Jack Ma Scores Win After FinTech Mynt Hits $5 Billion Valuation
Weekly news up to Wednesday, 7th of August 2024
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
India-based JioFinance has launched in Paris, France to facilitate international transactions for Indian visitors during the Olympic Games.
Specifically, JioFinance will facilitate international transactions for Indian visitors, allowing them to purchase tickets to the Eiffel Tower through its official website, La Tour Eiffel, and make purchases at the renowned Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann department store.
This expansion comes at a time when the French capital is hosting the Olympics, which means that it is attracting visitors from all over the world.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🧋 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Jack Ma Scores Win After FinTech Mynt Hits $5 Billion Valuation.
⭐️ Apple Tells WeChat Parent Tencent to Eliminate Loopholes.
⭐️ GCash valuation soars to $5 billion.
⭐️ Toss Securities to Establish U.S. Subsidiary amid Growing Interest in U.S. Stocks.
Stay Updated on the Go. Join my new Telegram channel for daily updates and real-time breaking news. Stay informed and connect with industry enthusiasts —subscribe now!
AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺
iGoDirect Group has announced the release of its web push provisioning product, Web-to-Wallet. A first of its kind in APAC, Web-to-Wallet enables users to instantly add their digital Visa prepaid cards from a website directly to Apple and Google Wallet without the need to download a third-party app.
Neobroker Stake dumps Sanlam and eyes new wealth play. The tide is beginning to turn on ‘shadow licensing’ in Australia’s financial services sector as the nation’s third largest retail broker Stake secures a licence in its own right and looks to evolve into a broader wealth management platform.
SINGAPORE 🇸🇬
Singaporean neobank Fingular turns profit in Malaysia in just 9 months after launching under the Tambadana brand. Fingular's advanced processes enabled it to quickly pass a regulatory audit, marking a key milestone in the Malaysian FinTech market.
Digital bank GXS, set up by Grab and Singtel, targets profit by 2027. The Singapore lender targets financially underserved sectors such as gig economy workers and small companies, segments that often transact over the Grab app in the city-state, creating a data trove that can shed light on creditworthiness.
VIETNAM 🇻🇳
Visa unveils SMB online toolkit to maximize benefits of contactless payments for Vietnamese SMBs. This is part of Visa’s commitment to empower Vietnamese SMBs and boost the national economy, by accelerating their contactless payment acceptance.
CHINA 🇨🇳
YouBiz, a multi-currency corporate card and spend management platform for businesses by YouTrip, announced the launch of a new Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY) remittance corridor. This strategic expansion caters to the increasing demand for efficient and cost-effective cross-border transactions between Singapore and China.
THAILAND 🇹🇭
Financial solutions company Opn has announced its strategic partnership with BigPay in order to accelerate its expansion strategy in the region of Thailand. Following this announcement, the collaboration is set to facilitate secure and efficient digital payments, as BigPay will continue to expand its services into the Thai market.
INDIA 🇮🇳
In a significant move for the FinTech and payments sector, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted cross-border payment aggregator licences to BillDesk, Amazon Pay India, and Adyen. This development marks a milestone for these companies as they expand their capabilities in handling international transactions.
M2P FinTech to raise $80 Mn at $900 Mn valuation. Sources assert that funding will be used to beef up tech infrastructure and accelerate growth pedal in India and overseas markets among others.
FinTech giants such as Google Pay, PhonePe, Cred, Mobikwik and AmazonPay are now opting to join the Indian central bank’s digital currency pilot, as per Reuters’ report. Following this, the FinTechs were reported to be seeking more clarity from the central bank on the rules of engagement with banks to deploy CBDC use cases.
INDONESIA 🇮🇩
PingPong, a global cross-border payments platform, has received a Payment System Service Provider (PJP) license from Bank Indonesia. This new license enables PingPong to facilitate both cross-border and domestic payments in Indonesia, a key market with a projected 2024 GDP of $1.5 trillion USD.
PHILIPPINES 🇵🇭
GCash launches PayPal USD stablecoin on GCrypto. This will allow users and freelancers to easily send PYUSD tokens at low transaction fees to GCrypto, the in-app feature of GCash powered by PDAX [Philippine Digital Asset Exchange].
BSP enhances settlement of digital payments. The BSP said the revised guidelines provide operational flexibility to automated clearing houses (ACHs) organized under the NRPS Framework. These include InstaPay and PESONet.
NEW ZEALAND 🇳🇿
Westpac announced that its first third party Open Banking integration is now live with BlinkPay. BlinkPay is a Māori FinTech company that enables businesses to accept customer payments direct from a bank account.