Asia

November 12, 2022 @ 4:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hash Blockchain Limited, a member of the HashKey Group, a digital asset financial services group in Asia, has “received approval” from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) in order “to operate a virtual asset trading platform, under a Type 1 (dealing in… Read More

November 12, 2022 @ 3:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Globally, rising inflation, a higher cost of living, and slower wage growth are impacting the lives of people right around the world. A recent report suggested that many consumers are turning to physical cash to help manage their finances amid the cost-of-living crisis. But Muhannad… Read More

November 11, 2022 @ 10:59 am By JD Alois  |  

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York Innovation Center (NYIC), and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have announced a partnership aimed at experimenting with Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to improve the efficiency of cross border wholesale payments using multiple currencies. The… Read More

November 11, 2022 @ 7:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Blnk, a fintech startup that enables instant consumer credit in Egypt, has “raised $23.7 million in equity and debt funding, and $8.3 million in securitized bond issuance to accelerate financial inclusion within underserved communities across the country.” The funds will support “further development of Blnk’s… Read More

November 10, 2022 @ 9:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tonik, the Philippines’ first neobank, continues “to accelerate financial and credit inclusion with the launch of its two new lending products, Flex Loan and Big Loan.” Building on the success of its all-digital savings portfolio and successful launch of its first lending product, Quick Loan,… Read More

November 9, 2022 @ 10:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Weavr, a London-headquartered technology provider that empowers businesses with plug-and-play embedded finance solutions, sets up in Singapore “as part of its mission to make embedded financial services available to any digital business.” Backed by a US$40m Series A led by American investment firm Tiger Global,… Read More

November 9, 2022 @ 9:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

PayTabs — MENA and South Asia’s payments Fintech — in a new move announced that it plans “to acquire a 100% stake in Digital Pay, Saudi Arabia.” Under the terms of the acquisition, Digital Pay will “serve as PayTabs’ flagship point of sale (POS) terminal… Read More

November 9, 2022 @ 9:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

With the risk of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions pushing past dangerous warming thresholds, DBS (SGX:D05) together with seven partners and supporters, have “committed to further build on efforts to nurture and scale the climate tech ecosystem.” DBS and global partners “launched the… Read More

November 9, 2022 @ 4:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mambu’s cloud-native banking platform enables Wio Bank “to achieve a faster time to market as it helps establish the UAE as a hub for the growing digital economy.” Wio Bank provides access “to banking and business support services in a fast, convenient and fully digital… Read More

November 8, 2022 @ 10:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The strategic collaboration between Odoo and Aramco outlines the long-term goals between the two companies “in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.” Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are “among the most significant drivers of economic growth and an important area of focus of the Saudi… Read More

November 7, 2022 @ 11:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

SAMA announced the issuance of the Open Banking Framework as one of the key outputs of the Open Banking Program, which “includes a comprehensive set of legislation, regulatory guidelines and technical standards based on international best practices to enable banks and fintechs to provide open… Read More

November 7, 2022 @ 10:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Enjaz Payment Services Company, a Fintech company licensed by the Saudi Central Bank announced a partnership with Thunes, a global player focused on cross-border payments. This agreement will help customers in Saudi Arabia “to make instant international transfers globally to bank accounts and digital wallets… Read More

November 7, 2022 @ 8:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech Galaxy, which claims to be the “industry-leading” financial innovation company, has become the first central bank regulated Open Finance platform in the MENA region “after receiving a license from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), allowing the firm to operate as a regulated Third-Party… Read More

November 7, 2022 @ 7:26 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Bursa Malaysia Berhad and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), in order “to expand the ESG collaboration between the two exchanges as well as explore new areas of opportunity.” Under the MoU terms, Bursa Malaysia and FTSE Russell, LSEG’s… Read More

November 6, 2022 @ 10:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

UnionDigital Bank, the digital banking subsidiary of Union Bank of the Philippines, recently announced its partnership with cloud-native banking technology company Thought Machine and has “deployed its core banking engine, Vault Core.” Thought Machine’s next-generation core technology has “enabled UnionDigital Bank to swiftly build its… Read More

November 6, 2022 @ 9:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation, Manulife Investment Management recently announced its cooperation with Singapore-headquartered environmental, social, and governance (‘ESG’) fintech Hashstacs Pte Ltd (‘STACS’). The cooperation centers “around the usage of STACS’ ESGpedia digital registry, which powers the ESG… Read More

November 6, 2022 @ 8:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

iLex, a Platform-as-a-Service fintech that designs, builds and operates digital market infrastructures for the US$6 trillion syndicated loans and private credit market, announced recently that it “has US$10 billion of assets listed on its platform.” The number of market participants across APAC and EMEA on… Read More

November 6, 2022 @ 8:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Jakarta-based Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) is migrating to the Avaloq Core Platform to support “the success of its Wealth Management Division.” Avaloq will “enable the bank to digitalize key business processes and meet the needs of the country’s growing wealth management and private banking clients.”… Read More

November 5, 2022 @ 6:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ant Group Digital Technologies, a digital technology provider under Ant Group, unveiled its blockchain storage engine “LETUS” (Log-structured Efficient Trusted Universal Storage) at the Apsara Conference 2022 in Hangzhou. LETUS, which was developed and designed by the AntChain team, will “increase the effectiveness and lower… Read More

November 5, 2022 @ 4:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Finastra has announced that NBP (National Bank of Pakistan) has implemented Finastra’s Fusion Trade Innovation solution “to power its trade finance operations.” InfoTech (Pvt) Ltd., a systems integrator and Finastra’s exclusive authorized and certified reseller in Pakistan, “led the deal and implemented the solution, which… Read More