Asia

January 7, 2021 @ 10:57 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

India’s B2B digital commerce platform Udaan has secured $280 million in funding via its extended Series D investment round from new and existing investors. Octahedron Capital and Moonstone Capital are listed as new investors. They’ve joined Udaan’s existing backers which reportedly includes Altimeter, DST Global,… Read More

January 6, 2021 @ 10:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore’s fast-growing 1,000+ Fintech sector includes a thriving Wealthtech segment which is on track to continue growing and maturing. It’s being supported by an increased interest from local investors, strategic acquisition deals, and the growing demand for automated financial advisory services (or Robo-advisors). Many younger… Read More

January 6, 2021 @ 9:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based Silent Eight, a Regtech firm that leverages AI to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing activities, has revealed that it has agreed to a multi-year partnership with HSBC which aims to assist the bank with improving its compliance measures and related operations. HSBC chose… Read More

January 6, 2021 @ 12:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

US President Donald Trump has signed an order that aims to place a ban on US transactions with eight major Chinese apps – which reportedly includes Ant Group’s Alipay and Tencent Holdings’ online wallets. Notably, this order has arrived just days before the Trump administration… Read More

January 5, 2021 @ 10:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Agoda, a fast-growing online travel platform, has teamed up with Singapore-based Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platform Atome in order to provide flexible instalment plans for accommodation bookings. These payment options will first be offered in Singapore and Malaysia, and then rolled out to several… Read More

January 5, 2021 @ 8:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Like many other sectors of the global economy, the financial services industry is experiencing what many consider to be a data revolution. The international banking sector (along with other major industries) generates large amounts of user data when handling hundreds of billions of transactions. Data… Read More

January 5, 2021 @ 10:49 am By JD Alois  |  

Singapore is a jurisdiction that has worked to enable innovation in financial services. A collaborative government that encourages the financial regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), to enable change has created a robust Fintech ecosystem. MAS has long operated a regulatory Sandbox to help… Read More

January 5, 2021 @ 10:23 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Neat, a digital bank group based in Hong Kong, announced on Tuesday it has become a member of Visa and rolled out its new Neat Visa card. This announcement comes less than six months after Neat secured an additional $4 million extension of its… Read More

January 4, 2021 @ 11:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (formed by the Reserve Bank of India) has revealed that the digital economy sector in India is expected to “double its output as early as 2025.” Digitization in India is expected to lead to “widespread economic… Read More

January 4, 2021 @ 11:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Andrew King, Head of Synechron, a digital transformation consulting firm for financial services, notes that the exponential growth in digital transactions and data, along with regulatory developments, is changing the way companies are conducting business. King pointed out in an Op-Ed published by Insurance Business… Read More

January 4, 2021 @ 10:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Dubai‘s economy is projected to grow by 4% this year, driven by the government’s (fairly) effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dubai government has taken several measures to extend support to local businesses and individuals. It also launched four stimulus packages valued at 6.8… Read More

January 4, 2021 @ 8:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Asia might be getting ready to experience a digital banking revolution. During the next few years, the continent is expected to see over 50 new digital banks that could completely transform the financial services sector. GFT’s Christopher Ortiz claims that these developments may just be… Read More

January 4, 2021 @ 6:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based iSTOX, a blockchain-powered digitized securities platform, has revealed that it has listed a unicorn fund in digitized securities form, enabling the issuance of security tokens where manual processes may be automated and minimum investment ticket sizes to be reduced to $20,000. This move should… Read More

January 4, 2021 @ 10:52 am By JD Alois  |  

CoAssets, now operating as CA Funding, is shutting down according to a post on the company’s website. In the post, CoAssets stated: “We regret to inform you that CA Funding Pte Ltd (CAFPL) is in the process of gradually winding down. For members who do… Read More

January 3, 2021 @ 10:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Google Pay for Android and iOS users now lets people see how much money they’ve spent during 2020. The expense tracking feature allows consumers to get a rough idea or estimate of their spending habits throughout the last year. Google Pay will also show users… Read More

January 3, 2021 @ 9:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

China’s banking and insurance regulator stated on December 31, 2020 (Thursday) that all Internet-based platforms in the country should investigate their Fintech-related businesses to ensure that they’re following regulatory guidelines and must also address any shortcomings. China‘s financial regulators have held discussions with Alibaba’s (NYSE:BABA)… Read More

January 3, 2021 @ 9:00 pm By Timothy Li  |  

Fintech enthusiasts welcome back to my 5th annual “Top Ten” Fintech prediction series. This year I’ve met a lot of powerful movers and shakers in the Fintech space. My take away from these meetings and interactions is how little do I know about this ever-expanding… Read More

January 3, 2021 @ 3:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

CoAssets, once an early entrant in the investment crowdfunding sector and previously traded on the ASX, the Fintech is now deep in trouble according to several reports. CoAssets started its existence as a crowdfunding platform and migrated to debt financing over time. In 2016, the… Read More

January 2, 2021 @ 11:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a new index in order to measure the growth and adoption of digital payments in the country. The RBI revealed that virtual payments grew 2x in March 2020 when compared to March 2018. The index was created… Read More

January 2, 2021 @ 10:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Pakistan’s Central Depository Company (CDC) has introduced the first Fintech platform in the country that will allow people to compare and invest in different mutual funds with the goal of increasing the share of the mutual fund asset class from 1.6% of the GDP to… Read More