Asia

December 23, 2019 @ 8:16 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Just a little over a month after announcing its partnership with Xfers, a Singapore-based payment processing gateway, Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com has announced it is now allowing its Singapore users to buy and sell crypto in SGD instantly with Xfers Wallet.  Crypto.com reported that through… Read More

December 23, 2019 @ 7:21 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The majority of Filipinos still do not actively use online banking services with many locals preferring to visit traditional brick and mortar locations. However, an entire generation of new users in the country is now using digital banking platforms. Europe-based Global bank ING, a financial… Read More

December 22, 2019 @ 4:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Chennai-headquartered digital bank Kaleidofin has secured Rs 36 Crore (appr. $5 million) in a Series A funding round, which was led by impact investment firm Oikocredit. Existing investors Flourish, Omidyar Network India, Blume Ventures and Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund also took part in Kaleidofin’s round…. Read More

December 22, 2019 @ 12:56 pm By Cali Haan  |  

For many reasons, China is regarded as one of the world’s make-or-break regions when it comes to the fate of “blockchain” technology and cryptocurrencies. Before Bitcoin trading was officially banned in China in late 2016, yuan-to-Bitcoin conversions (and vice versa) seemed to account for more… Read More

December 22, 2019 @ 12:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Saxo Bank A/S and Geely Sweden Holdings AB, a subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd., revealed on December 18 that they have agreed to take part in a technology project to offer financial and regulatory technology (Regtech) products to financial institutions including major… Read More

December 21, 2019 @ 10:38 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK based digital bank Revolut has introduced a new debit multi-currency card that comes with “compelling travel benefits and cashback” for millennials who might be traveling, Kunal Chatterjee, Visa country manager for Singapore and Brunei confirmed. Revolut recently expanded into Asia with its sights set… Read More

December 20, 2019 @ 2:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Qudian Inc. (NYSE: QD), an established technology platform that aims to improve the online consumer finance experience for Chinese consumers, recently revealed that Guosheng (Hong Kong) Investment Limited has agreed to a non-binding letter of intent to lock up the firm’s Class A ordinary shares,… Read More

December 20, 2019 @ 11:36 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Payments platform giant PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) announced on Friday it has completed its acquisition of a 70% equity interest in Guofubao Information Technology Co., Ltd. (GoPay). The acquisition notably follows the approval of the transaction by the People’s Bank of China, which took place on September… Read More

December 20, 2019 @ 11:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Wamda, an established startup ecosystem supporter in the Middle East, recently co-led a $3 million Series A investment round with Global Ventures in Floranow, a business-to-business (B2B) online floral marketplace. Existing investors including Dash Ventures, Jabbar Internet Group, and new investors Sirocco Holdings, Adamtech Ventures,… Read More

December 20, 2019 @ 9:48 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

FIS (NYSE: FIS) announced on Thursday it has entered into an agreement with JCB, a global payment network. Through the agreement, FIS’ global e-commerce platform, WorldPay, will allow businesses that are operating in Japan to accept payments by JCB cards and will now provide an… Read More

December 20, 2019 @ 8:10 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

CoinEx, a global and professional cryptocurrency exchange service provider, announced on Friday it received an operating license from the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The Hong Kong-based platform is now a fully regulated cryptocurrency exchange under the Estonian laws and is now able to provide… Read More

December 20, 2019 @ 8:00 am By Cali Haan  |  

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck, which sustained a $534 million USD hack last January, has decided to stop offering leveraged trades of cryptocurrencies on its platform. According to a company blog post: “Coincheck has decided to end the “leverage transaction” service on Friday, March 13, 2020…If… Read More

December 19, 2019 @ 7:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Gurugram, India-based insurance technology (Insurtech) firm Toffee Insurance revealed on December 17 that it had secured $5.5 million via a Series A investment round led by IVM Intersurer, Omidyar Network, Flourish Ventures, Accion Venture Lab and Kalaari Capital. Toffee says it will use the capital… Read More

December 18, 2019 @ 9:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Murex, an established provider of trading, risk management and processing platforms for financial markets, recently revealed that Gulf Bank, one of the largest banks in Kuwait, has chosen MX.3 to upgrade and digitize its capital markets and treasury IT. Murex was chosen to be a… Read More

December 18, 2019 @ 2:19 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Chinese digital bank WeBank announced on Wednesday it has formed new partnerships with cloud computing platform Tencent Cloud and deep learning research Mila. According to WeBank, the partnerships will seek to protect data privacy while enabling cross-organization collaborations in both AI and fintech, which is… Read More

December 18, 2019 @ 12:00 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

FinVolution Group, a China-based fintech that connects underserved individual borrows with financial institutions, announced on Wednesday it has made an equity investment in Fujian Haixia Bank (FHB). The company reported it has subscribed for 281 million of newly issued shares of the bank, which notably… Read More

December 17, 2019 @ 9:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

As non-bank payments firms rapidly emerge, China has instituted rules for these services to make payments to the state. The measures were revealed on December 6, 2019 and come into effect on January 6, 2020. As part of the process the People’s Bank of China… Read More

December 17, 2019 @ 4:47 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Macau businessperson Frederico dos Santos Rosário and his Hong Kong business partner, Dennis Lau, are being prosecuted in Macau for promoting OneCoin, a fraudulent $4 billion USD cryptocurrency scheme started by Bulgarians Ruja and Konstantin Ignatov and pervaded across the world. According to Journal Tribune… Read More

December 17, 2019 @ 11:00 am By Xu Gao  |  

Winners of 2019 Global Fintech Venture Competition Announced On December 15th, the award ceremony of 2019 Global Fintech Venture Competition (hereinafter referred to as the “Competition”) was held at Tsinghua University. With the guidance of Tsinghua IFR and support from Haidian District People’s Government of… Read More

December 17, 2019 @ 10:33 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Bank Muscat, the leading financial services provider in the Sultanate, recently revealed that the Central Bank of Oman has approved the institution’s request to establish a $100 million (appr. OMR38.5 million) nationwide, strategic Fintech investment program. The investment program is reportedly part of Bank Muscat’s… Read More