Mobile wallets to disrupt UAE payments sector
Get ready for it. The use of mobile wallets as a means of payment will perhaps be the biggest disruption the financial sector in the UAE has ever seen. But old habits die hard. According to UAE Central Bank figures, about 75 per cent of transactions in the country are made in cash. In fact, the UAE has about Dh65.4 billion in cash circulating outside the banking system. “That represents about 7 per cent of the economy,” says Maki Vekinis, CEO of Emirates Digital Wallet, a unique platform established by 16 of the UAE’s leading banks, formally launched at the Seamless Middle East conference in Dubai earlier this month. Developed […]
Remitano announces a new worldwide remittance service based on Bitcoin
Remitano, a Vietnamese platform that helps people trade bitcoin quickly and securely, has expanded its services to include a new offering to help users make international remittance. Using its current Escrow platform, Remitano users will be able to transfer funds quickly and securely across Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Australia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya and India. Remitano helps to protect bitcoin trades by providing a marketplace where people can buy and sell Bitcoin securely and quickly, with the best prices. Where bitcoin trades normally function in a step by step fashion, Remitano’s new offering makes the transaction of money across international boundaries quick and easy. “Let’s say you want to send […]
This guy is quickly but quietly building Sweden’s next fintech giant
Johan Tjärnberg is quietly building a fintech business that may prove as successful as Klarna. During 2016, his payments company, Bambora, grew 20% to revenues of SEK 2 billion. “Sales will increase even more this year, by as much as 30%, and we’ve been profitable from the start,” Johan Tjärnberg told Breakit. Bambora is a platform that aggregates hundreds of payments services, and it’s currently available in 65 markets. Bambora’s clients can even choose to use Klarna as their payment service. During 2017 the business will expand to North America, where the number of merchants using the service will increase by 10,000 over the year. That will boost the sales […]
ChimpChange growth supercharged by U.S. tax season
ChimpChange Limited, Australia’s only listed digital banking platform, is pleased to present its March 2017 quarterly report on business progress. Strong organic growth supercharged by the U.S. tax refund season The Company delivered strong growth across all areas of its business and continued to confirm the opportunity in the US market for an innovative tech-driven fee-free consumer banking product. Key metrics including customer deposits, new customers, and customer spend utilising the ChimpChange MasterCard all grew ahead of forecast and delivered company-wide records during the quarter. The period also saw a seasonal boost in deposits in the form of tax refund inflows, which we now expect to experience annually, and which […]
Interest in FinTech services highest among younger tech savvy users
The financial services industry has, since the financial crisis, found itself operating in a rapidly evolving environment, as regulatory requirements, customer expectations, new technologies and new FinTech entrants create a perfect storm of change. A new report finds that uptake of FinTech propositions differs considerably between generations and other groups, and that trust in the industry remains problematic. The financial services industry continues to face uncertainties from various fronts. Following the financial crisis, regulatory efforts aimed at limiting future risk and creating stability in the industry brought about a range of new regulatory frameworks, which are currently being implemented. At the same time, a raft of changes have begun to […]
Amazon acquires Indian mobile payment license
In another attempt to secure a firm grasp on the Indian market, Amazon has turned towards mobile wallets for its next venture. The e-commerce behemoth has obtained a license from the Indian Reserve Bank (RBI) for the operation of a prepaid payment instruments (PPI). Amazon Online Distribution Services Pvt. Ltd secured the secured the license towards the end of last month, according to the RBI website. Heading the payments division of Amazon India is former Citibank executive Sriram Jagannathan. The Vice President said about the recent license: “RBI is in the process of finalising the guidelines for PPIs. We look forward to seeing a continuation of low-limit wallet dispensation with […]
PayPal and Google get cozy with new digital wallet partnership
PayPal Holdings Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google deepened their relationship with a new agreement that enables payments through the tap of a phone from PayPal accounts at thousands of new retail locations. The partnership lets PayPal users link their accounts to Android Pay, Google’s digital wallet, on smartphones running most versions of the Android operating system. This makes PayPal a funding option when people use Android Pay in locations including Walgreens Boots Alliance drug stores and Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants. PayPal was added as a payment method for Google’s Play app and digital content store almost three years ago. PayPal CEO Dan Schulman has been busy cutting deals with banks, credit […]
Bitcoin payments cheaper & safer than credit cards: Cointed
Cointed is a rather young, but fast-growing Bitcoin exchange located in Kufstein, Austria. The company was founded in November 2015 by Christopher Rieder and Wolfgang Thaler and during the first year attracted more than 4,000 permanent customers. Cointed currently makes it possible to buy and sell a number of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, Monero, and Zcash and convert them to USD, EUR, and GBP. Expanding to Turkey Cointed is operating more than 17 Bitcoin ATM’s around Austria, France and Italy. BATMTwo and BATMThree machines are supplied by General Bytes, one of the leading Bitcoin and Blockchain technology providers. This year Cointed is planning to expand to Turkey. With the suspension […]
