Tagged: southeast asia

Blockchain.com Obtains Major Payment Institution License from Monetary Authority of Singapore

Blockchain.com, which claims to be one of the world’s most trusted and earliest crypto platforms, announced that it has been granted a major payment institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on 1st of August 2023. This announcement follows Blockchain.com “receiving its… Read More

Philippines: Netbank, UBX to Extend Loans to SMBs Selling via Digital Commerce Platforms

Netbank and UBX have signed an agreement to issue loans to sellers on ecommerce platforms, and started to issue these loans. Netbank expects to rapidly “expand its lending to e-commerce sellers in the next year.” Many sellers on e-commerce platforms “require additional working capital to… Read More

CBDCs: Digital Dollar Project Launches Pilot with Western Union Focused on Cross-Border Payments

The Digital Dollar Project announced the completion of a pilot study conducted in collaboration with The Western Union Company, BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO Unibank) in the Philippines, and support from Accenture. This collaboration represents the Digital Dollar Project’s latest private sector efforts “in support of… Read More

Funding Societies, CGC Digital to Support Malaysia-based MSMEs

Small and medium-sized business (SMB) financing platform Funding Societies announced that it has teamed up with CGC Digital, the Fintech division of Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia (CGC) in order to support MSMEs operating across the Southeast Asian nation. Via this collaboration, CGC Digital created a… Read More

Alternative Payments Account for Almost 40% of Digital Commerce Transactions in Singapore: Report

Alternative payment methods such as mobile and digital wallets are being widely used in the e-Commerce space in Singapore, “accounting for 38.6% of the payments made on the online payments in 2023,” reveals GlobalData, a data and analytics company. GlobalData’s e-Commerce Analytics reveals “that Singapore’s… Read More

Digital Transformation: Japan’s MUFG Joins Contour’s Network to Streamline Global Trade

Contour, the digital trade finance network, announced that the Singapore office of MUFG Bank, which claims to be Japan’s premier bank is joining its growing digital network. MUFG has a global presence “spanning around 50 markets, while its parent Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) is… Read More

Fintech Firm Nium Announces 2022 Net Revenue Grew 2.7x YoY to $82M

Nium, which claims to be the leader in real-time global payments, has published its 2022 audit, “showing US$82M in net revenue which grew 2.7x YoY and ended at more than $100M net revenue run rate.” Nium says it is Singapore’s first global Fintech “focused on… Read More

Singapore: MAS to Strengthen Defense Against Money Laundering Risks in Single Family Offices

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently launched a public consultation on a revised framework to strengthen surveillance and defence against money laundering (ML) risks in Singapore’s Single Family Office (SFO) sector. The revised framework will aim to “introduce a harmonized class exemption for SFOs… Read More

Global Investment Platform Robocash Group Announces H1 2023 Results

The first half of the year was a “busy” one for the RoboCash Group. The holding focused “on the expansion of the current business in the Philippines and Kazakhstan, as well as the systematic preparation for the opening of new markets.” As noted in a… Read More

UK, Singapore Enhance Cooperation in Sustainable Finance, Fintech Initiatives

The United Kingdom and Singapore held the 8th UK-Singapore Financial Dialogue in London. The Dialogue facilitated a useful exchange of views, and “identified opportunities for further collaboration on joint projects, in priority areas such as sustainable finance and FinTech and innovation.” Sustainable Finance Both countries… Read More

Malaysia: Maybank Welcomes Tesla, Serves as Key EV Financier

Maybank offers a welcome to Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) after their recent announcement to enter the electric vehicle (EV) auto market for their Model Y in Malaysia. This also signifies the Group’s involvement “as the key EV financing partner for Tesla in the country aligned to its… Read More

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Enables Online Nomination of Insurance Beneficiaries

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that insurance policy owners will soon have online options to nominate their beneficiaries. Amendments have been “made to the Insurance (Nomination of Beneficiaries) Regulations 2009, to enable insurers to provide these options from 2 January 2024.” The process… Read More

Blockchain Adoption: Commerzbank Is Reportedly the First German Bank to Complete Live Transactions on Trade Finance Network Contour

Commerzbank is reportedly the first German bank to have completed a blockchain-based Letter of Credit (LC) transaction for its client, Ascentex Exim LLP, a Singapore-based textile trader, on Contour, a digital trade finance platform. The LC was issued for “a shipment of rubber threads from… Read More

Philippines: Embedded Finance Platform Netbank Announces Partnership with Pays0

Netbank, the Filipino embedded finance platform, is plessed to announce its strategic partnership with Pays0, a dynamic payments company, to offer seamless funds disbursement services through a cutting-edge application programming interface (API). This collaboration proves the opportunities in the Filipino payments market and marks a… Read More

Currencycloud, which Streamlines Financial Transactions in a Multi-Currency Environment, Partners with Malaysia’s GAT Investment Bank

Currencycloud, which claims to be the expert team simplifying business in a multi-currency world, has partnered with Malaysia-based GAT Investment Bank in order to launch GAT Money, an app offering an alternative solution to new clients who “need a global banking solution which offers access… Read More

Philippines: Personal Remittances Reach $2.8B in May 2023; YTD Growth at 3.1%

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reports that personal remittances from Overseas Filipinos (OFs) reportedly “reached US$2.78 billion in May 2023, higher by 2.9 percent than the $2.70 billion registered in the same month last year.” The increase in personal remittances in May 2023 was “due… Read More

Remittances: TNG Digital Introduces Online Remittance Services in Touch ‘n Go eWallet

TNG Digital Sdn Bhd has launched its digital remittance services, GOremit in the Touch ‘n Go eWallet, as part of its commitment to innovate and drive inclusivity across products and services. With GOremit, users can “send money securely to five Southeast Asian countries namely Indonesia,… Read More

Consumer Fintech Salmon Raises $20M Series A from Argentem Creek Partners

Consumer fintech Salmon announced it has secured a $20 million debt facility from U.S. emerging-markets specialist investment firm Argentem Creek Partners, enabling Salmon to further scale its lending operations across the Philippines. Building on significant investor interest in the debt placement, Salmon will expand its… Read More

Fintech Firm Sumsub to Make Singapore its APAC Head Offices

Sumsub announces its plans to make Singapore its APAC headquarters and wider business development goals in the region. This strategic move comes in response “to the escalating threat of identity fraud in the region with the rise in digital startups.” In recent years, Singapore has… Read More

Indian Fintech Razorpay Introduces Global Payment Gateway with Curlec

Razorpay says they have always believed that simplifying payments is a universal problem. Businesses across the world grapple “with the same question: how can my payments experience be simpler, faster, and more efficient?” At Razorpay, they took this challenge head-on in India, “solving for tens… Read More

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