Region: APAC

Paytm Fined Over Money Laundering Allegations

Indian financial services company Paytm's banking sector, Paytm Payments Bank, has been slapped with a 55 million rupee ($663,000) fine by a local regulator. The fine was issued following allegatio...

Nium Secures Type 1 Funds Transfer Service Provider License in Japan

Nium, a leader in real-time cross-border payments, has become the first non-Japanese company to secure a Type 1 Funds Transfer Service Provider (FTSP) license from the Japanese Financial Services A...

India's Digital Rupee Pilot Progresses to Next Stage

India is set to advance its digital rupee pilot by incorporating programmability and offline payment capacity. This development comes as part of India's ongoing testing of a retail Central Bank Dig...

IDEX Biometrics and KONA I to Deploy Biometric Payment Cards in Japan

KONA I and IDEX Biometrics have announced a partnership to introduce biometric payment and access cards in Japan. This move comes in response to a surge in credit card fraud, which has seen a 30% y...

Ebury Introduces Direct Transactions Solution Between Brazilian Real and Chinese Yuan

London-based fintech Ebury, specializing in cross-border payments and FX solutions, has launched a groundbreaking solution for direct transactions between the Brazilian real and the Chinese yuan.

Cred Acquires Kuvera to Enter Wealth Management Market

Indian fintech company, Cred, has announced its plan to venture into the wealth management sector through the acquisition of the mutual fund and stock investment platform, Kuvera.

PayU's Credit Service LazyPay Migrates to Thought Machine's Vault Core

India's leading payment solutions provider, PayU, has announced the successful migration of its credit service, LazyPay, to Thought Machine's cloud-native core banking platform, Vault Core.

Australian Firm Fat Zebra Acquires Adatree

Australian payments infrastructure provider, Fat Zebra, has announced the acquisition of local open banking technology platform, Adatree. The financial details of the acquisition have not been disc...

Douugh Experiences Revenue Growth in Q2, Launches B2B Offering Stakk

Douugh Ltd, an award-winning fintech company listed on the ASX (ASX: DOU), has reported strong revenue growth in its recent Quarterly Activities Report. The growth is primarily attributed to its Bu...

Viva Republica Begins IPO Process

Viva Republica, the company behind the fintech application Toss, has initiated procedures for an initial public offering (IPO). Industry insiders revealed that the company has chosen Korea Investme...

Asia United Bank Expands HelloMoney E-Wallet To More Markets

Asia United Bank (AUB) is making strides in expanding the reach of its e-wallet, HelloMoney. The first Philippine bank to offer an e-wallet for cross-border payments, AUB is working to make HelloMo...

MasterCard Granted Bank Card Clearing License in China

The People's Bank of China (PBC) along with the National Administration of Financial Regulation have issued a bank card clearing license to US payment company MasterCard. The announcement was made ...

PayMate Expands to Singapore, Australia, and Malaysia

Mumbai-based digital business-to-business (B2B) payments company, PayMate, has announced it is expanding its services to Singapore, Australia, and Malaysia. This development is part of the company'...

PayNow and DuitNow Enable Cross-Border P2P Fund Transfers

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) launched a real-time payment systems linkage between Singapore's PayNow and Malaysia's DuitNow on 17 November 2023. The serv...

Visa's Proposal: A Potential Relief for Small Retailers

Visa is considering reducing the interchange fee for small merchants to a 2.2 cent flat rate for in-store transactions. This possible change is not simply a rearrangement of pricing, but could resu...

Mastercard Singapore and FOMO Pay Launch Mastercard QR in SGQR

Mastercard Singapore has joined forces with FOMO Pay to integrate Mastercard QR within SGQR, Singapore's unified national QR code. This initiative aligns with the EMVCo Merchant-Presented QR standa...

Visa Foundation Pledges $100 Million to Support Underserved SMBs

Visa and Visa Foundation have announced a commitment to support small and micro businesses (SMBs) globally, with a particular focus on the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region.

InCred Set to Enter Insurance Sector

InCred Financial Services Ltd, a fintech startup offering services across consumer, MSME and student loans, is making plans to venture into the insurance industry. This new direction comes followin...

WealthKernel and Bambu Form Partnership to Launch Bambu GO

WealthKernel, a provider of digital investment services, has announced a new collaboration with Bambu, a digital wealth technology provider. The partnership heralds the start of Bambu GO, a ready-t...

WorldFirst to Launch E-Commerce Solutions in Southeast Asia

WorldFirst, a comprehensive digital payment and financial services platform for cross-border trade SMEs, has revealed plans to launch its e-commerce digital finance solutions in new Southeast Asian...

Japan Contemplates Joining Indian UPI

Japan is considering the adoption of the Indian Unified Payments Interface (UPI), with the potential for mutual recognition of e-IDs, in a bid to enhance interoperability. This information was reve...

Mastercard and NEC Collaborate to Advance Facial Recognition Payment Technology in Asia Pacific

Mastercard is collaborating with NEC Corporation to expand the use of facial recognition technology for in-store transactions in the Asia Pacific region.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Accelerates Cloud-First Strategy with Amazon Web Services

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Japan's largest financial services provider, is stepping up its cloud-first strategy. They have chosen Amazon Web Services (AWS) as their primary cloud provid...

Optty Partners with Monoova to Enhance Payment Rails in Australia

The world's first universal payments platform, Optty, has formed a partnership with Australia's leading PayTo provider, Monoova. This collaboration will provide Optty access to Australia's payment ...

Slice Secures $9 Million from Stride Ventures

The fintech startup slice has secured INR 75 Cr (approximately $9 million) from Stride Ventures. This development follows a recent merger announcement with North East Small Finance Bank (NESFB) and...

Parpera Brings 'Marketplace Banking' Model to Australia

Parpera, a comprehensive financial solution provider, has launched the ground-breaking 'Marketplace Banking' model in Australia. This new service promises a more integrated financial experience for...

GXBank Launches Beta App in Malaysia

Malaysia's first digital banking licensee, GXBank Berhad, has announced the launch of its beta app. As of November 14, 2023, an exclusive group of 20,000 Malaysian users will have access to the app...

Alipay+ Expands Digital Payment Options for Travelers in Malaysia

Travelers from eight countries have been granted the convenience of using their Alipay+ supported e-wallets for digital payments across Malaysia. This development, effective since October 31, 2023,...

EduFi Secures $6.1 Million to Aid Pakistani Students

EduFi, a fintech startup, has successfully raised $6.1 million in a pre-seed funding round. This significant financial boost aims to propel the company's mission to offer accessible education loans...

Silverflow Enters Asia Pacific Payments Market with Quick Mastercard Integration

Dutch payment processing platform, Silverflow, has officially made its debut in the Asia Pacific (APAC) payments market. The company recently announced its expedited go-live with global financial s...

InCred to Join the Unicorn Club with Series D Funding

InCred Holdings Limited, parent company of fintech startup InCred Financial Services Ltd, has secured commitments totaling INR 500 Cr ($60 Mn) in its Series D funding round. This substantial inject...

Rahul Kothari Takes Up COO Role at Razorpay

Fintech unicorn Razorpay has announced the promotion of Rahul Kothari to the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) for India and Malaysia. The move aligns with the firm's recent global expansio...

Visa Expands Real Time Account Updater to Asia Pacific Region

Visa, the global digital payments leader, has announced the expansion of its Real Time Visa Account Updater (VAU) to select markets in the Asia Pacific. This service aims to streamline the payment ...

SEBA Bank's Hong Kong Subsidiary Granted Securities and Futures Commission Licence

SEBA Bank, the fully licensed Swiss crypto bank, has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, SEBA Hong Kong, has been granted a licence from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The mov...

TNG Digital Unveils GOrewards for Touch 'n Go eWallet Users

TNG Digital has launched a new loyalty programme, GOrewards, aimed at its 21 million Touch 'n Go eWallet users. The programme enables users to accumulate points when utilising their eWallet for dif...

Cambodia Unveils New Fintech Development Policy

The Cambodian government has launched the Cambodia Financial Technology Development Policy 2023-2028. The strategy aims to boost financial innovation, maintain financial stability, and enhance fina...

Fintech Firm @Pay Chooses Pismo to Boost Australian Operations

Fintech innovator @Pay has selected Pismo's cloud-based API platform to enhance its operations in Australia. @Pay is a pioneering Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) platform and a decentralised finance (DeFi...

Airwallex Launches Yield Account for Businesses in Australia

Airwallex, the global financial platform, has launched a new product in Australia that allows businesses to earn returns on their US-dollar balances without having to open an overseas bank account.

finPOWER and Zepto Collaborate to Introduce PayID Support for Lenders

Financial technology company, finPOWER, has declared the introduction of PayID for customers of its Connect software and platform. This development is possible due to the partnership with account-t...

ZA Bank Supports Crypto Exchange OKX in Hong Kong

Hong Kong-based ZA Bank is extending its support to digital assets by providing an operating account for crypto exchange OKX Hong Kong. This move marks a significant step towards fostering Web3 dev...

Earlypay Acquires Selected Assets of Timelio

ASX-listed Earlypay has revealed its plan to acquire selected assets of Timelio, a specialist invoice and trade financing provider. These assets include certain customer receivables, intellectual p...

Waave and Merco Unite to Support POLi-Impacted Merchants

Open Banking payment technology leader, Waave, has announced a partnership with Merco to offer continued support to merchants affected by the closure of POLi by Australia Post.

Mastercard and EedenBull Provide Card and Spend Management Solution for SMEs in APAC

Mastercard is partnering with Norwegian fintech firm EedenBull to launch a card and spend management platform aimed at improving the efficiency of spending and payments for small and medium-sized e...

Malaysian Neobank Vircle Secures Seed Funding for Kid-Focused Banking

Vircle, a Malaysian neobanking service provider focused on children, has obtained seed funding. The investment was made by Kumpulan Modal Perdana (KMP) and Gobi Partners, although the exact amount ...

Government Backs Next Wave of Digital Payments

The next wave of digital payments is expected to be led by ‘person-to-government’ payments, marking a move away from cash transactions. This development is in line with the Digital India policy and...

Visa Launches Innovation Space in Hanoi's NIC Hoa Lac

Visa, a global leader in digital payments, is set to open its Innovation Space at the National Innovation Center – Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park (NIC Hoa Lac) in Hanoi. The initiative is part of the Vietnam...

Singapore's Monetary Authority Trials Interoperable QR Code Scheme

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has initiated a proof of concept (POC) for an interoperable Singapore Quick Response Code Scheme (SGQR+). The trial, scheduled to run from 1 to 30 November...

Square Introduces Tap to Pay on iPhone in Australia

Square has unveiled its Tap to Pay on iPhone technology in Australia, marking its first extension of the technology outside the USA. This feature, accessible within the Square Point of Sale, Square...

Thai Bank Acquires Majority Stake in Crypto Exchange

Thailand's second-largest bank, Kasikorn Bank, also known as K-Bank, has bought a significant 97% stake in a cryptocurrency exchange company. The bank spent $102 million to acquire this stake in th...

Escrowpay Secures Digital Escrow Authorization and $6M Funding

Escrowpay, a digital escrow platform from India, has received regulatory authorization from the International Financial Services Centres Authority in Gujarat. This approval allows the company to ma...

APAC Remains Pivotal to Global Payments Revenue Growth

The 2023 McKinsey Global Payments Report highlights the significant role of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region in the industry's growth. Despite a more muted growth rate of 4% compared to other regions...

Indonesian Fintech Akulaku Faces Restrictions on BNPL Services

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) of Indonesia has placed limitations on the buy now, pay later (BNPL) operations of local fintech firm, Akulaku. This decision is a consequence of Akulaku's in...

BGL Collaborates with Skript to Integrate Open Banking

BGL Corporate Solutions, a leading provider of company compliance, self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF), investment management, and AI-powered paper-to-data solutions in Australia, has announced...

Rising Demand for Embedded Finance Among SMBs

A new global survey conducted by Airwallex, a global payments and financial platform, in collaboration with consultancy Edgar, Dunn & Company, reveals a soaring demand for cloud-based financial ser...

Singaporeans Struggle to Identify Online Fraud, Says Revolut Survey

A recent survey conducted by global neobank, Revolut, reveals that more than 20% of Singaporeans have been victims of online fraud while shopping in the past six months. The most impacted demograph...

Wealthtech Industry in Asia Pacific Predicted to Quadruple by 2027

The wealthtech industry in Asia Pacific (APAC) is set for significant expansion, propelled by the region's growing economy and increasing wealth. According to the 'WealthTech in Asia Pacific' repor...

ACE and dLocal Partner to Enhance Remittance Services in APAC and EMEA

A partnership has been announced between ACE Money Transfer and dLocal, aiming to enhance payout services across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The co...

Alipay+ Partners with LankaPay to Boost Cross-Border Digital Payments

Alipay+ has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sri Lanka’s National Payment Network, LankaPay, to improve inbound and outbound travel experiences via cross-border digital payment...

Singapore's Monetary Authority to Inspect Credit Suisse

Singapore's central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), is preparing to conduct an on-site review of a local unit of Credit Suisse. The inspection aims to evaluate how the financial in...

PayPal Supports Women’s Economic Empowerment in Southeast Asia

PayPal has invested in Singapore-based Sweef Capital’s Southeast Asia Women’s Economic Empowerment Fund (SWEEF) and Quona Opportunity Fund. The move is an effort to bolster women's inclusion in the...

Resolve Finance and Funding.com.au Join Forces to Reshape Lending Landscape

In a bid to transform the lending landscape for brokers and their clients, Australian companies Resolve Finance and Funding.com.au have announced a new partnership. This strategic alliance will pro...

HiWi Receives Major Pre-seed Funding for Cross-border Payments

Cross-border fintech platform HiWi has recently secured INR 7.25 Cr in a pre-seed funding round. The round was spearheaded by Unicorn India Ventures and the Unmaj Group Family Office.

ezyCollect Unveils Beta Release of Payment Plans Feature

ezyCollect, a leader in accounts receivable automation, has launched the beta version of its novel feature, Payment Plans. This feature aims to revolutionise the management of recurring payments fo...

Cera Launches Stablecoin-Based US Stock Trading in the Philippines

Cera, a Y Combinator-backed US stock trading platform, has made its beta launch in the Philippines. This was made possible through a partnership with Fireblocks, a digital asset custody and infrast...

Grapple Unveils AI Tools for Invoice Finance as Funded Invoices Exceed $200M

Australian SME financier, Grapple, is introducing novel AI services and capabilities on its Lendtech platform, celebrating an impressive milestone of more than $200 million in funded invoices. Th...

Westpac NZ Leads Investment Round in Open Finance Startup Akahu

Westpac NZ's venture capital fund is at the forefront of a $1.4 million investment round in Akahu, a Kiwi open finance startup. Akahu is known for simplifying and streamlining the connection betwee...

Upbit Singapore Granted Preliminary Approval for a Major Payment Institution License

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has given in-principle approval for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license to Upbit Singapore, a subsidiary of the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange ...

Zeller Terminal Introduces Split Payments

The awkwardness and inconvenience of splitting the bill at a venue are about to become a thing of the past with the introduction of Split Payments, a new feature offered by Zeller Terminal. This fe...

AI Adoption in E-commerce Among Australian Businesses and Consumers

Research conducted by PayPal Australia indicates that 42% of Australian businesses are already utilising artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance their e-commerce operations. Additionally, the resea...

Adyen Introduces Tap to Pay on iPhone in Australia

Adyen, a leading global payments platform, has launched Tap to Pay on iPhone in Australia. This cutting-edge technology enables merchants to accept contactless payments using only an iPhone and a s...

Commonwealth Bank Activates Digital Identity Service

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has launched its digital identity service, allowing customers to use digital identity credentials to verify their identities. The move comes ahead of propos...

Hitachi Payment Services Introduces HPX Innovation Programme

Hitachi Payment Services has initiated an innovation programme, HPX. This new venture underscores the company’s dedication to transforming the payments industry through long-term collaborations wit...

Paytm Payments Bank Fined by RBI for KYC Failures

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a fine of approximately $650,000 on Paytm Payments Bank for shortcomings in its Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures.

GCash Prepares for IPO Amid Market Uncertainties

GCash, an Alibaba-backed e-wallet, is making strides in the competitive digital banking landscape. With 81 million active users and 2.5 million merchants and social sellers as of May, the company h...

Westpac NZ's Venture Capital Fund Leads $1.4M Investment in Akahu

Westpac NZ's venture capital fund, Red Bird Ventures, has directed a $1.4 million investment round into Akahu, a leading fintech firm in New Zealand. The investment was made in conjunction with K1W...

Australia’s Fintech Sector Shows Promising Growth

Australia's fintech sector, valued at AUD 4 billion, continues to make its mark in the global market, ranking sixth worldwide and second within the Asia-Pacific region. Over the past five years, th...

Groww Outpaces Zerodha in Active Investors Count

Fintech unicorn Groww has reportedly surpassed Zerodha, becoming the brokerage with the highest number of active users by the end of September 2023.

Australia Set to Regulate Digital Wallet Providers

The Australian government has announced plans to introduce legislation that would give the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) the power to regulate digital wallet providers, such as Apple Pay and Goog...

Fibe and Axis Bank Launch India's First Numberless Credit Card

India's top fintech firm Fibe, in partnership with Axis Bank, has introduced the country's first-ever numberless credit card. This innovative product aims to provide tech-savvy Gen Z clients with e...

Indonesian Fintech Luna Secures Fresh Funds

Luna, an Indonesian embedded fintech and vertical SaaS platform, has successfully completed a financing round. The funding was led by TNB Aura through its TNBA Scout initiative. Seedstars participa...

Global Payments Oceania Introduces Omnichannel Solution

Global Payments Oceania, a leader in the digital payment industry, has recently launched an omnichannel solution that employs real-time technology. The technology is connected by a new, innovative ...

Mynt Acquires Majority Stake in ECPay

Philippines-based telecom company, Globe, has sold a 77% stake in electronic payment service provider ECPay to GCash's parent company, Mynt. The acquisition is expected to enhance GCash's fintech s...

Boost, CelcomDigi, and Mastercard Collaborate on Beyond Card Launch

The collaborative efforts of Boost, CelcomDigi, and Mastercard have led to the launch of Beyond Card in Malaysia. The card enables payments from the Boost wallet balance or via a pre-approved credi...

Malaysia's 2023 Fintech Frontiers Awards: Celebrating Innovation and Achievement in Fintech

The Malaysian fintech sector recently celebrated its success and innovation at the 2023 Fintech Frontiers Awards, an event organised by Fintech News Malaysia. The event was more than just an awards...

MADCash Secures RM 5 Million to Support Underserved Women Entrepreneurs

MADCash Sdn Bhd, a fintech startup offering zero-interest microfunds to women entrepreneurs, recently secured pre-series A funding of RM5 million. The initiative was led by Artem Ventures, with sig...

Hata Gains Preliminary Approval to Become Malaysia's 5th Regulated Digital Asset Exchange

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has given in-principle approval to Hata, a digital asset exchange and digital broker, to register as a Recognized Market Operator (RMO). This move sets Hata ...

Indian Fintech Unicorn Slice Merges with North East Small Finance Bank

Indian fintech unicorn Slice is set to merge with North East Small Finance Bank (NESFB), following approval from the country's central bank. This merger is a milestone achievement in the fintech in...

Samsung Introduces Trackable Credit Card in South Korea

South Korean tech giant Samsung has partnered with KB Kookmin Card and American Express (AmEx) to release a new credit card. The innovative feature of this card is that it can be physically tracked...

Pepper Money Introduces India's First Prepaid Card for Tier 2 Cities

Financial technology company, Pepper Money India, has launched a RuPay prepaid card known as Pepper Money Dreams Card, in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Pine...

Foreign Visitors in China Can Now Use Credit Cards with Digital Yuan Wallet

Foreign visitors in China, including tourists, now have the ability to utilize their Mastercard or Visa credit cards to fund a central bank digital currency (CBDC) wallet with digital yuan. The dig...

Growth of E-Commerce and Alternative Payments in India

According to an analysis of GlobalData's E-Commerce Analytics, the value of India's e-commerce market is predicted to surge at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.2% from INR2.8trn ($33.9bn)...

Nuvei Opens New Operational Hub in China

Nuvei Corporation, a Canadian fintech company, has recently announced the opening of its latest operational hub in China. This move is part of the company's ongoing efforts to expand its presence w...

Nokia 2660 Flip Phone Introduces UPI Scan and Pay Functionality

HMD Global, the company behind Nokia phones, has added a new feature to their classic Nokia 2660 Flip phones. The UPI Scan and Pay feature allows users to conduct secure digital transactions with a...

PayNet Teams Up with Paywatch for Earned Wage Access Solution

Malaysia's national payments network and financial market utilities provider, PayNet, is partnering with Paywatch, a provider of bank-backed earned wage access solutions. This collaboration aims to...

Bank of Queensland Overhauls ME Bank Business

Bank of Queensland (BOQ) has been open about its intentions to integrate the back-end systems of its customer-facing brands. This week, new details are emerging about a significant overhaul of the ...

Mynt Acquires ECPay for $40 Million

Philippines-based Mynt, the parent company of e-wallet GCash, is set to acquire payments firm Electronic Commerce Payments Inc (ECPay) for approximately $40 million. The transaction involves the ac...

The Evolving Indian Fintech Landscape: Trends and Transformations

The Indian fintech ecosystem continues to evolve, showcasing remarkable resilience and adaptability despite a dip in funding after 2021. Regulatory changes, innovative developments, and strategic i...

Coinbase Acquires Major Payment Institution Licence in Singapore

Coinbase Singapore has successfully obtained a Major Payment Institution (MPI) licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. This development enhances the company's commitment to the Singapore ...

Grab to Close Investment Business in Singapore

Singapore's renowned ride-hailing and food delivery superapp, Grab, has announced plans to close its investment business. The decision, which follows an extensive review, determined that the ventur...

Southeast Asian SME Digital Financing Platform Secures US$27 Million

Funding Societies | Modalku, a digital financing platform for SMEs in Southeast Asia, has secured US$27 million in debt financing. The fundraising was spearheaded by Asia-focused private credit fin...

Thunes Expands Payment Network Across Southeast Asia

Thunes, a global cross-border payments infrastructure network, has broadened its reach to include Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. This development will facilitate Eur...