Vietnam’s OCB taps Backbase for personalised digital banking solution
The project implementation will be led by Backbase’s partner SmartOSC.
Asia Pacific
Vietnamese fintech start-up Gimo secures $17m in Series A funding
Founded in 2019, Gimo provides flexible pay and financial wellbeing solutions for underbanked workers in Vietnam.
Filipino fintech start-up Salmon lands $20m debt funding
Salmon says the investment marks the “largest ever” debt financing for a Series A tech company in the Philippines.
Myanmar’s FDB Bank signs for Oracle’s Flexcube core banking system
The signing and project kick-off took place this week in Yangon, Myanmar.
Huawei launches F2F2X data infrastructure architecture to help FSI build and manage modern data centres
F2F2X (Flash-to-Flash-to-Anything) was unveiled at the recent Huawei Intelligent Finance Summit.
Global fintech investment falls over H1 2023 amid economic turbulence but sector remains resilient
According to Innovate Finance data, $27.3bn was injected into the industry globally during H1 2023 through 1,714 deals.
DBS Bank to sell majority stake in AXS to Tower Capital Asia
The bank has struck an agreement this week to sell a 77.8% stake in AXS to the private equity firm.
UnionPay connects with Cambodia’s central bank over QR code interoperability
The agreement was confirmed by the signing of a MoU in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital city, this week.
China imposes hefty fines on Ant Group and Tencent as it looks to normalise supervision
Ant Group and its subsidiaries have received a penalty of $984.3m, and Tenpay has been slapped a fine of $413m.
DBS launches e-CNY merchant collection solution in Mainland China
With the solution, corporate clients of DBS China will be able to collect payments from their customers in e-CNY.
Indonesia’s Allo Bank taps Tencent Cloud to enhance digital banking services
Tencent Cloud will deploy its database management system TDSQL, to help the bank manage data efficiently.
South Korea sets out measures to promote competition in banking sector
Financial authorities will work to bring about fair competition by allowing more players to enter the market.
Jirnexu co-founders step down from leadership positions at the company
The company’s co-founder Hann Liew confirmed his and Lucas Ooi’s decision this week.
BIS names Maha El Dimachki as new head of Singapore innovation hub
El Dimachki will join BIS from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.
Visa to acquire payments and banking platform Pismo for $1bn
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of this year.
Aussie fintech Stables launches APAC’s first stablecoin virtual card
Stables’ CEO says the company wants to simplify stablecoin usage and drive its global adoption.
Philippines signs MoU with India to strengthen fintech cooperation
The MoU will help establish a joint working group on fintech between the two countries.
Japanese challenger Habitto launches mobile app
Founded in late 2021, Habitto has so far raised $7.3 million in funding.
B2B fintech Aspire reports profitability
Aspire says its results have set “a new industry standard of sustainable growth”.
Thunes closes Series C funding round, secures more than $60m in total
Bessemer Venture Partners and 01Fintech joined UK hedge fund Marshall Wace in providing the cash.
Wise Platform inks first Japan deal with GMO Aozora Net Bank
The bank said it received a “high volume” of requests for a fast and inexpensive overseas remittance service.
Crypto fintech Oobit names Phillip Lord as president
Lord will be tasked with forging partnerships, business development and executing marketing strategies.
Irish payments start-up NomuPay lands $53.6m in funding
NomuPay plans to scale in its core markets and further invest in product development.
Ant Group enables Alipay+ mobile wallet integrations in Thailand
The mobile wallets include Alipay HK (Hong Kong SAR), Kakao Pay (South Korea), and Touch ‘n Go eWallet (Malaysia).
Cambodia’s Sathapana Bank taps Finbots.ai for enhanced credit risk management
CreditX will enable Sathapana Bank to build “high quality” credit risk scorecards and accelerate client onboarding.
Digital banking group Tyme lands $77.8m in pre-Series C funding
Existing investor Tencent also increased its stake to become Tyme’s third-largest stakeholder.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority kickstarts e-HKD retail CBDC pilot
A total of 16 firms have been chosen from across the financial, payments and technology sectors to take part.
Singapore’s Whampoa Group selects Bahrain as HQ for new digital bank
Launching end of 2023, the new digital bank aims to support the adoption of digital assets worldwide.
Standard Chartered partners Worldpay from FIS to expand payment collections offering
With the partnership, the bank aims to expand the footprint of its solution across Asia and other markets.
Demystify Podcast: Demystifying BaaS with Kelvin Tan, Standard Chartered Bank
What is needed within a large bank to ensure a BaaS proposition can be conceived, deployed and nurtured?
WhatsApp partners Stripe to enable in-app business payments in Singapore
With the new feature, Singapore customers and businesses can now buy and sell directly in WhatsApp chats.
IOUpay goes into voluntary administration over suspected fraud
It took this step due to a “number of outstanding debts” with “no reasonable prospect” of repaying them.
South Korea’s Kakao Pay eyes majority stake in Siebert
Kakao Pay has acquired a 19.9% stake in the US firm and plans to buy an additional 31.1%.
IFGS 2023: Collaboration key for Singapore’s burgeoning fintech sector
Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at MAS, discussed the country’s strategies and successes at IFGS 2023.
Demystify Podcast: Demystifying China, CDBCs and cashless with Richard Turrin
Based out of China, Richard Turrin has a ringside seat on how China is transforming into a cashless society.
Malaysian fintech Soft Space raises $31.5m in Series B1 funding round
The Malaysian payments platform plans to boost its global expansion and further develop its tech.
DMI Finance bags $400m equity funding led by MUFG
Also taking part in the round was existing investor Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.
Mizuho and Line call off plans to launch mobile bank in Japan
Both firms say dissolution and liquidation proceedings of the mobile bank project will now go ahead.
Vemanti taps Finastra to power new SME neobank in Southeast Asia
Vemanti will deploy Finastra’s Fusion Essence solution, with plans to launch initially in Vietnam.
Crypto exchange OKX readies for Hong Kong launch
OKX sees “immense potential” in Hong Kong and is committed to building out the local ecosystem.
