Finovate Global

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Avaloq, Finovate Global

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Gazprombank plans to offer crypto asset custody services later this year in collaboration with Metaco and Avaloq.
  • PYMNTS.com looks at how B2B payments companies in Russia are leveraging the successes of the country’s B2C payments industry.
  • Czech banks anticipate the availability of Apple Pay in the Czech Republic by February or March of 2019.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • UAE-based financial product comparison portal, Yallacompare, raises $8 million in funding.
  • Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) goes live with Tata Consultancy Services’ TCS Bancs.
  • Al Bawaba examines the reasons behind Egypt’s relatively slow adoption of fintech.

Central and South Asia

  • Telenor Microfinance Bank unveils Pakistan’s first blockchain-based cross-border remittance service with technology developed by Alipay.
  • PYMNTS.com looks back at a “huge year” for funding for Indian tech startups in 2018, including $300 million raised by mobile wallet app Paytm.
  • Commercial Bank of Ceylon teams up with Tenpay Payment Technology to launch WeChat Pay in Sri Lanka.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Bloomberg discusses the relationship between Chinese investment in mobile commerce and the growth of Latin America’s tech sector.
  • Brazilian energy holding company Cosan introduces digital wallet, Payly, for QR code payments and mobile transfers.
  • Chilean government considers levying a tax of up to 19% on global e-commerce companies with local operations.

Asia-Pacific

  • Seven Bank of Japan to adds face recognition functionality to its ATMs to enable “on the spot” account opening.
  • New $200 million investment to support KinerjaPay’s expansion into P2P lending and mobile payments.
  • Reuters reports that China is examining ways to provide lower cost financing, including via bonds and bank lending, to the nation’s small businesses.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • South African government establishes crypto task force to develop a comprehensive government response to cryptocurrencies, including the taxing of crypto asset transactions.
  • Fintech Circle partners with the African Fintech Network to launch its fintech education courses for African countries.
  • Coin Idol considers the prospect of a crypto bubble developing in Africa.

Top image designed by Freepik

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, MasterCard, PaySend, Trulioo

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Mastercard partners with Kenya-based PSP, DGO Group, to enable 40,000+ African merchants to accept Mastercard payments.
  • Forbes looks at the founding role of women in Africa’s fintech industry.
  • QuartzAfrica’s review of 2018 begins with a discussion of partnerships between Nigerian fintechs and “global payment giants.”

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Estonian fintech startup CostPocket wins Rockstart pitch competition at the Digital Freedom Festival.
  • Trulioo announces its ID verification services are now available in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
  • Russia-based Oz Forensics wins Fintech Startup of the Year award at India FinTech Awards 2018.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • ACI Worldwide helps the National Bank of Kuwait launch Swift’s global payments innovation (gpi).
  • Albawaba asks “What UAE Startups Should Expect in 2019?”
  • Daily Sabah calls 2018: “The Year of Million-Dollar Startups in Turkey.”

Central and South Asia

  • InstaReM introduces new feature to enhance ability to make multi-currency payments to multiple beneficiaries.
  • Pakistan’s CareemPay is the latest fintech to challenge the country’s payment industry.
  • Indian government announces new initiatives to support fintech innovation.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Forbes profiles “corporate credit cards for startups” specialist Brex and the potential of the company to expand to Brazil by 2021.
  • Mexico’s El Empresario considers the potential for the country’s fintech sector in 2019. In Spanish.
  • iProUP’s Mundo Fintech looks at the fintech industry in Argentina i the wake of the financial crisis. In Spanish.

Asia-Pacific

  • Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing launches in-app financial services including credit, financing solutions.
  • PaySend inks payments partnership with Vietcombank.
  • TechCrunch features Chinese online consumer lending platform, 360 Finance.

Top image designed by Freepik

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Braintri, Clinc, Finastra, Finovate Global, MasterCard, Ripple

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Asia-Pacific

  • Singapore-based InstaReM announces new multi-currency feature to make overseas payments easier for SMEs.
  • Myanmar’s biggest privately-owned bank, Kanbawza (KBZ) Bank picks Finastra’s treasury management solution, Fusion Treasury.
  • Government ministries in South Korea partner for joint blockchain project to improve marine logistics and shipping.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Mastercard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity (FRP) invests $2.9 million three companies from Burundi, Malawi, and Uganda to support financial inclusion.
  • Nigerian Stock Exchange extends partnership with Nasdaq to continue using its matching engine technology.
  • Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority releases its “FinTech Sandbox Guidance Note” with an initial focus on robo advisors and blockchain technology.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Intelligent CIO looks at the merger of Polish fintechs, Braintri and iCompass.
  • Mastercard partners with Polish Payment Standard to provide contactless payments.
  • New report from Deloitte and ID Finance analyzes the growth of Russia’s private fintech sector.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Iraq’s Hammurabi Commercial Bank to deploy ICS Banks Universal Banking Software Suite.
  • Ripple and UAE Exchange team up to launch blockchain-powered cross-border remittance payment services in Asia in early 2019.
  • Egypt’s Commercial International Bank introduces nation’s first fintech-focused venture capital fund.
  • Clinc Brings Conversational AI to Turkey’s Isbank.

Central and South Asia

  • Obopay teams up with Federal Bank and Mastercard to offer new pre-payment card in India.
  • Indian digital payments firm ePayLater teams up with Cashfree to bring its credit-based payment option to merchants.
  • YourStory features Pune-based fintech startup, Phi Commerce.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Brazilian lender Creditoo announces $1.2 million in new funding.
  • IDB, Finnovista report notes that four out of ten Peruvian fintechs has a female founder.
  • Costa Rica unveils new virtual currency, Ecolones, to encourage recycling.

Top image designed by Freepik

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Backbase, BankBazaar, Experian, Fenergo, FICO, Finastra, Finovate Global, Hydrogen, InfoCorp, iProov, James Finance, Juvo, Nubank, Ocrolus, PaySend, Ripple, Sberbank, Temenos, Token, UNPay

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Brazil’s Nubank announces debit options for its digital savings account.
  • Infocorp spinoff Bankingly raises $5.25 million in Series A funding in round led by Elevar Equity.
  • Vocalink to modernize Peru’s electronic payments infrastructure courtesy of new deal with the company’s automated clearinghouse, Cámara de Compensación Electrónica (CCE).

Asia-Pacific

  • UNPay expands QR code payments.
  • Indonesian lending and payments firm, Pohon Dana, picks up investment from Mayapada Group.
  • PaySend launches transfers to bank accounts and Napas cards in Vietnam.
  • Fenergo wins Fintech Exporter of the Year award from Asia Matters.
  • Juvo expands across Asia with regional headquarters in Singapore.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Experian purchases South African credit information and analytics firm Compuscan for $263 million.
  • Ecobank partners with MFS Africa to offer cross-platform digital payments to customers.
  • Emergent Technology acquires Ghana-based Interpay Africa.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Sberbank offers clients new strategies for investment life insurance.
  • Finastra opens new offices in Romania.
  • Backbase powers omni-channel digital services for Poland’s BGŻ BNP Paribas bank.
  • International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) to deploy technology from FICO to fight money laundering.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • UAE and Saudi Arabia launch blockchain-powered, cross-border payments proof of concept.
  • Temenos announces partnership with Tunisia’s Banque de l’Habitat.
  • Token brings open banking to MENA region.

Central and South Asia

  • James Finance, Ocrolus, Hydrogen, and iProov shortlisted for India FinTech Awards 2018.
  • Currencies Direct taps Ripple’s xCurrent for real-time remittances to India.
  • Fintech News Singapore features BankBazaar in its round up of 10 Hot Fintech Startups from India to Watch Closely.

Top image designed by Freepik

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Braintri, Clover Network, FICO, Finastra, Finovate Global, Hydrogen, iProov, James Finance, Ocrolus, Sberbank, VISA

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Central and South Asia

  • Visa takes minority stake in Indian payment gateway BillDesk.
  • Swift India partners with MonetaGo to pilot blockchain-based banking.
  • India FinTech Forum (IFF) announced the 20 companies recognized at its India FinTech Awards (IFTA), including Finovate alums Hydrogen, iProov, Ocrolus, and James Finance.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Elevar Equity leads $5.25 million investment round for Uruguayan fintech, Bankingly.
  • Banco Original, a Sao Paulo, Brazil-based FI, to deploy FICO Origination Manager and FICO Application Fraud Manager.
  • First Data launches Clover Mini and Clover Flex in Argentina.

Asia-Pacific

  • Finastra gives Singapore banks top marks in its inaugural Open Banking Readiness Index.
  • FinLab accelerator introduces its smart business transformation program for Thailand small businesses.
  • SmartPesa brings its softPOS contactless card acceptance via NFC phone running Android – to Singapore and South East Asia.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • South African financial services company, Discovery, to launch “behavioral bank.”
  • Nigeria’s central bank proposes fintech licensing regime to help manage cyber risk, capital adequacy, and operational oversight issues.
  • A “hands-off” attitude toward regulation is credited for helping boost Uganda’s emergent fintech sector.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Poland’s Braintri merges with iCompass.
  • The Polish Financial Supervision Authority names the Heart as one of operators for its regulatory sandbox for companies developing fintech solutions.
  • Ingenico Group teams up with Russia’s Sberbank to enable MOIR card payments for online purchases.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Study from Mena Research Partners calls for major gains in fintech funding in the MENA region over the next ten years.
  • Egypt Innovate features ten Egyptian startups “following the world’s fintech trend.”
  • The Tehran Times looks at the “challenges and opportunities” of fintech innovation in Iran.

Top image designed by Freepik

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finn.ai, Finovate Global, Ondot Systems, Tinkoff Bank

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Fintech digital crowdsourcing platform, Fintech Galaxy, honors leaders of MENA’s fintech industry at its FinX – Excellence in Fintech awards.
  • Entrepreneur magazine looks at how recent investment trends are impacting the growth of fintech in the MENA region.
  • ADGM announces partnership with Bahrain’s central bank to encourage innovation in financial services in both the UAE and Bahrain.

Central and South Asia

  • Bangladeshi sales automation and credit assessment firm ShopUp picks up $1.62 million in seed round led by Omidyar Network.
  • Kazakhstan’s Bank CentreCredit buys 111 ATMs with integrated security and monitoring technology from BS/2.
  • TechCrunch interviews ZestMoney CEO Lizzie Chapman on the building a fintech startup in India.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Decision Report features Finn AI in a look at how chatbots are revolutionizing the financial sector. In Portuguese.
  • Banco Ficensa of Honduras goes live with new core banking technology from e-IBS.
  • Brazil’s Banco Bradesco partners with Japan’s MUFG Bank to develop Ripple-based cross-border payments service.

Asia-Pacific

  • Singapore’s Grab raises $50 million in new funding from Thailand-based Kasikornbank; unveils co-branded mobile wallet, GrabPay by KBank.
  • Courtesy of a joint venture with China’s LianLian, American Express becomes the first foreign card scheme to gain direct access to China’s payment card market.
  • Ondot Systems announces new end-to-end digital card services platform for Asian banks.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Kenyan fintech startup Pezesha unveils financial education academy to help educate would-be borrowers.
  • Rand Merchant Investment Holding (RMI) via AlphaCode, awards R16 million to eight South African fintech startups.
  • Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo urges the nation’s banks to make reforms in order to “cope” with what he called “a quick convergence between technology and financial products.”

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Tinkoff Mobile extends service to seven additional areas of Russia including Smolensk and the Republic of Mordovia.
  • Czech Republic’s Moneta embraces cloud-based banking with test of automatic application deployment in the AWS environment.
  • Russian microfinance company MFC Zaymer joins automated P2P platform, Robo.cash.

Top image designed by Freepik

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Tinkoff Bank launches its Tinkoff Mortgage mobile application for its mortgage customers and partners.
  • Emerging Europe looks at the growth potential of the Romanian fintech market.
  • Government of Ukraine announces plans to legalize cryptocurrencies within three years.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Emirates NBD launches its API sandbox.
  • Arab Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade (Al Masraf) licenses Temenos‘ Learning Community Engine.
  • Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank (AUB) signs up for merchant acquiring solutions from Arab Financial Services (AFS).
  • Alejma’s Alarabi Bank (AAB) of Libya picks Temenos’ T24 core banking system as part of infrastructure renovation.

Central and South Asia

  • State Bank of India (SBI) to build card acceptance and digital payments platform as part of collaboration with Hitachi Payments.
  • Tajikistan’s first Islamic bank, Sohibkorbank, to deploy Ethix core banking system from International Turnkey Systems.
  • Open Financial Technologies and ICICI Bank of India partner to offer payments platform for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Fiserv powers digital banking platform for Bogota Savings Bank.
  • BioCatch partners with 7 tier-one Latin American banks.
  • Visa makes its first investment in Brazil, announcing a minority stake in payment processing platform, Conductor.

Asia-Pacific

  • Temenos partners with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPD Bank) to launch innovation lab.
  • StashAway, a roboadvisor based in Singapore, expands to Malaysia.
  • Australian neobank, Xinja, hires Moven founder Brett King as a permanent advisor.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • New challenger mutual bank in South Africa, Bank Zero, announces trial run.
  • Core banking software technology startup, Riby, picks up investment from Nigerian firm, Microtraction.
  • First Bank of Nigeria goes live with chat banking on WhatsApp courtesy of partnership with Clickatell.
  • Absa Group collaborates with MTN to support POS payments via mobile wallet in Ghana.

Top image designed by Freepik

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Fidor Bank, Finovate Global, PayStand, Sberbank, Siam Commercial Bank, Tinkoff Bank

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Nigerian online accounting services specialist Accounteer announces plans to open new office in Nairobi, Kenya.
  • First Bank of Nigeria awards more than $14,000 in cash prizes to winners of its hackathon competition.
  • Absa Group of South Africa adds new functionality to its mobile app.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Tinkoff Bank launches Tinkoff Junior mobile app for children and teenagers.
  • Sberbank unveils its new Payment Schedules solution, enabling users to configure the interface of Sberbank Business Online into an event feed format.
  • Top ten Ukrainian bank, First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB) to offer banking services via messaging apps Viber and Telegram – with Facebook Messenger to be added by the end of the year.
  • Emerging Europe features Lithuania as “China’s fintech gateway to Europe.”
  • Polish vendor finance specialist LeaseLink joins loan syndication platform, Mintos.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • The UAE’s Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank, a digitally-enabled trade bank, is announced, with operations to begin in early 2019.
  • TradeArabia looks at how fintech can help enhance trade in the Middle East.
  • Bahrain Fintech Bay launches Global Islamic & Sustainable Fintech Center (GISFC).

Central and South Asia

  • Bengaluru-based ClearTax India raises $54.6 million ($4 billion INR) in new funding.
  • Tez Financial Services, Pakistan’s first fully digital non-bank microfinance company, announces picking up $1.1 million in seed funding in a round led by Omidyar Network.
  • India’s Utkarsh Small Finance Bank (USFB) goes live with UP Retail Payments from ACI Worldwide.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • PayStand expands operations to Mexico, forms regional partnership with StartupGDL.
  • Fidor and GFT extend partnership to the Americas markets.
  • Argentine fintech Ualá picks up $34 million investment from Goldman Sachs.

Asia-Pacific

  • Hong Kong-based mobile current account solution for the underbanked, Neat, raises $3 million in funding.
  • Accenture partners with Siam Commercial Bank’s fintech subsidiary, Digital Ventures, to co-launch blockchain trade solution. See Siam Commercial Bank at FinovateAsia in Hong Kong next week.
  • Indonesia’s OnlinePajak, a tax app provider, announced a $25 million investment in a round led by Warburg Pincus.
  • Fintech Futures takes a look at the “fintech battle” between China and the West.

Top image designed by Freepik

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, ayondo, Corezoid, Daon, Finovate Global, Kinetica, Nubank, Payfone, Ripple, Sberbank, Temenos

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Asia-Pacific

  • MoneyTap, DLT-based payment app developed by SBI and Ripple goes live in Japan.
  • Indonesia’s biggest telecommunications company, Telkomsel, picks Kinetica to support its accelerated analytics, location-based visualization and AI.
  • Ayondo expands B2B offering in Asia with a new white label deal.
  • First Circle, a lending platform for SMEs based in the Philippines, has raised $26 million in new funding.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Daon Inks Deal with South Africa’s Capitec Bank.
  • Commercial Bank of Ethiopia deploys UP Retail Payments from ACI Worldwide.
  • Ivory Coast subsidiary of Togo-based Banque Atlantique goes live with Temenos’ T24 core banking system.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Sberbank customers can now add “cash postcards” – automated images with sound – to their money transfers.
  • Payfone partners with Orange to fight identity fraud in four new global markets, including Poland and Romania.
  • Ukraine’s Akhmetov Bank leverages Corezoid’s cloud-based operating system.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Daon partners with Akbank, making the Turkish bank the first in the country to deploy facial recognition technology for mobile banking authentication.
  • Alcazar Capital Limited (ACL) to launch $100 million global fintech fund in collaboration with Fintech Consortium’s InQvest Partners.
  • Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange launches Sahmi, a new integrated digital platform for individual investors.

Central and South Asia

  • Bank of Punjab, based in Lahore, Pakistan, implements core banking technology from Oracle.
  • Entrepreneur.com considers the effect Indian fintechs have made on financial inclusion in India.
  • VC Circle looks at the rise in investment in insurtech innovators like India’s PolicyBazaar.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Brazilian challenger bank Nubank raises $180 million in funding.
  • UniBank Panama to implement biometric authentication technology from Ipsidy.
  • COK Sodality Co-operative Credit Union (COKCU) of Jamaica to modernize its core processing technology courtesy of a new partnership with Smart Solution.

Top image designed by Freepik

 

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Compass Plus, FICO, Finovate Global, Ripple, Sberbank, Temenos

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Banco Fassil is the first Bolivian company to migrate its ATM network to TranzAxis from Compass Plus.
  • Legal Tech News reviews the improved opportunity for investment in the Mexican fintech market.
  • Can blockchain technology fix Argentina’s financial crisis? VentureBeat considers the challenge.

Asia-Pacific

  • Siam Commercial Bank is the first bank on Ripple’s RippleNet to pioneer multi-hop, a feature that allows payment settlement on behalf of other financial institutions on the network.
  • Singapore and Hong Kong-based digital private banking clients of Credit Suisse now can communicate with their bank via Apple Business chat.
  • Singtel launches electronics payments alliance with a pair of Thailand-based partners.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • South African fintech Centbee announces beta launch of its bitcoin cash wallet.
  • BitCoinke looks at funding for African fintech startups in 2018.
  • Fintech Association of Nigeria begins fintech learning series in partnership with the SEC.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Sberbank to offer loans of up to RUB 300,000 without proof of income as part of new pilot program.
  • FICO to provide KYC and onboarding solutions for Belarus-based lender, Belgazprombank.
  • Alfa Group of Russia plans to launch online insurance company, Mango.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Cameroon’s biggest bank, Afriland First Bank, to deploy Temenos’ T24 core banking platform.
  • Qatar Islamic Bank to leverage solutions from Volante Technologies to help meet PSD2 and open banking standards.
  • ICS Financial Systems completes blockchain proof of concept for Arab Jordan Investment Bank (AJIB).
  • Tunisia’s Banque de l’Habitat (BH) selects Temenos’ T24 core banking system.

Central and South Asia

  • KPMG releases its latest report: Fintech in India: Powering a Digital Economy.
  • Paytm secures 33% market share of UPI payments in India.
  • Medici looks at the state of financial inclusion in India.

Top image designed by Freepik

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Braintri, Coinbase, Finovate Global, iGTB, Infosys, Prisma Campaigns, Tinkoff Bank

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Central and South Asia

  • InstaREM reports facilitating no-fee money transfers of almost $2 million to the flood-stricken southern Indian state of Kerala.
  • Infosys announces plans to open tech hub in Arizona and hire 1,000 Americans by 2023.
  • Qbera of Bengaluru, India raises $3 million in funding from Essel Group.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Uruguay’s Prisma Campaigns partners with Tyfone to bring new personalized, automated marketing solutions to banks and credit unions.
  • Brazil’s biggest independent brokerage, Grupo X, to offer a platform exchange for Bitcoin and Ethereum.
  • Forbes profiles Brazilian online payments startup, EBANX.

Asia-Pacific

  • Taiwan to begin testing of its first regulatory sandbox in December.
  • SBI Ripple Asia wins license to launch blockchain-based payments app in Japan.
  • Hong Kong goes live with Faster Payment System (FPS).
  • Indonesia’s Bank Central Asia goes live on iGTB’s digital transaction banking platform.
  • Coinbase teams up with Hong Kong-based crypto trading and risk management platform Caspian to promote institutional use of cryptocurrencies.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Ugandan Orient Bank to deploy Acumen from Profile Software to manage treasury operations.
  • Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM), a stock exchange based in the Ivory Coast, encourages West African fintech startups to join its innovation lab.
  • MTN Uganda teams up with MasterCard and United Bank for Africa (UBA) launch new mobile money service.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Tinkoff Bank offers access to more than 10,000 global securities via its Tinkoff Investments Premium solution.
  • Braintri awarded the Polish Innovation Award 2018 for its creation of Jiffee, a bluetooth-based mobile payment and loyalty technology, and Biffee, a core banking system offloading engine.
  • ING Bank Romania to abandon physical cash desks this fall in favor of ATMs and its mobile banking app.
  • Slovenian fintech Eligma launches cryptocurrency payment app.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Commercial Bank of Dubai inks agreement with PwC to assist in its digital transformation.
  • Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) signs strategic Memorandum of Understanding with Abu Dhabi Smart Solutions and Services Authority (ADSSSA).
  • Central Bank of Kuwait pledges major investment in big data and AI.

Top image designed by Freepik

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Entersekt, Finovate Global, Infosys, Neener Analytics, Ripple

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Personality Biometrics Specialist Neener Analytics Partners with American Express as part of Accelerate Middle East initiative.
  • Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM) launches its digital sandbox.
  • Ithmaar Bank of Bahrain and Eazy Financial Services partner to launch biometric payment network.
  • Al Salam Bank Bahrain (ASBB) leverages technology from Clayton to launch new mobile banking solution.
  • Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank partners with Ripple for instant settlement of cross-border money transfers.

Central and South Asia

  • Infosys to Acquire Fluido for $76 Million.
  • TPS and DigInc partner to support mircofinancing in Pakistan.
  • Bengaluru’s SlicePay, which provides credit to millennial consumers, announces Series A investment led by China’s FinUp Finance Technology Group.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Argentina-based digital financial services startup MONI raises $4.5 million in funding. In Spanish.
  • Mexico’s much-anticipated Fintech Law goes live.
  • Euromoney profiles Brazilian data management fintech, Quod.

Asia-Pacific

  • Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPBank) launches its digital brand, Yolo.
  • Indonesia’s B2B marketplace Ralali raises $7 million in new funding.
  • Singapore introduces the first unified payment QR code.
  • ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN) launches its API Exchange.
  • Moka, a business payments management startup from Indonesia, picks up $24 million in round led by Sequoia India and Southeast Asia.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Jumo, a fintech startup from South Africa that helps provide financing to the underbanked, raises $52 million in round led by Goldman Sachs.
  • Central Bank of Kenya to consider new regulations for the country’s digital lenders.
  • South Africa’s Click2Sure and Finovate alum Entersekt chosen to participate in AlphaCode’s accelerator program.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Nordigen, a credit risk assessment solution provider based in Latvia, announces $800,000 in new funding.
  • Forbes looks at the collaboration between IBM, PwC, and the Czech Republic’s Blockchain Connect Association.
  • Hackernoon makes the case for “developing your fintech solution in Poland.”
  • Which Eastern European country is making the biggest strides when it comes to innovating with blockchain technology? Bitnews Today shares its review of the region.

Top image designed by Freepik

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook