September’s month-end fintech & banking technology news
Fintech and banking-related technology news headlines in September 2021 covered developments and implementations spanning: SPACs in Malaysia; digital wealth management in Asia-Pacific; blockchain technology in the remittances market; card chip-based offline payments in India; tech-driven financial inclusion for The Philippines’ rural communities; and many more.
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- ICYMI: UK Financial Conduct Authority claims Binance “not capable” of supervision, failing to provide details of business ops, corporate structure, or ways retail customers consume its products
- “Fully 2.5 billion of the world’s adults don’t use banks or microfinance institutions to save or borrow money, but unserved doesn’t mean unservable.”
- Global Fintech Fest 2021 virtual event set for September 28-30, focusing on the theme of ‘fintech, empowering a global digital economy’
- ICYMI: Global Fintech Fest set for September 28-30, running online – more thann 75 sessions, 200 speakers, networking opportunities and more
- So what exactly is meant by the term ‘programmable money’? Here’s a primer from the US Federal Reserve.
- Asia’s tech news, latest issue: Oppo & 5G, Indonesia pitching, Connected Women, India’s blockchain middleware, Australia’s NFT Fest…
- Download: Digital Wealth Management in Asia Pacific 2021, a comparative analysis across 8 key markets, from KPMG (pdf)
- Singapore: Standard Chartered signs deal with BetaPlus, part of Singapore’s biggest trade union group, to form a digital bank
- e-news, latest issue: SPAC 101, StanChart digital bank, Bitmain & Georgia, NFT Fest Australia…
- Blockchain & remittances: “According to the World Bank, the global money transfer market reached over $700BN in 2020, with an estimated additional $200BN by 2026”
- Philippines: UnionBank and Visa’s FinTech Fast Track program partner to enable fintech firms in the country to develop personalized payment gateways
- Australia: Paypa Plane partners Cuscal payments platform to enable PayTo digital solution, allowing real-time payments and more from customer bank accounts
- ICYMI: Singapore Fintech Club, a community platform for Singapore’s fintech professionals, run by Singapore Fintech Association with support from JP Morgan
- India: 8 banks partner to launch Account Aggregator to enable consenting citizens to consolidate financial data from banks, insurers and others in one place
- e-news, latest issue: Gaming in India, Singapore Fintech Club, Australian med-tech, China Internet Report, A16Z interview…
- India: Visa and Innoviti payments tech firm partner for proof-of-concept around card chip-based offline payments
- India: ToneTag completes Reserve Bank sandbox participation, executing offline voice-based payments in areas with patchy internet connectivity and low digital literacy
- Thailand: SCB Abacus, alternative digital lending platform from Siam Commercial Bank, raises $12M Series A in part with focus on lending to the unbanked
- Thailand: Fraction fintech startup clears final regulatory hurdle towards helping property owners fractionalize real estate, enabling sale of ‘pieces’ to small investors
- Cambodian Association of Finance and Technology and American Chamber of Commerce ink MOU, aiming to streamline and facilitate collaboration
- India: Fyp fintech partners YES Bank and Visa for launch of payments app and prepaid card for teenagers, incorporating parent-assigned ‘missions’ promoting good financial habits
- Philippines: A brief intro to 6 of the country’s rising leaders in the fintech space, working in unbanked services, remittances and more
- “In 2020, more than 1.18BN people used proximity mobile payments worldwide…By 2022, proximity mobile payments will reach close to 1.35BN people…”
- Oy! Indonesia payments aggregator raises $30M Series A, led by Softbank, with platform providing a payments and transfer bridge for online and offline payments
- Philippines: Connected Women social impact startup partnered by Union Bank to develop financial inclusion solutions contextualized for Filipinos
- Thailand: Ascend Money, TrueMoney e-wallet’s parent firm, raises $150M to expand on 6-country services in digital lending and cross-border remittances
- Philippines: PearlPay takes 3rd prize in global finals of Visa Everywhere Initiative with end-to-end focus on financial inclusion in rural areas
- Indonesia: 15 startups selected for Batch 3 of Startup Studio Indonesia incubation program, working in health-tech, supply chains, social commerce, fintech and more
- ICYMI: Mastercard now stepping into the burgeoning buy-now-pay-later space with launch of Mastercard Installments service in Australia, the US and the UK
- India: Akudo raises $4.2M seed round led by Y Combinator with learning-focused neobank for teenagers
- Singapore: Cyberdyne Tech Exchange sells first tranche of carbon neutrality tokens backed by China carbon credits, following launch of China’s carbon trading market in July
- Download: Digital Wealth Management in Asia Pacific 2021, a comparative analysis across 8 key markets, from KPMG (pdf)
- Australia: Zip buy-now-pay-later provider aiming to allow merchants to accept Bitcoin payments next year; also planning to launch crypto trading feature
- Australia: Rush Gold raises $3M Series A with app and platform allowing people to use gold like cash – to buy, save, transfer, gift and spend via major mobile wallets
- Fintech Australia / AWS Fintech Megatrends Webinar set for September 30th
- Russia’s Tinkoff online bank, country’s largest digital bank, reportedly aiming to apply for a banking licence in the Philippines as part of wider Asian market entry
- “India’s digital loan market is becoming a battleground for companies from Facebook to Xiaomi seeking a foothold in what’s set to be a $1-trillion industry.”
- China: Banking officials now working with fund managers and insurers to explore CBDC use beyond low-value daily retail payments
- Japan: Paidy buy-now-pay-later fintech to be acquired by PayPal payments giant in $2.7BN deal, gaining 6M Paidy members
- e-news, latest issue: Philippines startup pitching, offline payments in India with Visa, 500 Startups interview, Singapore Gaming Week, EVs in China…
- China: Shanghai Maritime University and Conflux blockchain startup launch finance-focused research lab, in part to look at offshore digital yuan transactions
- Tech news, latest issue: BNPL in Australia, Monk’s Hill VC Scouts, She Loves Tech winners, Wall Street & crypto…
- Indonesia: Komunal fintech raises $2.1M Series A with platform allowing rural banks to source third-party funding and syndicate lending
- Malaysia: Securities Commission to review SPAC framework to make Malaysian markets more relevant and efficient in light of recent SPAC moves by Singapore and HK
- India: The Money Club gains $1.7M with AI-backed P2P group savings platform, enabling the lower-middle-class population to save, borrow and invest
- Fintech & Banking Tech: A round-up of a full month’s worth of fintech news, articles, reports and downloads, focusing where possible on S & SE Asia, Australia & NZ
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