking platform Mambu in order “to deliver an innovative digital banking solution that is aiming to improve access to high quality financial services for Filipinos.” Singapore-based Tyme Group, which has partnered with Gokongwei… Read More

January 25, 2023 @ 7:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Merchant commerce omnichannel company, Pine Labs announced that it has acquired a proprietary enterprise platform from Bengaluru-based Saluto Wellness Private Limited. This acquisition will “boost the capabilities of Pine Labs’ Issuing Business under the Qwikcilver brand, enabling it to strengthen its offerings across employee rewards… Read More

January 25, 2023 @ 6:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

UAE-based Alaan, the spend management platform for Middle Eastern businesses, announced that it has raised $4.5 million pre-Series A funding, “backed by Presight Capital, Y Combinator, and angel investors.” Together with the $2.5 million seed round last year, Alaan has “raised a total of $7… Read More

January 24, 2023 @ 10:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Touch ‘n Go Group, via the Touch ‘n Go eWallet, has formed a strategic partnership with Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, in order “to launch the first corporate social responsibility (CSR)-linked Visa prepaid card in Malaysia.” The design of the new Visa card… Read More

January 24, 2023 @ 9:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

PhonePe, one of India’s largest Fintech platforms, announced it has raised $350 million in funding from General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm, at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion. Marquee Global and Indian investors are also participating in the investment round. The investment marks… Read More

January 23, 2023 @ 10:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CIMB Bank Berhad and CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad announced that it has introduced a self-service ‘Lock Clicks ID’ feature which acts as a ‘kill switch’ for both its CIMB Clicks App and CIMB OCTO App “effective 16 January 2023.” The new feature will enable customers… Read More

January 22, 2023 @ 11:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

IndiaBonds announces the appointment of a new CEO to drive strategic growth and innovation and is set to welcome its Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Mr. Vishal Goenka. Prior to joining IndiaBonds, Vishal was “a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank Singapore, Global Markets, for many… Read More

January 22, 2023 @ 10:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Merchant commerce omnichannel platform, Pine Labs announced that it has entered the United Arab Emirates (UAE) market. Pine Labs will partner local banks and financial institutions in the region “to help them serve their merchant partners better.” Banks in the UAE will “benefit from a… Read More

January 22, 2023 @ 10:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Maybank and Perodua Sdn Bhd recently signed a Memorandum of Collaboration (MoC) on providing seamless end to end integrated digital financial services for Perodua via Maybank’s M2e platform as well as offering additional financial support via financing packages worth close to RM400 million to help… Read More

January 20, 2023 @ 6:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Doge Sound Club, which claims to be the first South Korean NFT project, and Uppsala Security, a company specializing in blockchain and virtual asset regulation technology (Reg-tech), announced the signing of a partnership on the 10th of January “with the goal of improving Web3 security.”… Read More

January 19, 2023 @ 7:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Payment solutions provider BPC has extended its collaboration with Bahrain-based International Payment Services B.S.C (IPS), a third party payments processing and payments firm. As part of the agreement, BPC will allow IPS “to extend the use of its open system e-payment platform ‘SmartVista’.” Headquartered in… Read More

January 19, 2023 @ 7:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

WeLab Bank, which claims to be the most innovative bank in Hong Kong, launched the Exclusive Limited-time Offer: Tesla-dedicated Loan with 0% APR “for selected Tesla owners and staff from selected organizations across Hong Kong.” Eligible customers will also “enjoy bonus offer including free supercharging1,… Read More

January 18, 2023 @ 4:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

“Fueled a high-tech axis of cryptocrime.” The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced the arrest of Anatoly Legkodymov, 40, a Russian national who resides in Shenzhen, China, as the founder and operator of Bitzlato, a crypto exchange the feds have alleged to have processed… Read More

January 18, 2023 @ 10:49 am By Omar Faridi  |  

HashKey Capital, a global asset manager specializing in crypto and blockchain, has announced the final closing of its third fund, HashKey FinTech Investment Fund III  with a total commitment of US$500 million. Fund III received strong support “from institutional investors namely sovereign wealth funds, renowned… Read More

January 18, 2023 @ 10:47 am By Omar Faridi  |  

BFC Payments B.S.C. (C), the Fintech arm of BFC Group Holdings W.L.L., has collaborated with M2P Fintech, which claims to be Asia’s largest API infrastructure company, “to launch an advanced multicurrency card, BFC PAY TRAVEL BUDDY that offers international travelers great convenience as it allows… Read More

January 18, 2023 @ 7:47 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital asset firm Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) reveals that the harsh market conditions have led to the company  makin the difficult decision “to halt operations in Japan and to conduct a complete review of ther business in the country.” However, Coinbase is committed “to making this transition… Read More