Asia

March 3, 2020 @ 7:07 am By Omar Faridi  |  

SMEcorner, an online lender for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has acquired $30 million in funding through a Series B round, which reportedly includes a combination of debt and equity.  SMEcorner is based in Mumbai, India. SMEcorner’s investment round was led by Paragon Partners, which… Read More

March 3, 2020 @ 7:02 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Malta-based crypto asset exchange Binance recently revealed that its fiat on-ramp for the Turkish Lira has officially launched.  Binance has teamed up with Akbank, one of the largest banks in Turkey, in order to introduce the new fiat gateway. Binance’s users in Turkey now have… Read More

March 2, 2020 @ 11:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged two Chinese nationals with laundering more than $100 million in cryptocurrency as part of an exchange hack orchestrated by North Korean perpetrators, according to a release. The laundering allegedly took place between December 2017 and April 2019…. Read More

March 2, 2020 @ 7:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tarabut Gateway, MENA region’s biggest Open Banking platform, will be conducting a series of six different Open Banking Interactive Workshops, which have been designed to help individual consumers, banks and Fintech firms learn more about the new policy.  The first workshop will be conducted this… Read More

March 2, 2020 @ 7:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) has committed to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Singapore’s Tribe Accelerator, a government-backed blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) project accelerator. According to the terms of the MoU, the DIFC and Tribe Accelerator aim to work cooperatively on… Read More

March 2, 2020 @ 12:35 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Monaco-based Fintech Privatam is expanding its operations by offering its services in Dubai. The company notes that the Middle Eastern city is a major regional financial and commercial hub and a key contributor to global capital markets.  Privatam’s founders (who are fellow investment bankers) include… Read More

March 1, 2020 @ 6:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Macau Pass S.A., the developer of a contactless smartcard (previously called Transmac IC Card), first launched the Transmac over 20 years back (in 1999). The card may be used to conveniently pay for bus fares, everyday shopping, and dining with many more retailers expected to… Read More

March 1, 2020 @ 1:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), an international organization based in Washington, D.C., consisting of 189 different countries that aim to improve monetary cooperation worldwide, maintain financial stability, and facilitate global trade, acknowledged that Fintech has become a part of everyday life in Malaysia. The IMF… Read More

February 29, 2020 @ 2:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

LINE, a Japan-based messaging service provider, has reportedly closed down its Singapore-headquartered crypto exchange BITBOX and has launched a globally accessible platform, BITFRONT. Headquartered the US, BITFRONT is run by LVC USA, which is a subsidiary of LVC Corporation, a company that manages LINE’s digital… Read More

February 29, 2020 @ 1:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Germany-based Wirecard, a global internet technology firm and financial services provider, is teaming up with Union Bank in the Philippines in order to enhance the efficiency and the convenience of its banking services for corporate clients in the country. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was… Read More

February 28, 2020 @ 11:37 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

BitMax.io, a Singapore-registered digital asset trading platform with a global footprint, and Bithumb Korea, a South Korean-based cryptocurrency exchange, recently announced they have formed a strategic partnership to enhance product platform as well as accelerate global expansion. The companies reported that the key terms of the… Read More

February 28, 2020 @ 2:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bengaluru- based PhonePe, a company owned by the world’s largest retail company Walmart, has acquired INR 4.27 billion (appr. $60 million) in capital from its Singapore-headquartered parent firm – as confirmed by the Registrar of Companies filings and several media reports.  According to documents sourced… Read More

February 27, 2020 @ 9:48 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Neobank Niyo has partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in order to promote greater financial inclusion. Niyo will work with NPCI to provide modern financial services to more than five million blue-collar workers in India by 2022.  Niyo offers an employee payroll solution,… Read More

February 27, 2020 @ 9:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based neobank Tonik Financial Pte. Ltd. has acquired $6 million in funding as it plans to officially introduce its services in the Philippines during the third quarter of this year. Tonik has received seed funding from Fintech venture developer Forum. The digital bank has also… Read More

February 27, 2020 @ 9:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

An increasing number of Indian consumers are making digital payments at metros and also at stores in small towns. India-based SBI Cards, a major payment solution provider, is reportedly planning to raise approximately $1.4 billion via an initial public offering (IPO) which would be the… Read More

February 27, 2020 @ 3:28 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com announced on Thursday it is teaming up with hotel booking platform Travala. Through the partnership, Travala will now accept CRO, the Crypto.com Coin, along with BTC, LTC, ETH and XRP through Crypto.com Pay. “Over 1 million users of the Crypto.com… Read More

February 27, 2020 @ 12:38 pm By Xu Gao  |  

PBC Releases “Financial Distributed Ledgers Technology Security Specification” On February 5th, the People’s Bank of China has released the “Financial Distributed Ledgers Technology Security Specification” (JR / T 0184-2020). The document specifies the financial DLT security system, including basic hardware, basic software, cryptographic algorithms, node… Read More

February 26, 2020 @ 11:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

South Korea’s tax authorities have advised the nation’s government to impose a low-level trading tax on capital gains made from digital currency trading before requiring Korean residents to pay a transfer income tax.  South Korea’s government will be introducing its new tax reform plan later… Read More

February 26, 2020 @ 10:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which is an instant and real-time payment system created by India’s National Payments Corporation for handling inter-bank transfers, is the most widely-used  loan repayment method, with 50% of such transactions using UPI.  ECS payments, which handle bulk transfer of funds from… Read More

February 26, 2020 @ 9:17 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

KuCoin, a Singapore-based global cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Wednesday the launch of its Instant Exchange service, which allows instant crypto transaction service for BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP, BCHABC, and USDT. The service was developed by KuCoin and a market maker of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange… Read More