Japanese fintech firm Digital Wallet acquires PH’s Speed Money Transfer
Digital Wallet Corporation (DWC), a Japan-based financial technology (fintech) company, announced today that it has acquired remittance and foreign exchange firm Speed Money Transfer Philippines (SMTP) for an undisclosed amount. SMTP, which operates in the Philippines and Australia, will be renamed as Digital Wallet Philippines following the acquisition. The deal and the name change have been approved by the country’s central bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). DWC’s acquisition of a Philippines-based remittance company comes as Filipinos working abroad remitted $2.88 billion in August, slightly higher than July’s $2.87-billion tally, according to data from the BSP. Of the total remittances in August, about $2.59 billion were sent through banks, […]
London Fintech Yordex adds smart cards to suite of software
UK fintech Yordex is making it simple for fast-growing companies to control business spend by adding company cards to its smart spend management solution, giving businesses complete visibility and authority over their current and future finances. Expense management currently takes up a disproportionate amount of time and money within most organisations; on average, it costs in excess of $20 in people power to process every invoice or expense claim, while expenses only account for less than 6% of total company spend. In addition, firms struggle to get a real-time picture of their financial health, as their existing software platform only provide a historical view of spend. It takes an average […]
Cambodia’s Central Bank tests out digital wallet to reduce cross-border payment fees
Cambodia’s Central Bank wants to curtail the cost of cross-border payments and is examining its in-house digital wallet, the Hyperledger Iroha-powered Bakong. Last week, the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) signed an agreement with Malaysia’s Maybank. The banks will work together to cut down the remittance fees of their respective digital payment platforms – Bakong and Maybank2u. H.E. Chea Serey, Cambodia’s chief central banker, told the Khmer Times that the remittance fees can range as high as 30%. Chea Serey also stated that the partnership can reduce the fees. He said: “The introduction of Bakong system will provide more possibilities in enhancing payment system at both domestic and regional level” […]
Google steps up global fight for digital wallet as China dominates mobile payments
Mobile payment transactions in China added up to more than US$12.8 trillion last year, making it the world’s largest mobile payments market. Now US tech giants are playing catch up. To get a sense of how pervasive mobile payments have become in China, consider that on the eve of this year’s Spring Festival, 668 million people on Tencent Holding’s WeChat app sent virtual hongbao – digital red packets containing money – to friends and family as part of their well wishes for the new year. Now western tech giants are accelerating efforts to tap into the market, with Google this week launching Google Pay in a move that rebrands and […]
Indians can now send money to each other via WhatsApp
WhatsApp is beta testing letting users in India send money to each other through the app. The feature isn’t available to everyone yet, but here’s what it looks like once you have it. Tapping “Payment” lets users enter an amount and zap it to anyone they’re chatting with on WhatsApp, as long as the other person has payments enabled too. The feature works on a system called Unified Payments Interface, an Indian government-backed technology that lets users transfer money directly into each other’s bank accounts using just their mobile numbers, or a bank-issued payment ID that looks like an email address. To read more, please click on the link […]
Put people first to get fintech right in Asia
As the Year of the Rooster gives way to the Year of the Dog, fintech remains very much in the news and on investors’ minds. From blockchain to bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies, and initial coin offerings that allocate “tokens” as a new means of crowdfunding capital, the language and disruptions buffeting the mainstream banking and financial services industry can seem overwhelming. But beyond the multimillion-dollar, headline-grabbing investments and acquisitions, what does financial technology actually mean for the people of Asia? Across the region, fintech deals continue to make waves. And while much of the venture capital in Asia has predominantly flowed into China, particularly among a handful of large […]
Want to buy stuff using bitcoin? Coinbase wants to help
Coinbase, a company that houses people’s digital wallets for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, has a new way to pay. The service, called Coinbase Commerce, “enables merchants to accept multiple cryptocurrencies” so funds arrive directly in their own wallets. It can be integrated straight into their own online checkout processes, Coinbase said in a blog post Wednesday. Bitcoin rose to prominence as a digital currency, but many today are cautious since its value has been highly volatile, transaction times are slow, transaction fees have been increasing, and many people bought cryptocurrencies not to spend it but to hang on in hopes its worth would continue to skyrocket. “Bitcoin has evolved to […]
Malaysian company partners with Chinese Alipay in digital wallet
Malaysia has witnessed a growing mobile wallet sector since the entry of the Ant Financial’s mobile solution Alipay into the country. Many Malaysian players have hurried into the mobile payments bandwagon to step into Malaysian e-commerce market, including MOL Global Inc. The group has launched its owned mobile wallet One2pay in the last month, after partnering with Ant Financial in offering Alipay to Chinese tourists in the country. MOL Global’s CEO told Xinhua: ‘When Malaysians see Chinese tourists come to Malaysia and use Alipay, they may ask why they cannot use that? So, I think that is good that Alipay has come to the region as it has excited the […]
