UBS fined by Hong Kong’s SFC for compliance breaches
SFC slaps $1.5 million fine on Swiss bank for multiple issues.
Asia Pacific
Vietnamese fintech VNLIFE lands $250m Series B funding
The funds will be used to fuel its “continued digitisation of Vietnam’s service ecosystem”.
The future of paytech in APAC
Some of the emerging paytech trends that have gained momentum in APAC.
Singapore fintech Thunes acquires payments platform Limonetik
The firm will combine Limonetik’s PaaS model with its existing global payments network.
B2B payments platform Nium hits unicorn status with $200m Series D round
Nium has now raised a total of around $280 million in funding.
Digital wealth manager Syfe lands $30m Series B funding
The financing comes nine months after its $18.6 million Series A round.
Singapore start-up Bambu acquires investment and trading wealthtech Tradesocio
Bambu plans to tap into Tradesocio’s presence across EMEA and India.
Monetary Authority of Singapore and Banque de France conduct cross-border CBDC test
The experiment was supported by JP Morgan’s blockchain innovation lab, Onyx.
Singapore fintech Nium to acquire Wirecard Forex India
The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.
Kakao Pay files for IPO with $1.4bn target
The firm is scheduled to debut on KOSPI on 12 August.
AirAsia subsidiary BigPay bids for Malaysian banking licence
E-wallet firm aims to capture one of five offered by the Malaysian central bank.
Customer-centric fintechs will reshape South East Asian commerce
There are huge opportunities right now for fintechs looking to South East Asia.
Voyager Innovations raises $167m to power digital banking push
Tech firm aims to provide banking to 38 million customers.
Canada’s League Data picks Mambu’s cloud banking platform
The cooperative company says Mambu was the “clear choice” to modernise its core platform.
Viva Republica lands $410m as launch of new digital bank looms
Toss has now accrued around $844 million in funding across ten separate rounds.
Blockchain start-up Securitize lands $48m Series B round co-led by Morgan Stanley
US banking giant says “we believe in the growth and adoption of digital asset securities”.
Standard Chartered appoints Roel Louwhoff as new technology exec
The former ING exec will begin his new role in November 2021.
Super intelligence as the future of financial services
A summary of the key insights from the Huawei Intelligent Finance Summit 2021.
Standard Chartered partners Franklin Templeton to launch financial wellness platform
Autumn will allow users to plan and manage their financial and physical wellbeing.
BaaS-based Netbank goes live in the Philippines
Netbank plans to offer a “full range” of banking services to migrating firms.
Mizuho Bank president resigns after damaging system glitches
The Japanese bank experienced four outages in February this year.
Nityo invests $100m in Singapore embedded finance fintech MatchMove
The US-based firm will also become the largest shareholder in the company.
European neobroker Scalable Capital raises $180m in Tencent-led funding round
This latest funding round brings the firm’s total capital raised to over $320 million.
Philippines grants digital banking licence to Unobank holding company
Unobank aims to bridge the financial inclusion gap in its home country.
Singapore fintech Nium acquires B2B travel payments firm Ixaris
The transaction is expected to close early in the third quarter of 2021.
Indonesian digital bank Jago signs cloud banking deal with Mambu
Newly-branded digital bank seeks to capitalise on recent success with new platform.
Techcombank selects Backbase for retail and corporate omnichannel banking
The decision is part of the bank’s strategy to scale and enhance its digital offerings.
Exclusive interview: Minna Bank – Japan’s new challenger bank
Its in-house and Accenture built core system will become a commercial offering in its own right.
Thunes adds $60m to Series B round focused on network expansion
Singaporean cross-border payments firm has raised $130m in total.
LINE BK is “an elevation for the financial industry”, says CEO
“In today’s digital world, we are stepping towards a so-called singularity era.”
UnionBank plans total cloud migration with Amazon Web Services
It aims to be the first entirely cloud-hosted bank in the Philippines.
BukuKas raises $50m Series B just four months after Series A
BukuKas’ CEO Krishnan Menon previously worked at Alibaba-owned Lazada Indonesia.
Pine Labs raises $285m in venture funding to reach $3bn valuation
Merchant payments platform Pine Labs plans regional expansion.
Bitcoin tumbles below $37,000 following Chinese ban on crypto services
Chinese financial firms can’t offer clients products involving cryptocurrency.
HSBC launches multi-currency business wallet to rival fintech providers
HSBC says businesses can “pay like a local”.
Google Pay dips toe in cross-border market with Western Union, Wise
India, Singapore, and the US to be first countries trialled for remittances switch.
HSBC on track to hire 1,000 wealth managers in Asia before year end
In 2020, the bank’s Asian business reported $12.8 billion in profits.
Amartha, Vivid Money, Expensya & a55 feature in May funding rounds
A clutch of early investment rounds from May you could have missed.
Bibit.id secures $65m funding to capitalise on Indonesian mutual fund growth
The robo-advisor is focused on Indonesia’s rapidly expanding mutual funds sector.
PBCOM goes live on cloud-based Temenos core banking system
Philippine bank first signed for Temenps back in 2012.
