Tagged: thailand

October 5, 2021 @ 9:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Muang Thai Life Assurance Pcl., one of the largest life and health insurance firms in Thailand, has entered a partnership with ZA Tech Global Limited, the technology venture established by ZA International and backed by Softbank’s Vision Fund 1. The partnership marks both parties’ commitment… Read More

September 28, 2021 @ 7:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Ascend Money has reached a $1.5 billion valuation after finalizing a $150 million round, making it the very first Fintech Unicorn in Thailand. The proceeds will be channeled towards growing the firm’s client base (which includes its digital wallet app, TrueMoney Wallet) and to further… Read More

September 5, 2021 @ 6:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

StashAway, a digital wealth management platform, has officially launched in Thailand, which marks a completely new overseas market for the Singapore-headquartered Fintech firm. StashAway, which mainly offers Robo-advisory services, has already established operations in Dubai, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. The StashAway platform, currently accessible to… Read More

August 22, 2021 @ 9:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has introduced its plans (after an extensive study) to start testing a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) during Q2 2022. The BOT had carried out a research study on the implications and feasibility of issuing a retail CBDC, as… Read More

July 16, 2021 @ 5:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

SCB 10X, the venture division of Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank or SCB (BKK: SCB), has confirmed its most-recent investment into the decentralized finance (DeFi) space through asset aggregator and portfolio dashboard provider, Ape Board. The firm, which currently has over 350,000 users, acquired within 4… Read More

July 9, 2021 @ 5:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

BigPay is focused on expanding its business operations into Thailand after Airasia’s acquisition of Gojek’s Thailand division via its digital unit in a deal valued at RM208 million (appr. $50 million). This move has been announced ahead of AirAsia‘s plans to offer a Super app… Read More

July 8, 2021 @ 9:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Workmate, a Southeast Asian Workforce Management Platform and marketplace for informal workers, has reportedly acquired a senior secured loan of “up to $10 million” from Lendable Inc., a provider of debt to Fintechs in emerging and frontier markets. As mentioned in the announcement: “A committed… Read More

July 7, 2021 @ 9:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Real-time payments are becoming increasingly common as cash as a payment solution or method for consumers in Southeast Asia, according to research from ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW) and YouGov. Three out of five or around 60% of consumers residing in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore… Read More

July 2, 2021 @ 9:47 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand is the next jurisdiction to target the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. According to a posting by the securities regulator, the Thai SEC has filed a criminal complaint against Binance for operating a digital asset business without a license…. Read More

June 29, 2021 @ 10:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Siam Commercial Bank (BKK: SCB), which is Thailand’s first and oldest banking institution, and Thunes, an established international payments firm, revealed on Tuesday (June 29, 2021) that they have teamed up to allow individual customers and businesses overseas to send money to Thailand. The cross-border… Read More

June 20, 2021 @ 4:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Bank of Thailand (BoT) recently revealed that they’ve introduced a cross-border QR payment linkage between the two countries. Under this linkage, both consumers and merchants residing in Malaysia and Thailand can make and receive instant, cross-border QR code payments…. Read More

May 4, 2021 @ 7:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Bank of Thailand has published a paper on central bank digital currency (CBDCs) entitle the Way Forward for Retail Central Bank Digital Currency in Thailand. Thailand has been a fairly innovation-friendly nation in regards to Fintech. Several years ago, Thailand participated in Project Inthanon,… Read More

April 29, 2021 @ 10:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

Zipmex, a Singapore-based digital asset exchange that operates in multiple countries, says it has processed Asia’s first purchase of a Lamborghini using cryptocurrency. According to a release, Jo Chirawat used Zipmex’s mobile app to put a downpayment in Bitcoin on a 2021 Huracán EVO RWD… Read More

March 30, 2021 @ 11:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bangkok Bank, one the largest commercial banks in Thailand, has introduced an international QR payments solution that will run between Thailand and Vietnam. The solution is reportedly being deployed with assistance from the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and State Bank of Vietnam (SBV). Bangkok Bank… Read More

March 7, 2021 @ 6:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

There are no extensive regulations yet on Open Banking in Thailand, however, the government’s digital transformation strategy (and the Thailand 4.0 strategy) along with the introduction of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) in 2020 indicate that the country may soon offer an Open Banking… Read More

March 5, 2021 @ 9:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Thailand is reportedly backing off its initial draft plan that would have required a 1-million-baht (appr. $32,800) minimum annual income and various other requirements for local crypto investors. The Thai SEC clarified that the draft bill was meant… Read More

March 3, 2021 @ 10:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

R3 will expand its presence in Thailand, including new hires, after the renewal of its partnership with Bangkok Bank, according to a statement by the firm. Amit Ghosh, Head of APAC, R3, stated: “Thai enterprises are at the forefront of innovation, digital transformation and blockchain… Read More

March 3, 2021 @ 6:30 am By Milena Naitoh  |  

The ASEAN economy is expected to become the fourth-largest economy in the world by 2030, growing at a pace of over 5% per year. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the biggest contributors to this regional growth — they account for between 89% and 99%… Read More

March 2, 2021 @ 11:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Insurtech industry in Thailand has been growing steadily with firms in the sector consistently finalizing million-dollar investment rounds. Meanwhile, traditional insurance service providers in the country have been working on their digital transformation strategies in order to remain competitive, as foreign companies are also… Read More

February 19, 2021 @ 7:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Southeast Asia-based Funding Societies, a digital financing platform, has revealed that it has made S$2 billion (appr. $1.5 billion) in disbursals of business financing to SMEs across the region as the company enters its sixth year of offering loans. Funding Societies’ management noted that the… Read More