Asia

August 12, 2021 @ 8:48 am By JD Alois  |  

London-based BPC banking technology is reporting that PPCBank in Cambodia has is now using its SmartVista platform. SmartVista is being utilized to centralize their payment switching activity, manage and monitor their ATM and POS networks. The bank says that it is responding to the country’s… Read More

August 11, 2021 @ 9:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In what appears to be a first for the Central and Eastern European as well as the MENA region, Visa (NYSE: V) and Mashreq, a card acceptance service provider in the UAE, have teamed up to offer a “Rapid Seller Onboarding” program in the Middle… Read More

August 11, 2021 @ 11:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Fraxtor Private Ltd, an online real estate platform, has acquired in-principle approval for its Capital Markets Services (CMS) license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The CMS License, after it’s issued, should allow Fraxtor to issue security tokens including debentures and collective investment schemes… Read More

August 11, 2021 @ 8:46 am By Omar Faridi  |  

BBVA and Ant Group (Alibaba affiliate) have entered an agreement to work on the integration of financial services in their platform, Trusple. Based on blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT), this network aims “to accelerate the digital transformation and facilitate the financing of international trade… Read More

August 9, 2021 @ 10:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Pakistan Software Houses Association had recommended to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) that IT firms should be permitted to use 20% of their export earnings to pay for foreign consultants, digital service providers, vendors (among other requirements) in order to conduct operations and… Read More

August 9, 2021 @ 9:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Dubai-headquartered personal finance and investment platform Sarwa has acquired $15 million in capital through a Series B round. Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investment company Mubadala Investment Company has led Sarwa’s latest investment round. Other investors that made contributions include 500 Startups, KIPCO, Shorooq Partners, MEVP, DIFC,… Read More

August 9, 2021 @ 11:26 am By Omar Faridi  |  

In April of last year, China had started testing out the the virtual yuan, becoming one of the first world governments to issue a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). CBDCs like the virtual renminbi are government-issued, blockchain or distributed ledger tech (DLT)-enabled versions of a… Read More

August 8, 2021 @ 9:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mobile wallet provider GCash has teamed up with Fintech firm Ayannah, a Philippines-based startup that aims to offer affordable and more accessible digital financial services. Through the partnership, the companies will be introducing GCash Padala. GCash Padala, a new remittance service, should enable GCash’s 40… Read More

August 8, 2021 @ 8:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Xiaomi and AMTD’s digital banking platform Airstar has introduced another stage of its pilot which reportedly features the SME Easy Pay Loan offering in order to provide a quicker and more accessible loan experience to SMEs. This new announcement has come after an initial pilot… Read More

August 8, 2021 @ 8:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital banking challenger BigPay, which is one of the fastest-growing Fintechs in the ASEAN region, recently revealed that it has acquired $100 million in funding from South Korea’s conglomerate SK Group. As noted by its management: “BigPay [is] on a mission to challenge traditional banking… Read More

August 8, 2021 @ 6:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

UAE-headquartered Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Fintech tabby has acquired $50 million in capital as part of its recent funding round. tabby’s Series B investment round has been led by Global Founders Capital and STV. Delivery Hero, CCVA and several other backers of tabby took… Read More

August 8, 2021 @ 5:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Croatian peer-to-peer lender Robo.cash has shared its performance update for its loan originations made during H1 2021. The Robo.cash team writes in a blog post that as the first half of this year has now passed, they’re pleased to share with you their most recent… Read More

August 8, 2021 @ 4:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)-owned online wallet Payit has entered a partnership with digital support services provider PLATX Omni Channel Conversational Commerce in order to offer a new solution for UAE-headquartered merchants. The two firms said they’ll enable UAE’s merchants to obtain customer payments through… Read More

August 7, 2021 @ 2:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital assets firm Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) announced that it’s funding scholarships in India for the Dapp Ethereum Bootcamp, which has reportedly been founded by a former Coinbase engineer. Coinbase confirmed that it will be covering 90% of costs “for 10 talented individuals to attend inaugural… Read More

August 7, 2021 @ 1:15 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Shanghai Taxis Began to Accept Digital RMB Payments Shanghai Qiangsheng Taxi Company has equipped its 6000 clean energy taxis with digital RMB payment capability. Customers could hail these taxis on 62580 APP. When they arrive at their destination, they could scan the QR code on… Read More

August 6, 2021 @ 6:36 pm By Priyanka Pani  |  

Pencilton, a teen-focused fintech startup, has raised $330K in a pre-seed round led by neobank Jupiter, or Amica Financial Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Several successful founders such as Nilesh Patel, Prashant Singh (Founders of LeadSquared), Ashish Sharma (MD, Innoven Capital), Abhishek Goyal (Founder of Tracxn), Himanshu… Read More

August 6, 2021 @ 9:41 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Sweet, the enterprise-focused NFT solution that aims to offer a user-friendly, consumer-first, environmentally “conscious” approach to providing digital collectibles, recently announced a strategic investment from Animoca Brands, which is described as an “influential force” in gaming. Of note is the news that Animoca recently raised… Read More

August 5, 2021 @ 10:53 pm By Priyanka Pani  |  

It’s raining Unicorns in India’s startup ecosystem. Mindtickle Inc., which provides an artificial intelligence-based tool to improve sales and product knowledge, has become the 20th Unicorn of the year by hitting a $1.2 billion valuation following a funding round led by SoftBank Group Corp.  The… Read More

August 5, 2021 @ 9:18 pm By Priyanka Pani  |  

The Bahrain-based open banking platform ila Bank plans to enhance its customer’s overall banking experience with five new features in a contactless environment. The bank has designed the new features after taking customer feedback at various digital touchpoints and customer insights gained through its agile… Read More

August 5, 2021 @ 10:45 am By Priyanka Pani  |  

Brazil-based Nubank has led a $45 million Series B funding round in yet-to-be-launched Indian neobank Jupiter. Global Founders Capital, Matrix Partners, and Sequoia Capital also participated in the round along with existing investors Addition Ventures, Tanglin VC, 3one4 Capital, Greyhound, and Beenext. Founded by Jitendra… Read More