Asia

May 24, 2021 @ 1:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

ZA Bank and Mox are reportedly leading Hong Kong’s digital bank market,  accounting for around 70% of all virtual banking customer deposits (as of the end of last year). This, according to a report from Reuters that referenced annual reports from banks in the city…. Read More

May 24, 2021 @ 12:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) has revealed that it has seen dramatic growth in its digital payments volume during the last year. The value of InstaPay and PESONet money transfers of RCBC Online and its mobile banking app surged 293% when compared to volumes reported… Read More

May 23, 2021 @ 10:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital life insurance provider Blue has introduced the #WeSupport initiative to offer its clients with free post-vaccination protection from April 8, 2021 to  July 31, 2021. As noted by Blue’s management: “Blue is Hong Kong’s first digital life insurer – in fact we are more… Read More

May 23, 2021 @ 8:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Over 800,000 residents in the Philippines have reportedly signed up with the nation’s Identification System (PhilSys) through digital or online registration. This, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). As reported by Fintech News Philippines, the nation’s government has been asking locals to… Read More

May 23, 2021 @ 8:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech businesses in Singapore have secured a total of SGD 656 million (appr. $492.8 million) in equity funding during Q1 2021. This figure represents a 355% increase from last year, according to a recent report from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The rise in Fintech… Read More

May 22, 2021 @ 1:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Wholesale banking has been undervalued, however, it has provided consistent results during the COVID-19 crisis, according to a recent report from Oliver Wyman and Morgan Stanley. The wholesale and transaction banking report, titled “Striving to Sustain Returns,” reveals that markets and investment banking were significantly… Read More

May 22, 2021 @ 10:09 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The reserve bank of Bahrain has shared its commentary on the work being done by retail banks to implement the infrastructure for compliance with the Bahrain Open Banking Framework (Bahrain OBF). This work was carried out after a grace period that allowed for implementation which… Read More

May 22, 2021 @ 9:02 am By Xu Gao  |  

Hotels of the HUAZHU Group in Shanghai Will Now Accept Digital RMB Payments From May 21st, all hotels of HUAZHU Group in Shanghai will be able to accept digital RMB payment. According to HUAZHU, digital RMB will be accepted when guests check in at the… Read More

May 22, 2021 @ 8:51 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at BitOoda, a global digital asset financial technology and services platform offering risk management solutions, “best-execution” brokerage and market analysis, notes that in China, Vice Premier Liu He, in a meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Committee, had stated on Friday (May… Read More

May 21, 2021 @ 7:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Standard Chartered (LON: STAN)  has committed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with payments company Tazapay in order to provide digital escrow services to buyers and sellers interested in trading globally via Proxtera, a B2B marketplace network. The initiative is Standard Chartered’s very first escrow-as-a-service… Read More

May 21, 2021 @ 5:54 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Sanctions research from blockchain security firm CipherTrace reveals that over 72,000 “unique” Iranian IP addresses have been linked to over 4.5 million “unique” Bitcoin (BTC) addresses. CipherTrace notes that since monitoring sanctions-related IP usage across the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain network, they’ve been able to identify… Read More

May 21, 2021 @ 11:04 am By JD Alois  |  

Multiple reports are indicating that China continues to put the squeeze on cryptocurrency. Long ago, China officially halted crypto trading but the country has long been home to many crypto miners. In fact, according to the Cambridge Centre of Alternative Finance (CCAF)Bitcoin Mining Map, China… Read More

May 20, 2021 @ 9:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

Singapore-based SME finance platform Validus has announced the appointment of Alfred Aloysius as Head of Strategic Alliances. According to Validus, Aloysius has more than 25 years of supply chain experience having previously held management positions as Chief Procurement Officer at SMRT Corporation, and VP of… Read More

May 20, 2021 @ 6:52 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  iSTOX, a Singapore-based private capital platform, announced on Thursday it has rebranded to ADDX as it enters its next growth stage. As previously reported, ADDX describes itself as a future-ready capital markets platform that is set up usher in a new era for capital fundraising… Read More

May 20, 2021 @ 7:05 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

    Airwallex, a digital payments fintech, announced on Thursday the launch of its online card payment acceptance solution in Hong Kong. According to Airwallex, the solution will allow local merchants to accept online card payments made around the world using Visa and Mastercard. According… Read More

May 19, 2021 @ 11:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The developers of decentralized insurance protocol, InsurAce have partnered with Dora Factory,  in order to offer one of the industry’s first IDO (Initial DEX Offering) insurance products on PentaLaunch, an IDO platform that’s reportedly owned by Dora Factory. As mentioned in a release shared with… Read More

May 19, 2021 @ 2:23 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

    Singapore-based global cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin announced on Wednesday it has teamed up with Cashaa, a blockchain-based financial platform, to combat the COVID-19 crisis in India. KuCoin reported that as part of its charity initiative in India, the crypto platform has pledged ₹2 million worth… Read More

May 19, 2021 @ 1:01 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  BukuKas, an Indonesia-based fintech, announced this week it secured $50 million through its Series B funding round, which was included participation from Gokul Rajaram, Director and Board Member at DoorDash, as well as Taavet Hinrikus, Co-Founder and CEO of  Wise (formerly TransferWise). Founded in 2019, BukuKas describes… Read More

May 18, 2021 @ 10:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Deutsche Bank’s Securities Services business in Singapore and Hashstacs (STACS) have reportedly finalized their proof-of-concept (PoC), called Project Benja, on the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) for crypto-assets and sustainability-related digital bonds. Set in the context of the nascent tokenized securities in the securities… Read More

May 18, 2021 @ 9:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Japanese technology giant Toshiba is reportedly working with Dharma Capital to test out the use of quasi-quantum tech in financial trading. The trial, carried out by Toshiba and Dharma Capital, will look into the effectiveness of high-frequency trading (HFT) strategies for listed stocks in Japanese… Read More