Alipay unveils paperless tax refund service in South Korea
Aimed at Chinese tourists in the country.
Asia Pacific
SoftBank teams with ZhongAn for Asian insurtech impetus
Bank’s Vision Fund to help Chinese insurer’s overseas ambitions.
Cambodia Fintech Association launches
“Fintech start-ups are slowly but surely starting to surface in Cambodia.”
Temasek favouring fintech investment over US banks
Singapore-based firm sees it as a more profitable industry.
Industrial Bank goes live on Avaloq core banking system
Will be used for its Hong Kong branch’s private banking business.
Fosun feeds $5m to Israeli fintech platform The Floor
This marks Fosun’s second investment in Israel.
Dynamics’ battery-powered cards hit Japan
Move comes via a partnership with GMO Aozora Net Bank in Tokyo.
CurrencyFair to buy Convoy Payments for Asia advance
All part of a €20 million investment plan.
China crypto company ACChain goes off the grid
A real China hustle.
Bangkok Port to go digital with e-payment system
New system set to launch on 1 September.
SoftBank mulls stake in insurtech wefox
Bank’s Vision Fund on the prowl again.
Prudential Singapore calls for fintech scale-ups
Second edition tackles mix of fintech, insurtech, healthtech and medtech.
UOB unleashes digital bank for ASEAN mobile advance
United Overseas Bank loves the overseas.
Zilliqa and Infoteria pair up to push blockchain DApps
APAC plan to promote adoption of decentralised applications.
IBM ties up with Thai Krungsri Bank for $140m digital overhaul
Pushing Krungsri’s plans to become a tech leader.
Everex to create Myanmar-Thailand blockchain payments corridor
In partnership with Shwe Urban and Rural Development Bank.
Fintech infrastructure firm C88 gets $28m funding
Funding round led by Experian, alongside many other investors.
TransferMate finds €21m investment mate in ING
They want more SME customers and corporate clients.
SoftBank, Yahoo Japan and Paytm make mobile payments mammoth
Smartphone payment service called PayPay. Genius!
Hitachi and KDDI trial biometric payments on blockchain
They aren’t KDDI-ing with their coupon settlement system experiment.
Infosys’ Finacle core banking system gains new taker in Myanmar
Ayeyarwaddy Farmers Development Bank in tech overhaul with Infosys and ACE Data Systems.
Alipay and Tenpay fined for breaking Chinese FX rules
China wants to keep money within its confines.
FinAccel’s payment app Kredivo raises $30m
Jakarta-based firm plans expansion in Southeast Asia.
Visa and MoneyGram team up for cross-border payments
Will use Visa Direct, its real-time push payments platform.
UOB invests in cognitive banking firm Personetics
UOB will also use Personetics’ tech to extend its own machine learning capabilities.
Interview: Ching Ching Tan, Ngee Ann Polytechnic
Ngee Ann Polytechnic and CFTE have launched a new “AI in Finance” course.
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank goes live with DTCC’s Alert
Becomes the first Japanese global custodian on the database.
OCBC Bank turns tellers into digital ambassadors
Wants to upskill its workforce.
Blockchain network Nervos nervelessly nets $28m funding
Backed by investors Polychain Capital and Sequoia China.
Hong Kong hastens open banking ambitions
Hong Kong Monetary Authority publishes API framework.
Razer expands payments reach with Singapore move
Partners with United Overseas Bank to launch Razer Pay.
Japan revamps regulator for fintech action
The Strategy Development and Management Bureau is born.
Bank of Asia finally launches in British Virgin Islands
Digital entity wants to tap into market for offshore companies.
Singapore goes AI: training, incentives and regulation
Banks in Singapore take the lead on artificial intelligence (AI) training.
Chinese fintech platform Pintec files $70m IPO
Comes on the back of revenue growth.
Myanmar’s Shwe Bank ups mobile offer with JMR Infotech
The firm will help the bank get the most out of its Oracle Flexcube system.
Hong Kong banks setting up trade finance blockchain platform
With ambitions of expansion across industries and jurisdictions.
Japanese post-pay outfit Paidy picks up $55m funding
Investment led by ITOCHU Corporation, with participation from Goldman Sachs.
AEON and Fujitsu trial biometric payments
Will start in September 2018 in Japan.
Bambu raises $3m in Series A funding
Round led by Franklin Templeton Investments.
