The fintech news headlines here were collected from a variety of online news sources covering financial technology and banking technology in September 2020, focusing on Asia wherever possible.
Each fintech news headline below is linked to the full banking tech news article behind that headline, giving an at-a-glance overview of September 2020’s fintech news whilst also letting you quickly find the fintech news items you find most interesting.
Other technology news summaries:
AI news / Blockchain news / Crypto news / Cybersec news
- ICYMI: Nasdaq to move its 28 markets in North America and Europe to public cloud over the next decade, moving away from on-premises servers
- ICYMI: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has been evaluating more than 30 different blockchain networks to determine if they would support a digital dollar
- Download: Central Bank Digital Currencies – Geopolitical Ramifcations of a Major Digital Currency
- Mastercard unveils virtual testing environment for CBDCs, simulating issuance, distribution and exchange between banks, financial service providers and consumers
- ICYMI: Bahamas to roll out Sand Dollar digital currency nationwide in October, allowing holders to use mobile phones for person-to-person or business transactions
- A beginner’s guide to decentralized finance, aiming for a global, open alternative to every financial service, accessible to anyone with a smartphone and internet connection
- 3, and possibly 5, nations likely to replace fiat currency entirely by 2030, study findings suggest
- Central Bank Digital Currencies: How is the Eurozone currently positioned, and what effects could a digital Euro have on this? Report now available to download
- ICYMI: Central Bank Digital Currency – opportunities, challenges and design, from the Bank of England
- Download: The Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2020, from GSMA (pdf)
- ICYMI: Square, digital payments firm from Twitter founder, launches Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance to combat patent hoarding’s impact on innovation
- ICYMI: Google to shutter Web Store payments system for Chrome, moving to curb malicious browser extensions
- Download: Asia-Pacific eCommerce and Payments Guide 2020, from Rapyd (pdf)
- Report: Riding The Digital Wave – Capturing Southeast Asia’s digital consumer in the Discovery Generation, from Facebook and Bain & Company
- FinTech: The monthly round-up of fintech and banking technology news from across Asia, Oceania and the broad Indo-Pacific from Startup News Asia
- A video round-up of recent fintech and banking technology news headlines, drawn from Startup News Asia’s daily technology news updates
- ICYMI: ABN Amro banking giant inks 3-year partnership with Techstars to identify and support industry-relevant startups with mentorship-driven accelerator
- ICYMI: Razer gaming hardware manufacturer looks at expansion into banking in US and Europe, sights set in part on global, youth-focused banking network
- ICYMI: Libra Networks, operating company subsidiary of Facebook’s Libra Association, hires former HSBC exec to role of managing director
- Another look at the Bank of England’s research into a central bank digital currency, and the solution presented by L3COS blockchain platform
- India: LazyPay lending platform launches LazyUPI digital credit card, providing real time credit via Unified Payments Interface for offline merchants and online use
- Philippines: Central bank to publish digital bank framework in September as part of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ digital payments transformation roadmap
- ICYMI: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has been evaluating more than 30 different blockchain networks to determine if they would support a digital dollar
- ICYMI: Switzerland becomes the first major financial center with a full set of laws to govern cryptocurrency, decentralized finance and blockchain-related commerce
- Myanmar: A look at the country’s mobile money and digital payments services, and the fintech startups making moves
- Philippines: Boxer Manny Pacquiao to launch PacPay, a digital payment platform for influencers, brands and fans in partnership with Remsea remittance fintech firm
- Download: Sri Lanka E-commerce Readiness Assessment Report (pdf)
- Malaysia: E-commerce Payments Trends, from JP Morgan – “…forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 24 percent a year…”
- Download: Can Blockchain Accelerate Financial Inclusion Globally? An 8-page overview from Deloitte (pdf)
- South Korea: WireBarley fintech secures $10M with cross-border remittances and building on partnership with Ripple blockchain-based payments network
- Singapore’s Thunes raises $60M with cross-border payments network and technologies aiming to make financial services more accessible in emerging markets
- Australia: Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology issues interim report on fintech and regtech, proposing 32 recommendations to gov’t
- Australia: NAB and CommBack launch interest-free credit cards less than 24 hours apart in bid to compete with popularity of buy now, pay later firms and fintechs
- ICYMI: Cambodia Fintech Association and Cambodia Association of Finance & Technology merged, consolidating membership and opportunities
- Cambodia: Techo Startup Centre and Association of Banks in Cambodia sign MOU on cooperation to promote financial technology systems in the Kingdom
- Download: Central Bank Digital Currencies – Geopolitical Ramifcations of a Major Digital Currency
- Mastercard unveils virtual testing environment for CBDCs, simulating issuance, distribution and exchange between banks, financial service providers and consumers
- ICYMI: Bahamas to roll out Sand Dollar digital currency nationwide in October, allowing holders to use mobile phones for person-to-person or business transactions
- An intro to the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance, non-profit aiming to boost adoption of cryptocurrency and combat patent barriers
- A beginner’s guide to decentralized finance, aiming for a global, open alternative to every financial service, accessible to anyone with a smartphone and internet connection
- Central Bank Digital Currencies: How is the Eurozone currently positioned, and what effects could a digital Euro have on this? Report now available to download
- ICYMI: Square, digital payments firm from Twitter founder, launches Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance to combat patent hoarding’s impact on innovation
- Hong Kong: Standard Chartered launches Mox Bank ‘virtual bank’
- India: BOB Financial Solutions, Bank of Baroda subsidiary, to use Signzy startup’s biometric video KYC system to enable fast, touch-free and paperless regulatory compliance
- Indonesia: An overview of the country’s financial apps and e-wallet services
- Malaysia: Hong Leong Bank HLB Launchpad 2020 mentorship platform applications close September 25th, seeking fintech startups
- Malaysia: Gobi Partners and Sunway Group unveil the 3 startup winners of SuperSeed II Championship, spanning fintech, real estate tech and more
- Malaysia: A deep dive into HLB Launchpad, Hong Leong Bank program seeking fintech startups and innovations – applications close September 25th
- New Zealand: Centrapay digital asset and payment platform gains backing from Coca-Cola’s Amatil X venture firm
- Philippines: JazzyPay fintech startup raises $500K from Singapore’s Cocoon Capital VC firm with medically-focused payments and invoicing solutions
- Philippines: JazzyPay raises $500K with cashless payments solutions and business-focused unified payments platforms
- Philippines: PayMongo payment processing startup gains $12M Series A, backed by Stripe and Y Combinator
- Singapore: Qapita equity management platform raises $1.8M seed funding, focusing on inefficiencies in private market ownership and transactions management
- Singapore: An intro to Lucy, fintech aiming to help female entrepreneurs who are ‘overlooked, underestimated and underbanked’
- Sri Lanka: LANKAQR launches as a national QR code standard for local currency payments, aiming for 50K merchants accessing digital financial transactions by year-end
- Vietnam: NextPay e-payment solutions provider sets sights on $60-$100M in pre-IPO placement on back of 1.5M e-wallet users and 35K acceptance points across 45 cities
- Sri Lanka: An intro to the 7 fintech startups that presented at the recent HatchX Demo Day
- Thailand: Central Bank’s blockchain-enabled bond infrastructure passes test with $1.6BN government savings bond sale spanning one week
- ICYMI: Central Bank Digital Currency – opportunities, challenges and design, from the Bank of England
- ICYMI: European Commission proposes legislation that will turn cryptocurrencies into a fully-regulated financial instrument
- ICYMI: Coinbase crypto exchange is developing a platform to help startups launch their own tokens, including provision of technical and governance guidance
- Consensys blockchain firm awarded contract for Project Ithanon-Lionrock, cross-border payment project using CBDC between Thailand and Hong Kong
- Australia: Voting now open for the 2020 Online Startup & Innovation Awards, hosted by YBF Ventures – here are the finalists
- Australia: The Studio creative/tech incubator launches Sydney-based Founders’ Program, with applications closing October 11th
- Australia: Finding Startups, an open-source database for the Victorian startup ecosystem, providing real-time data for founders, investors, corporates and policy makers
- China: State-run Blockchain-Based Service Network infrastructure project to bring public chains to Chinese users – but monitored by regulators
- New Zealand: First AML raises NZ$8M Series A with anti-money laundering compliance technology
- Singapore’s Atlantis fintech enters India with Neo-Bank digital-first challenger bank focusing on the country’s Gen-Z and millenials
- …online advertising “is likely the most sophisticated of all electronic trading markets”. And yet…unlike other markets – online advertising is almost completely unregulated’
- Sri Lanka: LANKAQR launches as a national QR code standard for local currency payments, aiming for 50K merchants accessing digital financial transactions by year-end
Startup news Asia channels
Our monthly news collections are drawn from Startup News Asia’s daily startup news updates – delivered on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and via mobile app – which collect technology news across 17 locations in Asia and the Indo-Pacific.
For a bullet-point overview of our channels:
Startup News Asia quick links