Tagged: underbanked

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

June 10, 2020 @ 9:48 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

  The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), an organization that connects the MENA and Southeast Asia region’s markets with the economies of Europe, Asia, and the Americas, has made strategic investments in four Fintech companies. According to a press release, the DIFC has invested in… Read More

June 9, 2020 @ 10:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Philippines based Ayannah, an online financial services provider, and India’s payments firm Equity Capital Advisors (ECAPS) have merged their operations in order to provide cost-effective and more accessible financial services to South Asia and Southeast Asia’s growing middle-class population. The merged entity will aim to… Read More

June 2, 2020 @ 12:31 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Businesses throughout the world are looking for ways to cope with the adverse effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. Governments across the globe have enforced lockdowns and recommended that people observe safe distancing measures to avoid the further spread of the Coronavirus. There are now over… Read More

June 1, 2020 @ 11:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Indonesia’s Fintech sector has been growing steadily, however, the majority or over 70% of the country’s adult population is unbanked or underbanked, according to the latest e-Conomy SEA Report. This suggests that Fintech businesses in Indonesia have a good opportunity to provide modern financial services… Read More

May 31, 2020 @ 11:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

  Barcelona’s Fintech firm Belvo has secured $10 million in capital, in order to recruit between 40-50 new project developers. Belvo is also planning to establish business offices in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Y Combinator-backed Belvo maintains its second major hub and primary market in Mexico… Read More

May 23, 2020 @ 1:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Via Varejo, the largest retail company in Brazil, has confirmed that it will be acquiring AirFox, a US-based Fintech firm. The amount involved in the transaction has not been disclosed. AirFox will maintain its Boston head offices and will also operate as a Fintech “innovation… Read More

May 18, 2020 @ 9:31 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ant Financial, the Fintech division of Chinese multinational e-commerce giant Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA), has teamed up with Digital Money Myanmar (Wave Money), in order to promote financial inclusion and help the country’s unbanked and underbanked population. Ant Financial will offer its expertise in mobile and… Read More

May 7, 2020 @ 7:39 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Estonia-headquartered AskRobin, a Fintech firm that manages a financial services marketplace for underbanked Latin American clients, has secured $1.7 million in capital. AskRobin’s seed round received contributions from several venture capital funds, including BENE Asia Capital, Change Ventures, Lemonade Stand, and Vereeni Early Stage Fund…. Read More

May 4, 2020 @ 8:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech firm GoBear, which offers a financial products comparison website, confirmed on May 4, 2020, that it has acquired AsiaKredit, a Singapore-based digital lender. The amount paid for the acquisition has not been shared publicly. GoBear’s acquisition has come after the Fintech company secured $80… Read More

March 9, 2020 @ 10:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

U Microfinance Bank Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) – Etisalat Company, has reportedly signed a grant agreement with Karandaaz Pakistan, a company that aims to promote improved access to finance for small business owners via an investment platform, and financial… Read More

February 21, 2020 @ 4:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

JPMorgan, the largest bank in the US, and UK Aid confirmed last month that they would invest $15 million into the business operations of Catalyst Fund, a Boston-headquartered project accelerator which funds Fintech firms in order to support financial inclusion efforts in India,  Mexico, and… Read More

February 8, 2020 @ 9:54 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Bitcoin Depot, one of the world’s fastest-growing multi-cryptocurrency ATM networks, announced on February 6, 2020, that it’s expanding its services to more than 500 ATMs, globally. This move will notably make Bitcoin Depot the largest blockchain ATM network in the world. The firm recently surpassed… Read More

January 12, 2020 @ 6:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Thailand-based Lightnet, a Stellar blockchain-enabled platform, has reportedly secured $31.2 million in funding in order to further develop its international payments service in the Southeast Asia region. The Bangkok-based company has finalized a Series A investment round that was led by established Asian financial conglomerates,… Read More

December 7, 2019 @ 11:01 am By Omar Faridi  |  

IGNIA Partners, LW Investment Management, and several angel investors are backing a Mexican challenger bank, called Fondeadora, via a recent $2.5 million investment. This is Fondeadora’s second investment round in 2019. Earlier this year, the banking challenger secured $1.5 million and has now raised a… Read More

December 4, 2019 @ 7:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

San Francisco-headquartered Migo, a Fintech firm that has developed a cloud-based lending solution, revealed on December 3 that it secured $20 million following the first closing of its Series B investment round. New York-based Valor Capital Group, an international VC firm with a special focus… Read More

November 13, 2019 @ 10:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Christian Catalini, co-creator of the Facebook-led Libra payment system and head economist at Calibra, a subsidiary of the social media giant that’s focused on developing a digital wallet for Libra, says he’d been doing research in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space for many years before… Read More

October 1, 2019 @ 1:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Tarin Thaniyavarn, the country head for Fintech firm Grab’s Thailand division, points out that advancements in telecommunications and mobile technology allow users to perform and manage many different tasks from their smartphones. For example, we can book rides, order meals or groceries, and pay for… Read More

September 8, 2019 @ 10:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

While much of the discourse revolving around innovation in financial services tackles specific sectors of the industry, such as lending, payments,  or online capital formation, the reality is that the biggest beneficiaries of Fintech may be the underbanked: the millions of people who have never… Read More

August 9, 2018 @ 6:40 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Nova Credit, started as a Stanford graduate research project in 2015, has quickly gained ground as a cross-border credit reporting agency aiming to solve the problem of credit access for immigrants and underbanked.  The platform will begin serving immigrants from South America through partnering with the Brazilian credit bureau… Read More