Tagged: southeast asia

January 24, 2021 @ 7:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-based iSTOX, a blockchain-powered digitized securities platform, has finalized a $50 million Series A funding round with participation from two state-backed investors based in Japan. As noted by the company’s management: “iSTOX is a future-ready capital markets platform set to usher in a new era… Read More

January 24, 2021 @ 4:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Malaysia-based Split, a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platform, recently revealed that it had handled RM 10 million (appr. $2.47 million) in total transactions for local businesses within months. Split allows merchants to provide up to 3 interest-free installments to their clients, who are able… Read More

January 21, 2021 @ 9:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at Bit.com, which claims to be a secure and “high-performance” cryptocurrency derivatives exchange introduced by Matrixport, will reportedly be offering Bitcoin Cash (BCH) perpetual swaps and options. As mentioned in a release shared with Crowdfund Insider, the Bitcoin Cash option trading is scheduled… Read More

January 20, 2021 @ 12:44 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services are being widely-adopted in Southeast Asia. BNPL service providers allow consumers to pay for products via flexible instalment plans. Major Fintechs offering BNPL options in the Southeast Asian region include Grab, GoJek, Razer, Oriente, among others. BNPL lets people… Read More

January 19, 2021 @ 10:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Payments company GHL has reportedly expanded its line of products and services to include road tax and vehicle insurance renewal options. GHL’s new services are being introduced after it announced a partnership with Malaysia’s Loanstreet, an established financial marketplace. Following the launch of GROW by… Read More

January 18, 2021 @ 10:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the nation’s central bank and financial regulator, is encouraging the country’s residents to use e-hong baos, which are monetary gifts handed out in envelopes, during the upcoming Lunar New Year. Singapore’s Association of Banks (ABS) said it would be… Read More

January 17, 2021 @ 7:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CIMB Bank Philippines, which aims to transform the Filipino banking experience with its all-digital, mobile-first bank, “offering 24/7 safe and secure banking, bank account opening in just 10 minutes through smartphones,” is reporting that it has managed to double its deposit customer base. Launched in… Read More

January 16, 2021 @ 10:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Fintech Alliance in the Philippines, which aims to support the nation’s economic and social development goals, has teamed up with 43 other private business organizations in the country in order to express their support for the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE)… Read More

January 15, 2021 @ 9:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Vietnam’s digital wallet provider MoMo reveals that it has secured $100 million in capital via its Series D funding round, which was co-led by Goodwater, a Silicon Valley-based fund, and Warburg Pincus. New investors also made contributions to MoMo’s investment round, including Kora Management and… Read More

January 15, 2021 @ 9:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Standard Chartered has teamed up with Indonesia’s Bukalapak in order to offer digital banking services which will be hosted via the Nexus platform, an established Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution by SC Ventures. Standard Chartered and Bukalapak will be working closely so that they can provide innovation… Read More

January 15, 2021 @ 8:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Indonesia-based Fintech platforms and services have continued to receive substantial investments despite the COVID outbreak. These Fintechs have acquired a significant portion of the total funds invested in Indonesian startups throughout 2020. According to reports, Fintechs in the country have acquired more capital than software-as-a-service… Read More

January 14, 2021 @ 11:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Grab Financial Group (GFG), the Fintech services division of Grab, has revealed that it has secured more than $300 million in capital through its Series A investment round – which was led by Hanwha Asset Management Co. Ltd., a South Korea based asset management firm…. Read More

January 14, 2021 @ 11:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

UnionBank in the Philippines has teamed up with FinScore, an alternative credit scoring solution provider that’s powered by advanced analytics and the latest telco data. Through the partnership, both organizations will aim to promote market efficiencies and help consumers access a wide range of digital… Read More

January 14, 2021 @ 7:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

DiskarTech, which is Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation’s (RCBC) digital banking platform, has become the number 1 finance or Fintech app in the Philippines to have launched services in 2020 across distribution platforms in terms of total downloads, according to App Annie (a provider of analytics… Read More

January 13, 2021 @ 10:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Malaysia-based microLEAP, a platform that provides conventional and Islamic or Shariah-compliant peer-to-peer (P2P) financing options, has acquired RM 3.25 million (appr. $800,000) in capital. The platform’s investment round consists of RM 1.25 million in equity and a RM 2 million advance. The funds raised will… Read More

January 12, 2021 @ 9:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A major part of Indonesia’s economy is supported by SMEs, which represent approximately 60% of the nation’s GDP. Many of the small businesses depend on a lot of manual processes and bookkeeping, however, the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic has led to SMBs becoming more… Read More

January 11, 2021 @ 10:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The economies of Southeast Asian countries performed quite well in 2020 despite the COVID-19 outbreak and related challenges. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected a contraction of 3.8% for the region during 2020, which doesn’t seem too bad when compared to the Eurozone’s at… Read More

January 10, 2021 @ 9:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Citi and Grab, which is Southeast Asia’s super app, have extended their partnership in consumer lending with the introduction of the bank’s API-powered lending solution for consumers in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Starting off in Singapore with additional markets in the APAC region to… Read More

January 10, 2021 @ 7:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Deutsche Bank Securities Services and Hashstacs Pte Ltd (STACS) are reportedly working on a proof-of-concept (PoC) that will involve exploring the technological and practical feasibility of digital assets. The PoC will take into consideration factors like the level of interoperability, liquidity, cross-border connectivity, and various… Read More

January 10, 2021 @ 7:00 pm By Jayanta Roy  |  

Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending has come a long way since its early days as a casual crowdfunding platform. Today, individual borrowers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can access loans without the hassle of going through banks and lengthy financial assessments. Still, P2P lending is a… Read More