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 […]
Alibaba is picking up 33% of Ant Financial, its fintech affiliate that’s valued at over $60B
Alibaba has added an additional angle to the announcement of its latest financial report today with news that it is taking a 33 percent stake in Ant Financial, its fintech affiliate that operates Alipay and other financial services. The deal, which both parties said stems from an agreement made in 2014, will see Alibaba pick up newly issued shares in Ant, seemingly paving the way for a public listing. It will also mark an end to a profit-share agreement which saw Ant give Alibaba “royalty and technology service fees” equal to 37.5 percent of its pre-tax profits each quarter. The agreement will give Alibaba direct ownership of Ant, which is […]
How to build a Fintech Unicorn – How Adyen became a $2.3bn payments company
So here’s the good news. Investor interest in Europe’s financial technology sector has never been higher. According to a report published in September last year by Innovate Finance and Magister Advisers, VCs poured around $8bn into fintech startups and early stage companies across the continent between 2010 and 2017 and over the course of that period, deal sizes rose significantly. In London – generally considered to be Europe’s Fintech Hub – figures published in January by London and Partners found that the UK’s fintech sector attracted £1.24bn in 2017 alone. Looking ahead, the European Union as a whole and the United Kingdom have both implemented regulatory changes intended to make […]
UnionPay International signs long-term partner agreement with global payment innovator Verrency
Verrency today signed a long-term agreement with UnionPay International (UPI), a wholly owned subsidiary of China UnionPay (CUP), to offer Verrency’s innovative value-added services to Union Pay’s issuing banks across Asia. Verrency’s services will be delivered via the UPI Wallet, Union Pay’s innovative API service. Signing the formal agreement were David C. Link, Chief Executive Officer/ Executive Chairman, Verrency, and Shuan Ghaidan, Product Director, UnionPay International. Shuan Ghaidan said: “We are very glad to be working with Verrency to offer further control, service, convenience and security to our customers. Verrency’s innovative services will further enhance the value of the UPI Wallet and the value that Union Pay enables for its issuers. […]
