Asia

May 13, 2021 @ 10:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Pakistani online payments Fintech SadaPay notes that it’s been well over three months now since they began rolling out their numberless debit cards. The SadaPay team points out that the designs “perfectly” fit their vertical debit cards. The company’s management noted that they wanted to… Read More

May 12, 2021 @ 11:53 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has reportedly committed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tencent Finance Academy (TFAHK) in order to support local Fintech talent. By leveraging HKUST’s solid academic foundation in Fintech and Tencent’s extensive industry experience, the MoU… Read More

May 12, 2021 @ 10:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The reserve bank of Bahrain is reportedly working with J.P. Morgan (NYSE:JPM) and Bank ABC in order to launch a real-time cross-border payments system (as part of a digital currency settlement pilot program). Bank ABC and J.P. Morgan will be conducting tests including the transfer of… Read More

May 12, 2021 @ 10:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

livi bank, which is notably one of Hong Kong’s eight digital banks, is now offering a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service with the introduction of livi PayLater that provides an instant installment option along with a virtual Mastercard debit card. The livi PayLater BNPL… Read More

May 12, 2021 @ 9:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a multinational provider of real-time virtual payment solutions, reveals that it has expanded its working relationship with KNET, which is Kuwait’s national digital banking firm. Through the expanded partnership, ACI Worldwide and KNET will introduce several innovative virtual payment services in… Read More

May 12, 2021 @ 9:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Robo-advisor AQUMON has launched SmartGlobalX, which is described as a “smart” Bitcoin exchange-traded-fund (ETF) investment portfolio. It integrates SmartGlobal algorithms with a Bitcoin ETF in order to allow customers to invest in securitized digital assets, starting from as low as $1,000. AQUMON’s management noted that… Read More

May 11, 2021 @ 11:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Y-Combinator-backed Fintech firm Aspire has reportedly managed to reach $1 billion in annualized transaction volumes in just a year since the introduction of its business accounts (in May 2020). Aspire also revealed that it will be offering a new Bill Pay feature, which will be… Read More

May 11, 2021 @ 10:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mobiquity, a digital transformation enabler, has teamed up with Kuwait International Bank (KIB), in order to support the institution’s goal of becoming a leading all-digital Islamic or Shariah-compliant financial service provider. Through the partnership, KIB will be working with Mobiquity’s team of experienced professionals –… Read More

May 11, 2021 @ 10:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

InvestCloud, a global Fintech company serving large banks, wealth management platforms and fund managers, revealed that it has launched its Wealth Advisor Platform by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), which is the largest bank in Japan and also one of the world’s largest financial institutions… Read More

May 11, 2021 @ 9:32 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Tonik, a neobanking group based in the Philippines, announced on Tuesday it secured $17 million through its Pre-Series B investment round, which was led by iGlobal Partners with participation from Sequoia India, Altara Ventures, and Insignia Venture Partners, Citius, Baring Vostok Private Equity, and… Read More

May 10, 2021 @ 8:23 am By JD Alois  |  

OurCrowd is one of the largest securities crowdfunding platforms in the world. Based in Israel, OurCrowd has been recognized by Pitchbook as the most active venture investor in the country with 24 different deals in 2020. OurCrowd provides a pathway for smaller investors to participate… Read More

May 9, 2021 @ 10:52 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Chinese banking institutions have introduced central bank digital currency (CBDC) hardware prototypes for several different use cases. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the nation’s central bank, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) have introduced prototype hardware devices that aim to offer support… Read More

May 9, 2021 @ 9:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Kuwait Finance House (KFH), the nation’s first banking institution operating in accordance with the Islamic Shari’a, has introduced a digital wallet service that is being supported through smartphones (and even smart watches). KFH, which is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, with a market cap… Read More

May 9, 2021 @ 9:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the central bank and financial regulatory authority of Singapore revealed on May 6, 2021 that it has introduced the sixth edition of the Global Fintech Hackcelerator, with the theme “Harnessing Technology to Power Green Finance.” As mentioned in the… Read More

May 9, 2021 @ 9:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

PayMaya, a mobile wallet that’s operating under the purview of PLDT, has reportedly become the first Fintech firm to start using QR Ph for merchants. QR Ph was introduced by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the nation’s central bank, with assistance from BancNet and… Read More

May 9, 2021 @ 2:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Earlier this week, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) revealed that it had been working cooperatively with SWIFT, an international provider of secure bank-to-bank messaging services. SWIFT and the UAE reserve bank are reportedly working an initiative that will improve the speed… Read More

May 8, 2021 @ 2:18 pm By Xu Gao  |  

Insurtech Firm Waterdrop Starts Trading on New York Stock Exchange  On May 7th, Waterdrop Inc., China’s leading insurance and healthcare service technology platform, went public on New York Stock Exchange. Founded in 2016, Waterdrop has built an online insurance marketplace (“Shuidibao”) and a medical crowdfunding… Read More

May 7, 2021 @ 10:52 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

IOST has teamed up with Moonstake in order to support staking functionality for IOST coin on Moonstake wallets. Moonstake began offering services in the staking business in 2020 with the goal to develop the biggest staking network in Asia. Since that time, Moonstake claims it… Read More

May 6, 2021 @ 11:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

GHL Systems has teamed up with payments giant Visa (NYSE:V) in order to become the first in the ASEAN region to offer Visa Instalments for customers using the eGHL Payment Gateway platform. Visa Instalments works by turning pre-approved issuer credit lines into installment payment options… Read More

May 6, 2021 @ 7:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Arab Monetary Fund, which aims to establish policies of Arab monetary cooperation and promote the development of Arab financial markets, has launched “Finxar,” which is a regional Fintech index for tracking the development of the financial technology industry in Arab nations. The United Arab… Read More