Asia

February 19, 2021 @ 8:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital banking challenger BigPay has confirmed that it will be expanding its suite of financial services with the introduction of cash top up at all 7-Eleven stores based in Malaysia. BigPay’s management noted that more than 1.3 million of the firm’s Malaysian clients may now… Read More

February 19, 2021 @ 7:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Southeast Asia-based Funding Societies, a digital financing platform, has revealed that it has made S$2 billion (appr. $1.5 billion) in disbursals of business financing to SMEs across the region as the company enters its sixth year of offering loans. Funding Societies’ management noted that the… Read More

February 19, 2021 @ 12:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

High-performance blockchain ecosystem Zilliqa has invested in XCADEMY, described as an online and mobile YouTube academy. The investment is part of a partnership where Zilliqa and XCADEMY plan a blockchain-based influencer economy, allowing content creators to monetize their content and incentivize user engagement by tokenization…. Read More

February 19, 2021 @ 8:51 am By Omar Faridi  |  

BioCatch, a digital identity firm, has revealed that it has acquired a registered US patent for the method it uses to verify a user’s identity and for detecting fraud. According to BioCatch, the verification process is based on the manner in which the user holds… Read More

February 19, 2021 @ 7:23 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Deutsche Bank (XETRA: DBKGn.DB /NYSE: DB) announced on Thursday it has joined forces with Southeast Asia’s 2C2P to launch a digital payments platform in Thailand. The banking group reported that through 2C2P’s platform,  corporate clients in Thailand will be able to maximize their business… Read More

February 18, 2021 @ 11:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Stock trading volumes in Hong Kong have reportedly increased by as much as 4x compared to those on London’s main stock exchange, as large tech stocks continue to attract investors from other jurisdictions. Some have referred to Hong Kong’s stock trading as the “Nasdaq of… Read More

February 17, 2021 @ 11:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bengaluru-based Fintech lending firm KreditBee has finalized a $75 million Series C equity round which included participation from Premji Invest, Mirae Asset Naver Asia Growth Fund, Alpine Capital and Arkam Ventures (consisting of both primary and secondary investment). Madhusudan E, Co-Founder & CEO of KreditBee,… Read More

February 17, 2021 @ 10:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Blockchain startup Lightnet has teamed up with MoneyGram, a leading provider of cross-border peer to peer payments and money transfer services. MoneyGram will be integrating Lightnet’s technology with its fund transfer services so that customers can access a wide range of payout services across the… Read More

February 17, 2021 @ 10:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital banking platform Revolut has launched a financial app that has been developed specifically for kids. The Fintech app is controlled by the child’s parent or their legal guardian so that they are able to monitor how the tools are being used. This new app… Read More

February 17, 2021 @ 8:06 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Malaysia-based Tranglo, a cross-border payment firm, has established four new payment channels that are connected to financial networks in Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda. The payment corridors mark the Fintech firm’s first entry into Sub Saharan Africa and Latin American (LatAm) regions. Tranglo’s management stated… Read More

February 17, 2021 @ 7:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Global digital bank Zolve has secured $15 million in capital through a seed funding round that was led by Accel & Lightspeed. Others who took part in Zolve’s investment round include Blume Ventures and several angel investors: Dr. Ashish Gupta (ex-Helion MD), Greg Kidd (angel… Read More

February 17, 2021 @ 3:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

The US Department of Justice has announced an indictment of three North Korean hackers said to be involved with the Korean military regarding   to cyberattacks and financial including theft of money and cryptocurrency.  The indictment is an expansion of a 2018 case outlining similar nefarious… Read More

February 16, 2021 @ 8:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

If we ask people to name their “best” or “worst” year ever, their answers might differ, RazorPay notes. However, if we want them to arrive at the “most-common answer” (in terms of unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19), then last year’s pandemic would probably be it,… Read More

February 16, 2021 @ 6:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) in Hong Kong had announced last month that the Fintech Proof-of-Concept Subsidy Scheme (PoC Scheme) will be opening for applications from February 26, 2021. According to a release, the PoC Scheme has been introduced to encourage traditional… Read More

February 16, 2021 @ 1:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

Technicorum Holdings has announced that Daniel Daboczy, c0-founder of international crowdfunding platform FundedByMe, has been selected as their new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Daboczy announced that he was stepping down as CEO of FundedByMe back in November of 2020. Technicorum Holdings, based in Singapore, is… Read More

February 15, 2021 @ 10:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Equifax (NYSE: EFX) have released the second edition of “Fintech Pulse,” a quarterly publication that covers major trends in the fast-growing NBFC (Non- Banking Financial Company) Fintech segment. “Fintech Pulse” plans to offer key insights on… Read More

February 15, 2021 @ 9:07 am By JD Alois  |  

Last November, Hong Kong kicked off a consultation pertaining to anti-money laundering (AML) and counter finance terrorist (CFT) regulation that will impact cryptocurrency exchanges or virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The deadline for comments delivered to the Hong Kong Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FTSB),… Read More

February 14, 2021 @ 6:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Karachi-based Fintech firm Safepay has reportedly acquired seed funding from global financial technology company Stripe. Safepay hasn’t disclosed the amount it has received but claims that it’s a seven-figure (USD) amount. Other local and international investors also took part in the Pakistani Fintech firm’s investment… Read More

February 14, 2021 @ 5:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

India-based consumer lending firm MoneyTap has reportedly decided to expand its business operations to include Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services. MoneyTap said its new BNPL solutions will aim to provide more accessible, affordable, and 0% (equated monthly installments) EMI options to Indian consumers. MoneyTap… Read More

February 13, 2021 @ 2:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Thrasio, a company that acquires and then aims to quickly grow third-party sellers on Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has finalized $750 million in new funding, raising the firm’s valuation to around $3 billion to $4 billion. The investment round was led by current investors Advent and… Read More