Tagged: fintech adoption

July 10, 2021 @ 1:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Promsvyazbank and Tochka, a Fintech-focused service for SMEs, reportedly began using an Open Banking API implemented by the Bank of Russia and the Russian Fintech Association (RFA). They’ve passed the tests at the Open API Certification Stand, which is being operated by the Russian Fintech… Read More

July 6, 2021 @ 4:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Booking.com reveals that it has formed a new internal Fintech division in order to support access to the firm’s global travel marketplace for clients and partners. As an international digital commerce firm with business operations in almost every country and city, Booking.com’s goal behind creating… Read More

July 5, 2021 @ 10:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Indonesia’s digital wallet provider OVO has introduced a Shariah-compliant mutual fund product, which reportedly offers a fairly low buy-in for a product of its kind (less than $1). It lets investors instantly cash out their funds in real-time. The Syariah Syailendra OVO Bareksa Tunai Likuid… Read More

July 5, 2021 @ 9:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Build for Bahrain Acceleration Program, held in partnership with Bahrain Fintech Bay and the US State Department’s MEPI, has now ended with the three winning teams successfully completing the acceleration program and 3-month incubation period (held at Bahrain FinTech Bay). The program (in Bahrain)… Read More

July 5, 2021 @ 12:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Kakao Pay, a Fintech division of Kakao, which is the South Korean company that operates the KakaoTalk messenger app, reveals that it has submitted its initial public offering (IPO) filing. The company intends to secure as much 1.632 trillion Korean won (app. $1.4 billion) in… Read More

July 3, 2021 @ 9:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

KT, one of South Korea’s largest telecom companies, reveals that it will be investing KRW 23.6 billion (appr. $20.9 million) into the operations of Webcash Group. The investment will be part of a plan to form an alliance relationship for the B2B sector. Webcash Group… Read More

July 2, 2021 @ 10:15 am By Omar Faridi  |  

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) has reportedly decided to acquire OpenInvest, which is a provider of ESG tools for the wealth management sector. Supported by investments from VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, QED, and others, OpenInvest was established back in 2015 with a special focus on assisting… Read More

June 29, 2021 @ 6:33 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Stripe, a global tech firm which offers economic infrastructure for the Internet, reveals that it has been chosen by Hargreaves Lansdown, the United Kingdom’s leading digital wealth management service provider. Stripe will serve as Hargreaves Lansdown‘s main payments partner. Hargreaves Lansdown has selected Stripe for… Read More

June 27, 2021 @ 11:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Emma, a company that’s on a mission to be the control center for your money, has secured  £1,889,342 from 2,588 Investors (at the time of writing) via Crowdcube. Backed by Connect Ventures and other leading VCs, Emma had a £1,000,000 fundraising target. Emma reports a… Read More

June 27, 2021 @ 8:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT) recently revealed that the Walmart MoneyCard that’s issued by Green Dot Bank is now being provided as a demand deposit account (DDA) – which may be better equipped to assist Walmart clients with saving more money and… Read More

June 24, 2021 @ 11:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Saudi cabinet has reportedly granted a digital banking permit to STC Pay, a virtual payments solution provider that’s a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Telecom. STC Pay will now be converted into a domestic virtual bank, with a capital of SAR 2.5 billion (appr…. Read More

June 24, 2021 @ 1:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Saudi Arabia-based Tweeq, a provider of spending accounts for individuals and small businesses operating across the country, revealed that it has finalized an undisclosed seven-figure funding round, which has been co-led by STV and Raed Ventures. As noted by the company’s management: “Our mission is… Read More

June 20, 2021 @ 8:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Indonesia-based Finantier, an open finance API platform, has secured an undisclosed 7-figure sum through a seed round that was led by Global Founders Capital and East Ventures. Finantier’s latest investment round was oversubscribed. The capital was raised at a post-money valuation of over 20 times… Read More

June 19, 2021 @ 3:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Hong Kong-based digital technology park Cyberport has revealed that the application stage for the initial phase of its Fintech Proof-of-Concept (PoC) Subsidy Scheme has now closed. The initiative reportedly received more than 80 applications. The scheme has been commissioned by the Financial Services and the… Read More

June 17, 2021 @ 7:54 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Amazon Payment Services, a payment processing service for the MENA region, has introduced the Amazon Fintech Lab in the DIFC Innovation Hub. The project is reportedly the latest in Amazon Payment Services’ efforts to provide support to the Fintech ecosystem in the MENA region. The… Read More

June 16, 2021 @ 11:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Small and micro businesses (SMBs) account for over 90% of global businesses, and more than half or around 50% of global employment, and contribute over 60% of the GDP of developing nations, the Visa (NYSE:V) team writes in a blog post. However, 2020 was quite… Read More

June 13, 2021 @ 5:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Egypt’s venture capital investment ecosystem has become one of the most fast-evolving markets in the MENA region. It’s been expanding at a 100% CAGR during the last 5 years, according to the 2020 Egypt Venture Investment Report released by Magnitt in collaboration with Egypt’s IT… Read More

June 9, 2021 @ 10:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced on Tuesday (June 8, 2021) the updated “Fintech 2025” strategy for promoting financial tech development in the Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Eddie Yue, CEO at HKMA,  has outlined Hong Kong’s new Fintech strategy,… Read More

June 9, 2021 @ 11:20 am By Omar Faridi  |  

During the past year, Latvia and Israel have experienced a significant surge in Fintech interest, according to a recent analysis published by the Fintech News Network. Google Trends data for the period between April 2020 and April 2021 reveals that online search queries for Fintech… Read More

June 8, 2021 @ 11:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Pakistan has managed to attract a considerable amount of new capital to support its evolving Fintech sector and emerging startups. The significant increase in new funding actually began following the COVID-19 outbreak which led to many more consumers transacting online instead of visiting physical business… Read More