Asia

January 13, 2020 @ 8:13 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The first of Hong Kong’s upcoming group of virtual banks has confirmed its launch with a 6% special introductory rate on all deposits. ZA Bank Ltd., which is notably one of eight companies planning to establish digital-only banking services in Hong Kong, has launched a… Read More

January 13, 2020 @ 7:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Two Indian co-founders of Google Pay are reportedly preparing to launch a neo-banking platform in the Asian country and they have managed to acquire financial backing from three established venture capital funds. Sujith Narayanan, an experienced senior management professional specializing in the payments industry, who… Read More

January 12, 2020 @ 6:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Thailand-based Lightnet, a Stellar blockchain-enabled platform, has reportedly secured $31.2 million in funding in order to further develop its international payments service in the Southeast Asia region. The Bangkok-based company has finalized a Series A investment round that was led by established Asian financial conglomerates,… Read More

January 12, 2020 @ 8:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Thailand is currently laying the groundwork for standalone or independently-functioning online banks as the Southeast Asian nation tries to catch up with other nearby markets that have been upgrading their banking infrastructure. Veerathai Santiprabhob, governor of the Bank of Thailand, noted during a recent interview:… Read More

January 12, 2020 @ 7:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bank of Ceylon (BoC), a state-owned, major commercial bank in Sri Lanka, is reportedly expanding its branch network to include Andigama and Weerapokuna with the added convenience of offering 24-hour online banking services to the people living in these areas. BoC’s Weerapokuna location is… Read More

January 11, 2020 @ 12:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Indian banking institutions and Fintech firms have reportedly been given the green light to use video calls, in order to carry out know-your-customer (KYC) compliance checks, after a recent ruling by the nation’s central bank. The updated rules and guidelines will allow regulated entities to… Read More

January 11, 2020 @ 7:29 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Asian Fintech firm Ant Financial, a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), has reportedly been ranked China’s fifth most valuable privately-held company. According to an inaugural rankings report released by Hurun, which is primarily known for publishing China’s list of wealth individuals, Ant Financial is… Read More

January 11, 2020 @ 7:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the nation’s central bank, has reportedly stated that the “top-level” design of its national digital currency has been finalized. The Chinese reserve bank revealed the development of the sovereign digital currency in a new paper, confirming that the “top-level… Read More

January 10, 2020 @ 7:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Traditional bank and Fintech collaboration and Open Banking are becoming quite common for financial institutions throughout the world that are planning to update their product offerings for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). India-based private lending institution SBM Bank recently teamed up with PayNearby to introduce… Read More

January 10, 2020 @ 2:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bithumb, South Korea’s largest digital asset exchange, might invest over $8 million into the nation’s regulatory sandbox program and ecosystem. Through its subsidiary GCX Alliance, Bithumb’s management has shown intent to invest up to 10 billion Korean won (appr. $8 million) into Korea’s regulatory free… Read More

January 10, 2020 @ 1:01 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Tonik, a neo banking startup, is planning to launch a digital-only bank in the Philippines after acquiring an online banking license from the nation’s reserve bank. Seed funded and established by Fintech venture developer Forum, Tonik’s management is preparing to introduce the new platform within… Read More

January 9, 2020 @ 11:01 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Standard Chartered, a UK-based multinational banking and financial services company with $688 billion in assets, announced on Thursday its strategic investment into Linklogis, a Chinese supply chain financing platform, to enhance its joint supply chain ecosystem proposition and provide suppliers with access to affordable and… Read More

January 9, 2020 @ 3:04 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Chinese fintech Pintec Technology Holdings Limited (PINTEC) announced on Thursday it has formed a new partnership with comprehensive financial service platform West Guarantee. Pintec reported that through the partnership, it and West Guarantee will carry out in-depth collaboration in both technology and financial service areas… Read More

January 9, 2020 @ 2:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

Fintech forward bank Siam Commercial Bank (SBC) has partnered with blockchain firm Ripple, according to a blog post. SBC is Thailand’s oldest bank and has established itself as willing to push forward with Fintech partnerships. According to Ripple, SCB and Ripple will work together to… Read More

January 9, 2020 @ 12:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Crude oil production in Saudi Arabia slowed down considerably last year, from 10,643 BBL/D/1K in December 2018 to only 9,890 BBL/D/1K in November 2019. Steady and continuous drops in crude oil production may be attributed to several different factors, such as the attendant impact on… Read More

January 9, 2020 @ 7:34 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com announced on Thursday it has appointed Mariana Gospodinova as its new European general manager. Crypto.com reported that Gospodinova joins its team from Binance, where she headed the operations in Europe and looked after the launch of the crypto to fiat… Read More

January 9, 2020 @ 5:59 am By Cali Haan  |  

China’s Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), which oversees the country’s financial markets, has, “published a guideline saying it would promote the conversion of household savings into long-term capital market fund,” South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports. The CBIRC did not say how it will… Read More

January 9, 2020 @ 12:06 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Indian government recently confirmed that online transactions performed using RuPay credit cards or UPI QR codes won’t face the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR). Now, the nation’s leading Fintech firm Paytm has introduced a consolidated QR payment for local retailers. The “All-in-One” QR will allow… Read More

January 8, 2020 @ 9:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

eBaoTech, an established multinational online insurance solution provider based in Shanghai, and Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW) have revealed that they will be working cooperatively to offer a robust, one-stop insurance middle office platform, in order to promote digitalization across the insurance industry. The collaboration… Read More

January 8, 2020 @ 8:12 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Turkey’s Capital Markets Board is reportedly planning to regulate cryptocurrency-related transactions. The Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB), the regulatory agency that oversees the nation’s financial securities markets, is in the process of formulating guidelines to examine, audit, and regulate the local digital asset markets,… Read More