Australian FinTech launches International FinTech platform
The team behind the highly successful AustralianFinTech.com.au, this week launch their International platform, InternationalFinTech.com, aimed at connecting the FinTech industry on a global scale. Founder and CEO, Cameron Dart, says International FinTech has been born on the back of the highly successful Australian FinTech platform and growing demand from the global community to have a dedicated online presence for their sector. “International FinTech mirrors the Australian FinTech platform, including a dedicated industry newsfeed and a comprehensive directory of FinTech companies globally. “The site also aims to educate users of new financial technologies such as peer to peer lending and cryptocurrency, all presented in simple terms with no financial jargon” says […]
Indian bitcoin startups form blockchain and digital currency association
Leading bitcoin companies in India have come together to set up a new alliance to create an industry body in order to engage with the regulators. The Economic Times reports that Zebpay, Unocoin, Coinsecure and Searchtrade have formed the Blockchain and Virtual Currency Association of India (BVAI) and are moving forward to formally register it. The formation of BVAI follows the recent notice by the country’s central bank, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), cautioning users when engaging in bitcoin-related activities. The startups met for their first meeting on Friday and discussed the RBI circular among other things. “While we have been planning to create an association for some time, […]
MobiKwik in talks to raise funds, eyes $1-Billion valuation
Indian mobile payments and digital wallet firm MobiKwik says it is in talks to raise more funds at a level that would give the start-up a $1 billion (roughly Rs. 6,698 crores) valuation, as it pushes to forge new ties with banks and offer new financial services on its platform. The company, which has raised about $80 million (roughly Rs. 535 crores) in funding so far, will likely see a new cash infusion in the next month, or two, founder and Chief Executive Bipin Preet Singh told Reuters on Wednesday, while declining to comment on how big an equity stake the company might be offering to sell. Asked about MobiKwik’s […]
Silicon Valley giant grows stake in UK fintech star TransferWise
One of the early backers of Facebook is increasing its stake in TransferWise, a British financial technology pioneer, in a move that will be hailed as a vote of confidence in UK start-ups. Sky News has learnt that Andreessen Horowitz, a prominent name in Silicon Valley, has agreed to buy a chunk of shares held by TransferWise’s initial ‘angel’ investors. Andreessen is said to have agreed to the purchases in recent weeks at a valuation broadly consistent with TransferWise’s last major fundraising in May 2016, according to people close to the situation. Founded by two former Skype employees, TransferWise has grown rapidly since its launch, and now acts as a […]
Jack Ma’s Ant Financial Buys MoneyGram for $880 Million
Ant Financial, the financial technology company controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, stepped up its international expansion by buying U.S. money-transfer service MoneyGram International Inc. The $880 million transaction, Ant’s second U.S. deal, will connect MoneyGram’s network of 2.4 billion bank and mobile accounts with Ant’s customers. Ant, which was once part of Alibaba, is seeking to expand abroad amid increasing competition from Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s Wechat payment system at home. The MoneyGram deal will further that goal, following recent partnerships with Paytm in India and Ascend Money in Thailand. “This gives us a very attractive business that’s already quite engaged with a substantial consumer base in the U.S.,” said Douglas […]
WorldRemit partners with Xpress Money to deliver wider service offering to diaspora communities
Digital money transfer service WorldRemit has partnered with international money transfer brand Xpress Money to open up new remittance routes to 11 countries – including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Jordan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Algeria and Lebanon. The partnership has extended WorldRemit’s footprint into new territories, and is expected to further support the growing demand for instant remittances in these countries. According to the World Bank, remittances play an important role in these economies, contributing significantly to GDP. For example, Pakistan received almost $20 billion in remittances in 2015, while Indonesia received almost $10 billion, and Bangladesh received $15 billion, or almost 10% of its GDP. WorldRemit […]
With TravelersBox, turn foreign change at airports into digital currency and iTunes credit
It’s a dilemma that travelers have faced for decades: You’re heading home from a foreign country with a handful or two of spare change. It’s not enough to exchange or buy something at the airport, so what do you do with it? TravelersBox hopes to answer that question. The company has kiosks placed in 10 countries around the world, including Turkey, Georgia, Italy, the Philippines, Israel, and Japan. Users feed their spare change into the machine and can choose to have it converted into a number of useful digital items, from iTunes credit to Starbucks gift cards to PayPal deposits. TravelersBox machines aren’t the first of their kind. In 2015, […]
Cards, ATMs, POS will be redundant by 2020 in India: NITI Aayog
Amid the big push being given to digital transactions post-demonetisation, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant today said cards, ATMs and POS machines would become redundant in the country by 2020. “….India is in the midst of huge huge disruption in the world of both financial technology and in terms of social innovation (there is) huge huge innovation and this disruption will enable India to leapfrog…,” he said. “…and by 2020 my view is that in the next two-and-a-half years, India will make all its debit cards, credit cards, all ATM machines all POS machines totally irrelevant,” Kant told a session at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017, a three-day mega event of […]
