Asia

August 29, 2021 @ 9:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at SadaPay, a Pakistani online payments Fintech, notes that one of the things they felt was “lacking” in the nation’s financial landscape was a “fantastic” virtual debit card. As mentioned in a blog post by SadaPay, there are some virtual cards currently available,… Read More

August 29, 2021 @ 8:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Neobanking Fintech Razorpay has teamed up with Shiprocket in order to provide end-to-end digital commerce solutions in India. As noted in the update from Razorpay, e-commerce has changed the “way we live, shop, and do business.” And, virtual payments have served as a catalyst in… Read More

August 29, 2021 @ 8:26 am By Xu Gao  |  

Digital RMB Used in China’s Futures Market for the First Time On August 24th, the Dalian Commodity Exchange had paid the fees to Dalian Liangyun Group Storage and Transportation Co., Ltd in the form of digital RMB, making it the first use of digital RMB… Read More

August 29, 2021 @ 8:16 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Cyberport recently confirmed that the application stage for Phase 2 of the Fintech Proof-of-Concept Subsidy Scheme, commissioned by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB), had been closed at the end of June 2021. As mentioned in a release, dated August 26, 2021: “Together… Read More

August 27, 2021 @ 4:39 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Digital Horizon Venture Fund this week was among the investors in Singapore Fintech Honest Bank’s Series A financing round. The company raised a total of $19.7 million, with the round led by Insignia Ventures Partners and Digital Horizon VC. Digital Horizon contributed $5.5 million of… Read More

August 27, 2021 @ 3:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Biometrics firm, Fingerprint Cards AB, and Seshaasai, an established smart card manufacturer in India with a strong APAC presence, have entered into an agreement “to develop, launch, market, and sell” contactless biometric payment cards in India and the wider APAC region, according to a release…. Read More

August 27, 2021 @ 12:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Sumit Gupta, Co-founder and CEO at CoinDCX, one of India’s largest and most established cryptocurrency exchanges and liquidity aggregators, recently shared important insights exclusively with Crowdfund Insider. Notably, CoinDCX recently finalized a $90 million investment round, becoming India’s first crypto-focused Unicorn. During our conversation, Gupta… Read More

August 26, 2021 @ 11:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

This month in August 2021, five years after issuing their very first loan to an SME borrower in Singapore, the Validus team reports reaching a notable milestone of cumulatively having financed over SGD 1 billion in SME loans via the Validus marketplace. As they look… Read More

August 26, 2021 @ 11:07 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Virtual asset trading platform Matrix, this week launched as the first regulated virtual asset multilateral trading facility (MTF) and custodian under the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) virtual asset policy framework. It is licensed by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA). The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which… Read More

August 26, 2021 @ 3:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based Thunes, a Fintech firm and an industry leader in global cross-border payments, reveals that it has teamed up with Bank Alfalah, which is one of Pakistan’s largest banking institutions. Through the partnership, the organizations aim to support real-time, cost-effective international  payments made to consumers… Read More

August 25, 2021 @ 10:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Matrixport, Asia’s digital assets financial services platform, has introduced “ETH2.0 Staking Earn,” an offering that enables clients to take part in Ethereum 2.0 (ETH 2.0) staking at a “low threshold,” while earning yield from Ethereum “lock-up rewards.” Through the ETH 2.0 Staking Earn program, participants… Read More

August 25, 2021 @ 10:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Blockchain infrastructure provider InfStones reveals that it has finalized a $10 million Series A round that was led by Qiming Venture Partners, along with contributions from DHVC, HashKey Capital, Plug and Play, SNZ Holdings, and the family office of Xinjun Liang, the co-founder and former… Read More

August 24, 2021 @ 11:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

On Monday (August 23, 2021), the US Treasury Department and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) confirmed the finalization of a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cybersecurity Cooperation. This announcement has been made during Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent trip to Singapore, where the… Read More

August 24, 2021 @ 10:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

HSBC Qatar has introduced mobile payments and collections services for its personal and corporate clients, as part of its ongoing investment into digitizing banking services. These recent updates will aim to enable greater financial inclusion for the unbanked sector and  visitors in Qatar, which is… Read More

August 24, 2021 @ 10:40 pm By JD Alois  |  

Syfe, a Wealthtech licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has made four new senior hires, according to a note from the company. Founded in 2017 and publicly launching in July 2019, Syfe is licensed by the MAS under a Capital Markets Services (CMS)… Read More

August 24, 2021 @ 10:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

Binance Singapore has hired Richard Teng as CEO. Teng was previously CEO of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and has been active in the Fintech sector for years. Teng was formerly an executive at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and  a former Chief… Read More

August 24, 2021 @ 3:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Visa (NYSE:V) has partnered with Ascenda, a loyalty solution for banks seeking a deeper customer relationship, to utilize the company’s Nexus platform across the Asia Pacific region. Ascenda says that the increase in e-commerce has generated new opportunities to engage users before, during and after… Read More

August 23, 2021 @ 11:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Virtual banks in Indonesia must have minimum paid-up capital of IDR 10 trillion (appr. $694 million). But the capital deposit needed when submitting an application is only IDR 3 trillion. Indonesia’s OJK (Financial Services Authority), the nation’s financial regulator, has shared an update to its… Read More

August 23, 2021 @ 11:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Kiplepay, a wholly owned division of Green Packet, has teamed up with Visa (NYSE: V) in order to offer the Kiple Visa Prepaid Card. Through the partnership, which was first announced last year, Kiplepay and Visa have introduced the prepaid card which aims to support… Read More

August 23, 2021 @ 10:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Arab Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in the Middle East, has launched its Fintech-focused corporate accelerator program, called “AB Accelerator,” in Egypt, after its successful launch in Jordan in 2018. The launch of this Fintech-related program in Egypt comes as part of… Read More