Tagged: south africa

June 16, 2020 @ 11:40 am By JD Alois  |  

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

April 23, 2020 @ 10:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

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

March 20, 2020 @ 10:48 am By Omar Faridi  |  

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

March 15, 2020 @ 3:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

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

March 9, 2020 @ 2:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

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

February 27, 2020 @ 8:59 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

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

February 1, 2020 @ 11:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

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

January 21, 2020 @ 9:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

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

December 10, 2019 @ 2:35 am By Cali Haan  |  

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

November 29, 2019 @ 12:37 pm By Cali Haan  |  

As of March 2020, “Top Four” South African Bank FNB will no longer provide business banking to, “(cryptocurrency) trading platforms and intermediaries that trade in digital money,” City Press reports. Affected entities include crypto exchanges Luno, VALR, ICE3X and their intermediaries. “Our decision was made after… Read More

November 20, 2019 @ 8:25 am By JD Alois  |  

FirstRand Bank (FRB) in South Africa is shuttering accounts affiliated with cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a report in MyBroadband. Quoting a letter seen by the publication, the justification is due to associated risk regarding these exchanges: FirstRand Bank has been considering its risk appetite in… Read More

November 18, 2019 @ 11:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

South Africa’s financial regulator, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), has issued a warning against Karatbars International GmbH, a German company that has been promoting a digital currency, called KaratGold Coin, which is allegedly backed by gold. According to FSCA’s release: “Karatbars International GmbH is… Read More

January 22, 2019 @ 9:50 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Police in South Africa have arrested suspects believed to be behind the kidnapping of a 13-year-old boy from Witbank and the attempted kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl from Middelburg, Times Live reports. The boy was reportedly kidnapped “in broad daylight” close to his home on… Read More

January 17, 2019 @ 12:19 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Authorities responsible for regulating finance, banking and taxation in South Africa have issued a consultation paper stating that regulation of the cryptocurrency/digital token sector should be enacted forthwith and adjusted to accommodate innovation later: “The IFWG and Crypto Assets Regulatory Working Group is of the… Read More

December 5, 2018 @ 1:15 am By Cali Haan  |  

A South African Bitcoin trader is recovering in intensive care following his abduction and torture by bandits who allegedly robbed him of almost $66 000 USD in Bitcoin and cash. According to Soweto Urban, the man agreed to do a talk on cryptocurrency for a… Read More

September 19, 2018 @ 8:14 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A South African businessperson kidnapped two months ago was returned safely to his family this week amid rumours that captors demanded a ransom of 50 Bitcoins for his release. According to The South African, Liyaqat Parker, 65, was kidnapped from the parking garage under his workplace… Read More

August 22, 2018 @ 7:20 am By Cali Haan  |  

The commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) told attendees at an auditors’ conference in Sandton this week that SARS is stepping up efforts to identify crypto traders and collect related taxes, FIN24 reports. “The key thing is identifying people who are trading because… Read More

August 2, 2018 @ 4:00 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Absa, a South Africa-based financial services group, announced this week it has teamed up with Samsung South Africa to offer customers early access to Samsung Pay before the service is commercially launched in South Africa.  Arrie Rautenbach, CE of Absa Retail and Business Banking stated that… Read More

August 1, 2018 @ 9:12 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Wirecard, a Germany-based global provider of digital payments and commerce solutions, announced on Wednesday it has launched of its digital payment product, secureEFT, in South Africa. According to Wirecard, secureEFT is an instant electronic funds transfer payment service that allows customers to make secure online… Read More

April 12, 2018 @ 9:15 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Vio Digital, a South Africa-based fintech startup, announced on Thursday it is launching a new blockchain-based money transfer app to make it easier for customers to transfer money from person to person anywhere in the world. The company reports that across Africa, remittance solutions are typically… Read More