WhatsApp set to join the Indian mobile money revolution
Facebook-owned WhatsApp is reportedly looking to get into mobile payments and has picked India as the best place to start.
Asia
UK and India strengthen fintech ties
A team of British politicians and fintech business leaders are in India as they seek to strengthen trade and investment between the two nations. At the 9th UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue, held today (4 April) in Delhi, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, and the Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley, discussed […]
Fintech funding round-up: 4 April 2017
The world is not short of money… for some. Our latest fintech funding round-up features Aeries Financial Technologies, CASHe, Perfios and Ayopop. There’s never a shortage of fintech news in India. Aeries Financial Technologies, which owns the app-only lending platform CASHe, has raised $3.8 million in Series A funding from an investor group led by […]
Meezan Bank launches domestic payment scheme in Pakistan
Meezan Bank in Pakistan is partnering with 1LINK Guarantee, an interbank payment network service, to issue PayPak branded debit cards across the nation. PayPak is Pakistan’s “first” domestic payment scheme that aims to provide an “indigenous alternative to international payment schemes”. Ariful Islam, deputy CEO of Meezan Bank, says it “will, inshallah [God willing], develop […]
The Monday mindset: 3 April 2017
Fintech zeitgeist! Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. This week, Soumik Roy looks at how India has quite a lot of fintech activity in its retail market. Did you notice? For the […]
Uber rival Grab buys payments start-up Kudo
Grab, a ride-hailing and mobile payments platform in Southeast Asia, will acquire Indonesia-based O2O (online to offline) ecommerce platform Kudo. The Kudo team and platform will be integrated with Grab’s proprietary mobile payments platform, GrabPay. According to Grab, Kudo’s O2O platform allows Indonesia’s unbanked consumers to shop online by connecting them with merchants and service […]
Khushhali Microfinance Bank in tech revamp with Temenos and NDC
Pakistan-based Khushhali Microfinance Bank is to overhaul its technology with Temenos. The project will be delivered by National Data Consultants (NDC), Temenos’ partner and integrator in the region.
Isbank does good deed with fully digital mortgage service
Turkey’s largest bank, Isbank, has introduced a digital mortgage process where users can follow up credit pre-approval, the actual appraisal and overall credit process 24×7. In the bank’s “instant transaction” area, users’ mortgage applications are pre-approved within a “few seconds” and users can upload title deed images and pay the appraisal fee online to start […]
Samsung Pay makes its India debut
Digital payments app, Samsung Pay, has been launched in India. Access is limited to those who signed up for the early access programme and available only on its mid-segment and flagship Samsung Galaxy devices.
Autosoft Dynamics ousts rival Path Solutions at ex-Burj Bank in Pakistan
Al Baraka Bank in Pakistan is migrating the acquired fellow Islamic bank, Burj Bank, onto the Autobanker core banking system from Autosoft Dynamics.
Cognizant plans: layoffs, automation, investment in digital and M&A
Cognizant, a global provider of digital, technology, consulting and operations services, is to get rid of up to 4% of its workforce, it is understood. It is also keen on increasing automation, investment in digital and M&A.
QNB Finansbank’s tablet the right dose for core banking
QNB Finansbank, QNB Group’s subsidiary in Turkey, has developed TouchFinans, a core banking application for the bank’s SME division to carry on their Windows tablets.
Yes Fintech accelerator unveils 12 finalists
Yes Fintech, the accelerator programme of India’s Yes Bank, has unveiled its 12 finalists.
Bangkok Bank and Nest unveil fintech start-up programme
Bangkok Bank has launched its fintech accelerator programme, Bangkok Bank InnoHub, in partnership with venture capital firm Nest. The 12-week programme will take place in the bank’s home market and will cater for eight early-stage companies. Nest has run similar programmes with corporates in Hong Kong, Singapore and Nairobi in Kenya. Bangkok Bank president Chartsiri […]
QNB Finansbank first in Turkey to launch digital signatures in branches
Turkey-based QNB Finansbank, a subsidiary of QNB Group and one of the top five privately owned banks in the country, has enabled its customers to use digital signatures for account opening and loans in the bank’s branches.
IDFC Bank launches “breakthrough” biometric payment app, IDFC Aadhaar Pay
India-based IDFC Bank has launched an e-payment app, IDFC Aadhaar Pay, developed in association with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
India’s fintech valley continues to boost profile
Vizag, the commercial capital of Andhra Pradesh, India, continues to build relationships and develop as a fintech centre.
HDFC Bank launches AI-powered virtual assistant Eva
India’s HDFC Bank has partnered with Senseforth to launch an electronic virtual assistant – Eva – to answer customer queries. Powered by an artificial intelligence (AI) based engine, the chatbot is said to be able to “assimilate knowledge from thousands of sources and provide answers in simple language in less than 0.4 seconds”.
New loan origination system for Mobilink Microfinance Bank
Pakistan-based Mobilink Microfinance Bank (MMBL, formerly Waseela Microfinance Bank) is implementing a new loan origination system, supplied by Path Solutions.
New treasury software deal for Infosys Finacle in India
Federal Bank, a large private sector bank in India, is to overhaul its treasury operations with Infosys’ Finacle banking system, Banking Technology understands.
The Monday mindset: 6 March 2017
Fintech zeitgeist! Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. This week we welcome the views of guest writer Soumik Roy as he gives us the lowdown on electronic payments in India. India’s Prime Minister […]
Former Infosys top exec launches lending start-up
A former Infosys senior exec and venture capitalist has unveiled his new India-based lending start-up, Billionloans. V Balakrishnan, formerly in charge of BPO, Finacle and India business units at Infosys, has founded the firm with Rangan Varadan. The latter is also CEO of Indian peer-to peer microcredit firm MicroGraam – and Balakrishnan is an independent […]
Alibaba targets Amazon with $177m stake in Paytm e-commerce
India-based Paytm’s e-commerce unit has raised $200 million in a funding round led by Chinese titan Alibaba, with the latter potentially muscling in on Amazon’s arena of action. Alibaba’s Singapore unit will invest $177 million into Paytm E-Commerce, with $23 million coming from Indian venture and growth capital fund SAIF Partners. With the deal Alibaba […]
Mastercard and Getir power payments bot for Facebook Messenger
Mastercard has teamed with Turkish mobile retail firm Getir to use its bot for the “first” Masterpass payments in Facebook Messenger. Customers search for Getir (think “get here”) in Messenger, chat with the bot in a “natural, conversational way”, and make a payment with Masterpass. Getir says users can receive a ten-minute delivery from its […]
Bank of Baroda launches fellowship programme to support fintech start-ups
Bank of Baroda, a public sector bank in India, has launched a fellowship programme to support fintech, rural, agricultural and financial inclusion start-ups.
Isbank partners with PPRO for cross-border payments
Turkey’s largest bank Isbank is partnering with PPRO Group for cross-border payments in more regions. The deal means the bank can offer e-commerce merchants 13 local alternative payment methods worldwide. Isbank says it can now also extend access to real-time online banking payment methods and e-wallets in more than 25 countries in Europe, Asia and […]
Visa and Thomson Reuters go deep into India’s Fintech Valley Vizag
Fintech Valley Vizag, a project championed by the Government of the State of Andhra Pradesh in India, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Visa and Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters will use the infrastructure provided by the government and local university resources to build fintech projects in the area. Visa is expected to support […]
Bharti Airtel acquires stake in online credit platform
Bharti Airtel, through its subsidiary Bharti Airtel Services, has acquired a stake in Seynse Technologies, an India-based fintech start-up. In a regulatory filing to the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the telecommunications company revealed that it was interested in the firm’s digital lending platform, Loan Singh. The solution provides loans to “credit-worthy yet underserved” […]
Mahindra Comviva brings its payments to rural India
Mahindra Comviva has launched Payplus Aadhaar Pay, a merchant payment acceptance solution, as it targets the rural areas of India. The Aadhaar infrastructure, created by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), onboards customers and provide them with online services. UIDAI collects the biometric and demographic data of residents, stores them in a centralised database, […]
Infosys bites back over Panaya purchase allegations
Infosys is fighting back over allegations made by an anonymous whistleblower that its $200 million acquisition of Israeli firm Panaya was a big old mess. The whistleblower says in an email that Infosys’ acquisition price in February 2015 was over the odds, as the company had been valued at $162 million by Israel Growth Partners. […]
Swift’s KYC registers right notes with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
A number of banks in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have signed up to use Swift’s Know Your Customer (KYC) Registry, a centralised repository that maintains a standardised set of information about correspondent banks, funds distributors and custodians required for due diligence processes. In both deals, Swift worked with its business partner in the Central Asia region, […]
Bank of Khyber selects Autosoft’s treasury solution
Pakistan’s Bank of Khyber (BOK) has chosen Autosoft Dynamics’ Islamic treasury management system, Adams, and its RTGS STP utility (real-time gross settlement system straight-through processing), AutoRTGS. The government-owned bank will use Adams (automatic deal, money market and securities trading system) for conventional and Islamic treasuries, while AutoRTGS will be used for processing fund transfers between […]
Isbank unveils P2P payments via iMessage
Turkey’s largest bank Isbank and its tech partner Monitise have launched a money transfer service via Apple’s iMessage – a first in the republic. Using Isbank’s new mobile banking app, IsCep, users are now able to request and send money through iMessage. As Banking Technology reported in January, IsCep also allows “for the first time” […]
Askari Bank goes live on Autosoft’s Islamic treasury solution
Pakistan-based Askari Bank has gone live with Autosoft’s Islamic treasury management system, Adams Islamic, and its RTGS STP utility (real-time gross settlement system straight-through processing), AutoRTGS. The bank can manage its Islamic treasury operations using Adams Islamic as well as process funds transfers between banks using AutoRTGS. Adams Islamic is also integrated with the bank’s […]
Indian city launches five fintech start-up challenges
The Indian city of Visakhapatnam, the commercial capital of Andhra Pradesh, has launched five start-up challenges in its quest to become a national and global hub for fintech. The big plan is to build an ecosystem including start-up entrepreneurs, innovators, incubators, investors and academia. Several start-ups including Paytm, Blocktrust, Knolskape, Transaction Analyst, GMS, ValueLabs have […]
New Indian virtual currency co-operative a reality
Several Indian Bitcoin start-ups have formed the Blockchain and Virtual Currency Association of India as they look to quell investors’ virtual currency fears becoming a reality. Coinsecure, Searchtrade, Unocoin and Zebpay have banded together in response to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) recent circular warning people that it has not authorised dealings in or […]
WorldRemit brings instant money transfers to CIS markets
Digital money transfer service WorldRemit is now available in Ukraine, Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, expanding its partnership with the Russian “Contact” payment system. The development follows WorldRemit’s recent service launch across Russia in collaboration with Contact. The firm’s users can now send money to be collected as cash pick up at more than 3,000 locations […]
The Monday mindset: 6 February 2017
Fintech zeitgeist! Welcome to the third in a new series of brief reports. Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. This week we welcome the views of guest writer Soumik Roy on India’s latest budget and its implications for e-payments and digital economy.
India Developing Insurance Framework for M-Wallets
Amid India’s recent boom in m-wallet transaction volume following a government discontinuation of two popular currency notes, the government now is considering developing an insurance framework for mobile wallet and electronic transactions. Government officials from the IT Ministry already have begun discussions with m-wallet providers and insurance companies on how to insure money in the wallet apps, according to The Financial Express.
India Post Payments Bank launches pilot services
India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has launched and is rolling out pilot services in Raipur and Ranchi. IPPB is the third payments bank to be authorised in India, and follows on the heels of Paytm (launched last year) and Airtel (opened for business this year). IPPB’s chief executive officer, A P Singh, says: “The idea […]
