Tagged: south africa

$1.7 Billion Bitcoin Fraud: CFTC Announces Charges Against South African Individual and Firm

Largest CFTC Enforcement Action Ever Involving Bitcoin. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced its largest enforcement action regarding Bitcoin ever. According to the CFTC, charges have been filed in a case involving a South African individual, Cornelius Johannes Steynberg, and his organizations involving… Read More

NFTfi , an NFT Marketplace for Collateralized Loans, Raises $5 Million

NFTfi, a marketplace for non-fungible token (NFT) collateralized loans, says it has raised a $5 million Series A funding round. According to NFTfi, the round was led by 1kx, an early-stage crypto fund and will allow NFTfi to grow its operations, marketing, and product development… Read More

Barko Financial Services Taps Temenos to Serve South Africa’s Unbanked

Banking software company Temenos today announced microfinance company Barko Financial Services plans to enter the retail banking market in South Africa with a new digital bank built on Temenos Transact and powered by The Temenos Banking Cloud. Barko will leverage the full front-to-back services, giving… Read More

South African Fintech Adumo Secures R225 Million from International Finance Corp., IFC Financial Growth Fund

South Africa based Fintech group Adumo has secured R225 million (appr. $14.9 million) in capital from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is a member of the World Bank Group. The IFC Financial Institutions Growth Fund also contributed investments in order to expand access to… Read More

Global Payments Platform Nium Announces Expansion Into Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, & Tanzania

    Global fintech infrastructure platform, Nium, announced on Tuesday its clients are now able to send funds to their business partners located in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Tanzania. Customers of Nium are also able to extend this service to their own consumers.  “Traditionally, businesses, fintechs and even consumers looking… Read More

Multinational Digital Banking Group Tyme Secures $100M in Capital via Series B Round

Tyme, a multinational digital banking group based in Singapore, has reportedly secured $110 million in capital through a Series B funding round. Tyme is focused on bringing foreign investments into South Africa. TymeBank aims to establish the foundation for its business expansion across ASEAN region,… Read More

Standard Bank Group Incorporates Hedera Hashgraph for Cross Border Trade

Standard Bank Group, the largest African bank by assets, has partnered with Hedera Hashgraph, to address issues regarding the development of cross-border trade. Standard Bank will establish the continent’s first Hedera network node, according to a release. Hedera is an enterprise-ready blockchain that is designed… Read More

Fintech Firms May have Significant Growth Opportunities in Africa due to Increasing Demand for Digital Services: Report

A recent study carried out by the Mastercard Economics Institute revealed that the Coronavirus crisis has presented Africa with significant growth opportunities for Fintech firms. The study has noted that the industry should, this year, play a key role in promoting greater financial inclusion in… Read More

TransUnion Joins Forces With Fintech Startup Fincheck to Improve Finance Access For South African Consumers

  Global information and insights company, TransUnion, announced on Monday it has partnered with South Africa-based financial marketplace, Fincheck, to make the credit application process easier and less frustrating for consumers. According to the duo, consumers are now able to access a free TransUnion credit report… Read More

Wirecard Solutions South Africa Acquired by Adumo

The break up of the once high-flying Fintech Wirecard continues as the insolvency administrator has announced that Wirecard Solutions South Africa has been acquired by Adumo RF Pty Ltd,  subject to approval by the local regulatory authorities. Today’s announcement follows similar announcements of the various… Read More

CFTC Forms Partnership with South African Reserve Bank Regarding Fintech

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) have signed a Statement of Intent to cooperate and support innovation through each authority’s respective financial technology (Fintech) initiative. More specifically, the CFTC’s LabCFTC and SARB’s Fintech Unit. LabCFTC’s mission is… Read More

Planet42 Reports Raising $2.4 Million in Funding Round led by Change Ventures

Planet42, a company based in Estonia but operating in Africa, has reported raising $2.4 million in a seed round led by Change Ventures with support from private investors including Martin Villig (Bolt), Ragnar Sass (Pipedrive), Marko Virkebau (MeetFrank), Kristjan Vilosius (Katana MRP), and others. Planet42… Read More

Israeli Blockchain Firm Orbs Launches “Stay at Home Challenge” App to Encourage People to Self-Quarantine Following COVID-19 Outbreak

Crypto and blockchain or distributed ledger tech (DLT) firms have been developing solutions to help people cope with the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Several crypto and Fintech firms and organizations have launched charitable initiatives in order to provide financial relief and other types of assistance… Read More

South African Billionaire Patrice Motsepe’s Company Invests $17.3 Million in Nation’s First All-Digital Bank TymeBank

African Rainbow Capital Financial Services Holdings (ARC FinHoldCo) revealed on March 19, 2020 that it has invested R300 million (appr. $17.3 million) into South Africa’s first all-digital bank TymeBank. ARC FinHoldCo has reportedly increased its stake in TymeBank to 100% during the course of the… Read More

Binance to Offer Crypto to Fiat Gateways in South Africa, Will Donate $1 Million to Support Blockchain-focused Education Programs

Zhao Changpeng

Changpeng Zhao, CEO at Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by adjusted trading volume, has revealed that the firm will introduce a fiat gateway for South African digital asset traders, which will allow them to make deposits in Rands. The announcement was made during the… Read More

Digital Transformation: Standard Bank South Africa to Migrate Core SAP Cloud-based Platform to Microsoft Azure

Standard Bank South Africa recently revealed that its migrating its core SAP cloud-powered platform to Microsoft Azure, in order to enhance customer experience and to be able to more effectively deploy new solutions. By teaming up with tech giant Microsoft, the financial institution hopes to… Read More

South African Fintech Jumo Secures $55 Million in Debt & Equity Funding

Money Benjamin Dollars 100

Jumo, a South Africa-based fintech that is seeking to build next-generation financial services for emerging market entrepreneurs, announced earlier this week it raised $55 million in debt and equity funding to support its expansion into new markets and the launch of new products. Founded in… Read More

Mastercard Invests Undisclosed Amount in AI-enhanced Identity Authentication Firm, Trust Stamp

Payments giant Mastercard has reportedly invested in artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced identity authentication firm, Trust Stamp. Trust Stamp is a graduate of Mastercard’s 2018 Start Path accelerator program. The two firms announced their first collaborative effort involving a secure non-PII authentication network for offline and internet-based… Read More

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-backed Catalyst Fund Launches $15 Million Commitment from J.P. Morgan, UK Aid

Although the overall progress on reducing poverty has been steady during the past few decades, about half or 50% of the global population still has to live on less than $6 per day. Catalyst Fund is a newly established VC fund with a goal to… Read More

South Africa Drafts New Rules for Cryptocurrencies That Shore Up Currency Controls

South Africa’s Reserve Bank (Sarb) is drafting new rules to prevent cryptocurrencies from undermining currency controls in the country, IOL reports. The rules will come into effect in the first quarter of 2020, Sarb deputy governor Kuben Naidoo told journalists last week. South Africa’s financial… Read More

Send this to a friend