Fingular Launches Buy Now, Pay Later Business In Malaysia
Weekly news up to Wednesday, 4th of September 2024
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
For hospo businesses operating counter-service venues, like fast-food and takeaway restaurants, cafes, food trucks and more, Square Kiosk brings together smart software and hardware to help businesses do more with less, operate more resourcefully and free up staff time.
Square unveiled Square Kiosk, a fully integrated software, hardware, and payments solution that enables self-serve ordering for hospitality businesses. At a time where hospitality businesses are facing staffing challenges, Square Kiosk bolsters productivity by reducing queues and untethering staff from the counter, freeing them to focus on other tasks. This is the latest technology from Square as it continues to invest in its hardware and software offerings for Australian hospo businesses.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🧋 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Fingular launches buy now, pay later business in Malaysia.
⭐️ Singapore to empower police to stop voluntary bank transfers to scammers.
⭐️ Sumsub establishes local data processing infrastructure in Apac region.
⭐️ India cenbank grants self-regulatory status to FinTech association FACE.
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AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺
State Street Global Advisors buys stake in Australian FinTech Raiz. Through the utilisation of State Street Global Advisors' global network of resources, insights, and trends, Raiz clients will get access to a wider range of investing education tools and content related to financial literacy.
CHINA 🇨🇳
Silicon Valley Bank exits China joint venture, local partner takes full control. Silicon Valley Bank's Chinese joint venture will become a wholly owned unit of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, following approval to change its name to Shanghai Innovation Bank.
INDIA 🇮🇳
HDFC Bank partners with Zeta to offer Credit Line on UPI. The partnership will empower HDFC Bank to launch innovative credit products on NPCI’s CLOU scheme, which allows banks to connect pre-approved credit lines directly to the UPI user base.
Keshav Reddy, founder of Equal, an identity verification startup, has invested an undisclosed amount for a strategic stake in Hyderabad-based account aggregator platform One Money. Read more
Mastercard selects India for the global launch of its Payment Passkey Service (which speeds up transactions using biometrics). During a keynote presentation at Global FinTech Fest in Mumbai, Mastercard announced the worldwide launch of its new Payment Passkey Service to make online shopping more secure and easier than ever.
Pine Labs & Visa launch soundbox device for QR payments in India. The partnership aims to upgrade the in-store payment experience of millions of merchants across the country who currently rely on only printed QR codes or low-tech solutions.
OPEN partners with NPCI Bharat BillPay Limited to Launch Bharat BillPay for Business. With this partnership, OPEN has become one of the first Indian FinTechs to offer Bharat Billpay for businesses, streamlining business-to-business (B2B) payments for over 40 lakh businesses using the Open Money platform.
India’s UPI changing FinTech landscape globally – South Africa enables UPI QR. At Global FinTech Fest 2024 in Mumbai, Indian and South African counterparts signed a landmark agreement to enable UPI QR code acceptance in South Africa, revolutionizing digital payments.
PayU unveils push provisioning platform to enable seamless card tokenisation between banks & merchants. The new platform allows customers to tokenize their credit and debit cards for multiple merchants directly through their bank's portal, eliminating the need to save card details with each merchant.
Customers of Indian crypto exchange WazirX unlikely to recover full funds. A director at restructuring firm Kroll working with WazirX, said that at least 43% of the money any customer had in WazirX is unlikely to be recovered. Last week, the firm asked a Singapore High Court for 6 months’ protection while it restructures its liabilities.
Visa has unveiled an array of innovative payment products and solutions during the Global FinTech Fest 2024. These advancements, developed in collaboration with a range of partners, are set to drive digital payment adoption across India by streamlining payment processes and enhancing transaction security and customer experience.
INDONESIA 🇮🇩
Validus secures $50M debt financing to help enterprises in Indonesia. The Singapore-based digital lending platform will use the proceeds to support the financial inclusion of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia, addressing the challenges they face in accessing financial resources.
NEW ZEALAND 🇳🇿
NZ FinTech in process of launching first bank designed for Open Banking and AI. FinTech company Debut is preparing to become the first locally-owned bank specifically designed for an open banking environment and powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
JAPAN 🇯🇵
Tokyo-based climate finance firm Creattura secures $2.4m in Series A round. The funding will be used to accelerate Creattura’s development of carbon projects and its IT capabilities, both within Japan and internationally.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Ravi Patel joins Zühlke as Head of Financial Services Southeast Asia. Based in Singapore and overseeing the market strategy and portfolio development for financial services in the region, he will drive sustainable market growth, leveraging his industry experience and network to deliver transformative value for customers.