Asia

November 1, 2016 @ 4:31 am By Erin Hobey  |  

  Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company (ASTRI) have jointly launched the HSBC-ASTRI Research and Development Innovation Laboratory (RDI Lab). The Lab seeks to boost research and technology implementation within the financial industry as… Read More

October 30, 2016 @ 7:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Wangdaizhijia (or wdzj.com), an alternative finance news and data platform in China, has published two interesting reports on the state of internet finance in the largest altfi market in the world. The first document focuses on peer to peer lending. The second publication is on… Read More

October 26, 2016 @ 2:55 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Singapore-Based Bambu announced that Aki Ranin will join Bambu as its Chief Operating Officer, brings more than 15 years of technology experience to his new role. He will report to Ned Phillips, Bambu’s Founder and CEO. “Through joining Bambu I will boost the team’s ability to… Read More

October 26, 2016 @ 1:11 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Short-term working capital provider KredX, which helps small businesses get short-term working capital by discounting their unpaid invoices, has raised $6.25 Million in Series A round of funding. The funding round was led by Sequoia Capital India and the company’s existing investor, Prime Venture Partners. The fresh funds will… Read More

October 26, 2016 @ 12:52 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

From your scooter to mine in less than two days?  Mumbai-based fintech startup CreditMate has raised $500K from the India Quotient VC fund. Founded this year by Jonathan Bill and Aditya Singh, CreditMate is an online lending platform focused on the used motorbike and scooter market in India.  The platforms aims to provide affordable loans for… Read More

October 26, 2016 @ 9:37 am By Xu Gao  |  

China Blockchain Development Forum Established in Beijing On October 18th, the China Blockchain Development Forum and first developer conference opened in Beijing. Apart from launching a white paper about blockchain technology and application, the forum is also aimed at standardizing the development process and creating… Read More

October 25, 2016 @ 8:32 am By Erin Hobey  |  

No transaction fees until 2017! The India-based online recharge and mobile wallet company MobiKwik announced that it is waving its per transaction fee for all unorganized retail merchants until December 31 to promote the adoption of e-cash among the local grocery stores, chemists, apparel stores… Read More

October 24, 2016 @ 10:31 pm By JD Alois  |  

CoAssets Limited (ASX: CA8), a Singapore-based crowdfunding platform and even organizer, is partnering with the Linca Group, with the support of the Fuzhou district government, to bring their EPIC series to Fuzhou, China. Entitled “One Belt, One Road – Infinite Possibilities”, the Expo in Property, Investing and… Read More

October 24, 2016 @ 4:42 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Mizuho Bank recently announced the opening of its innovation center, which will be located in the Fintech Center of Tokyo Finolab. The company stated the center would be jointly operated by Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd., Dentsu Inc., and Information Services International–Dentsu, Ltd. Mizuho reported that… Read More

October 24, 2016 @ 9:08 am By JD Alois  |  

The Korean Financial Services Commission (KFSC) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have signed a “cooperation agreement” to provide a framework to work together on Fintech initiatives.  Acdording to MAS, under the agreement the two agencies will explore potential joint innovation projects on technologies… Read More

October 23, 2016 @ 6:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, along with the National Standardization Committee, Chinese Blockchain Technology and others have published a white-paper on Blockchain technology. The document has been in the works since this past August. The Bank of England stated recently that 24… Read More

October 22, 2016 @ 2:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has signed another cooperation agreement to help propel mutual interests in Fintech development.  MAS has signed an agreement to cooperate with the government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP), a state in India. Andhra Pradesh is one of 29 states and… Read More

October 21, 2016 @ 8:07 am By JD Alois  |  

Irish born but Asia based, First Circle has received $1.2 million in seed funding led by Key Capital and IMJ Investment Partners.  The online lender is targeting SME in the Philippines first but plans on expanding across Southeast Asia. Speaking with Businessworld.ie, Patrick Lynch, the… Read More

October 21, 2016 @ 2:00 am By JD Alois  |  

2016 is the Year of Fintech in Hong Kong Hong Kong is on the growing list of countries that see Fintech as strategically important for their regional economy and global competitiveness. This past week, in a speech delivered in New York City, Hong Kong Financial… Read More

October 20, 2016 @ 5:36 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s central bank, has put together a framework for the sandbox following a month-long consultation with startups, banks and other stakeholders. Malaysia is the latest country following Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Singapore, to set up a fintech regulatory sandbox in an effort to help startups… Read More

October 20, 2016 @ 4:43 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Moving from fintech to farmtech. Online meat brand ZappFresh has appointed former MobiKwik executive Ankur Shrivastava as the CTO where he will be responsible for building a 360 degree farm tech supply chain architecture and developing technology and processes for farmtech which will help connect farmers, vendors… Read More

October 20, 2016 @ 4:26 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Insurance companies in Asia are facing a “labyrinth” of regulations as they increase investment in the insurtech space, particularly in areas such as telematics, biometrics and big data, according to The Insurtech Revolution: Regulatory Updates and Innovative Evolution in the Insurance Sector, a new guide… Read More

October 19, 2016 @ 11:16 am By JD Alois  |  

This past weekend, Crowdfund Insider reported that China government officials published a list of restrictions for peer to peer lenders. These were largely a rehash of previously revealed regulations directed towards internet finance and more specifically peer to peer lending. But the Chinese government is… Read More

October 18, 2016 @ 4:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

A report in the Korean Herald has pointed to Hanwha Life Insurance purchasing a 4.1% equity stake in Lending Club (NYSE:LC).  Hanwha Life spent 75 billion won or approximately USD $66.25 million as they believe its stock is undervalued. PulseNews reported last year that Hanwha… Read More

October 18, 2016 @ 10:38 am By Xu Gao  |  

CreditEase is Confronted with Another Tuition Loan Fraud Earlier this month, Chinese p2p lending platform CreditEase was confronted with another tuition loan fraud. TOEIC English, a TOEFL training institution which launched a collaborative tuition loan product with CreditEase, was found shuttered with no reason. Students… Read More