Asia

India’s Cashfree Payments Introduces Lending Solution to Help Financial Services Firms

Cashfree Payments, India’s payments and API banking solutions company, has rolled out their Disbursement and Collections solution for Lending, “to enable NBFCs and their partner LSPs to comply with the new Digital Lending guidelines.” Cashfree Payments will “facilitate both digital lending and co-lending use cases… Read More

Visa to Launch Innovation Center in Saudi Arabia

Visa (NYSE: V), which claims to be the world’s leader in digital payments, announced plans to open a state-of-the art Innovation Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia “at the Future Investment Initiative.” The facility, that will be operational by the end of 2023, is “being built… Read More

Top Singapore Bank DBS Pursues Programmable Digital Dollar (DSGD)

DBS, a top financial services group in Asia with a presence in 18 markets and based in Singapore, has announced an initiative to create a programmable digital Singapore dollars (DSGD). The project has the defacto approval of the Singapore government which recently indicated its support… Read More

Fintech Stripe Launches Operations in Thailand

Stripe recently announced its general availability in Thailand, where its financial infrastructure platform will “help solve the complex payments issues facing Thai businesses.” Tee Chayakul, Thailand country director at Stripe, said: “Thailand’s digital economy is one of the fastest growing in Southeast Asia. However, moving… Read More

Fraud Report Highlights Customer Onboarding Crisis for Fintech Firms

Pi, a fraud risk management (FRM) platform founded by Paytm Labs designed to address high-volume applications for fintechs using machine learning (ML), has published a new report on “the impact of fraud on consumer confidence.” The research report, titled “Fraud vs. Friction: How the need… Read More

Gate.io Signs MoU with Busan, South Korea to Enhance Blockchain Infrastructure

Gate.io, which claims to be one of the world’s largest and oldest cryptocurrency exchanges, announced the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the South Korean city of Busan. The agreement “entails the cooperation between Gate.io and the Busan Metropolitan City government to develop… Read More

Singapore Looks to Reduce Consumer Risk of Crypto Trading, Encourages Stablecoins with New Rules

-Retail Investors May Be Banned from Using Leverage in Crypto Trading -Banks Allowed to Issue Stablecoins The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has proposed new initiatives aimed at mitigating risk to consumers in regard to crypto trading. At the same time, MAS has proposed new… Read More

CBDCs: JCB, IDEMIA, Soft Space Launch “JCBDC” Pilot to Test CBDC In-Store Payments

Japan’s “only” international payment brand JCB Co., Ltd. has launched “JCBDC” (JCB Digital Currency) pilot project with identity technologies no. 1 IDEMIA and Fintech company Soft Space Sdn. Bhd. JCBDC pilot will “develop a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) payment solution and conduct a pilot… Read More

MENA Region’s Kenzz, a Digital Commerce Solution Provider, Raises $3.5M

Kenzz, the “mass” e-commerce solution bringing reliable online shopping to the mass market in Egypt and MENA, recently announced that it has completed a $3.5 million seed fund raise. The investment round was “led by Outliers Venture Capital – a venture capital fund backing early-stage… Read More

Bitcoin Mining Fund to Be Established by JKL Group After Launch of US Business Operations

Leveraging the firm’s expertise in asset management and Bitcoin Mining, JKL Group is set to raise “a $50M mining infrastructure fund from family offices, HNWI, and institutional investors active in the digital assets space.” JKL Group is reportedly “the first APAC headquartered digital asset management… Read More

India’s Cashfree Payments Launches ‘Issuance’ to Enable Fintechs to Introduce Prepaid Cards

Cashfree Payments, which claims to be one of India’s leading payments and API banking solutions companies, announced the launch of Card Issuance Stack with their new solution ‘Issuance’ “to enable businesses such as fintechs and platforms to launch prepaid cards and wallets for their customers,… Read More

OurCrowd Partners with Indian JITO Angel Network

Global investment crowdfunding platform OurCrowd has partnered with India-based JITO Angel Network (JAN). According to multiple reports, the deal is for OurCrowd to provide access to investment opportunities for JITO’s members. OurCrowd is one of the largest digital VC platforms in the world that provides… Read More

UOB Offers Sustainability Tool to Help Firms Overcome Barriers in their Green Journey

UOB (SGX: U11) recently announced the launch of the UOB Sustainability Compass at the Gateway to ASEAN Conference. The Sustainability Compass is a tool that “provides a step-by-step guide for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to overcome their inertia and kickstart their sustainability journeys.” As… Read More

Wio Bank Teams Up with Financial Infrastructure Fintech Stripe

Wio Bank PJSC, the region’s first platform bank, has announced a partnership with Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, which will “enable SMEs in the UAE to access the power of e-commerce faster and more easily and conveniently.” Through this partnership, Wio Business, the… Read More

Alipay+ Teams Up with Merchants in Japan to Create Seamless Travel Experiences

Ant Group announced that Alipay+ has expanded its enablement of seamless travel experiences to Japan, where over 1 million local merchants are now “connected to global cross-border digital payments and marketing capabilities to better serve consumers across the world.” Universal Studios Japan is the latest… Read More

Philippines based Agribank Introduces Mobile Banking App

Agribusiness Rural Bank, Inc., which is reportedly one of the top ten rural banking institutions based in the Philippines, also referred to as Agribank, has launched a new mobile banking App for Android and iOS, developed and delivered by Geniusto International. This secure and configurable… Read More

Insurtech Igloo, Shopee, Bao Viet Introduce Home Content Insurance in Vietnam

Regional Insurtech Igloo, in partnership with e-commerce giant Shopee, introduced Home Content Insurance in Vietnam, the “first” comprehensive protection solution “for indoor assets, against unexpected events such as natural disasters and fire in the platform.” The Home Content Insurance is “underwritten by Bao Viet Insurance,… Read More

Southeast Asia’s Pine Labs Announces Pay Later EMIs on Branded Wearables

Merchant commerce omnichannel platform, Pine Labs announced that it has “entered the wearables segment in the consumer electronics category.” Shoppers in India can now “purchase wearable devices of select brands on a Buy Now Pay Later arrangement using Pine Labs’ PoS terminals.” Top brands offering… Read More

Singapore: MAS Expands Sustainability Group, Appoints New Chief Sustainability Officer

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that Ms. Gillian Tan will be appointed Chief Sustainability Officer “from 17 October 2022, in addition to her current role as Assistant Managing Director (Development & International).” MAS’ current Chief Sustainability Officer, Dr. Darian McBain, will “leave MAS… Read More

Financial Services Firm Five FS Finalizes $3.5M Seed Round

Dubai-based financial services platform Five FS has officially launched in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia and also secured $3.5 million in seed funding. Five FS’ investment round was reportedly led by Romanian VC firm Zeyshare Ventures “at a $30 million valuation.” As… Read More

Send this to a friend