Asia

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

December 31, 2022 @ 2:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

There has never been a “dull moment” in crypto, and this year was no exception, the team at Kraken noted. In 2022, Kraken celebrated 11 years of their mission “to accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrency so that you and the rest of the world can… Read More

December 31, 2022 @ 11:20 am By Omar Faridi  |  

China’s securities regulator stated on Friday (December 29, 2022) that online brokerage platforms Futu Holding and UP Fintech Holding have allegedly carried out unlawful securities businesses/transactions, and will now be banned from opening new accounts from mainland China investors. The penalty comes after over a… Read More

December 29, 2022 @ 11:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hyphen Group, a Fintech firm backed by Hong Kong-based billionaire Richard Li, has reportedly secured $22 million in capital via a funding round that was led by PCCW. The company stated that the amount secured is more than its initial $20 million target. The company… Read More

December 29, 2022 @ 9:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Dubai Chamber of Commerce has announced the launch of a new Fintech & Payments Business Group aimed at bringing together companies of all sizes “within the fintech and payments sector to encourage collegial dialogue, advocate policy change and promote the emirate as a highly competitive global… Read More

December 29, 2022 @ 9:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Pak-Qatar Takaful Group and BLINQ Solutions Private Limited have reportedly entered an agreement with a goal to streamline payment collections and assist existing and new clients with making payments from an extensive range of payment solutions. According to a statement made on December 26, Saqib… Read More

December 29, 2022 @ 8:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Puneet Maheshwari, Director at Upstox, which supports powerful investing and trading made simple, and claims to be trusted by Indian consumers, reveals that Upstox is “an online trading app for Demat Account, Share Market, MF, IPO with 10 million+ customers.” Backed by Ratan Tata and… Read More

December 29, 2022 @ 1:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Global blockchain gaming company Wemade announced that Rise of Stars (ROS), a mobile game developed by LightCON Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Wemade Max Co., Ltd., revamped the Silthereum system on December 28, as follows. Updated Silther Check used for item purchase and Silthereum exchange… Read More