Mastercard expands cryptocurrency program to allow more firms to issue cards on its network Inside Betterment’s move into banking with...
Artificial intelligence company, Flamingo, has listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and partnered with online lender, DirectMoney; the company seeks to help increase the sales conversion rate of online customers through web chat, web forms and artificial intelligence that guides customers through an online purchase. Source
As most companies were trying to figure out how to handle the economic downturn Airwallex was able to raise $160mn;...
Money360-affiliate M360 Advisors has registered with the South Korea Financial Supervisory Service; the registration allows institutional investors from South Korea to invest in the firm's real estate fund; the fund invests in secured US commercial real estate properties through bridge loans and offers global investors a high yield fixed income alternative; the fund has already received $65 million from a South Korean institutional investor and is planning for investment of $250 million in the first half of 2017; the fund is managed to provide international tax efficient investing along with high yield fixed income returns and has a number of other foreign investors including investors in China, Singapore, South Africa, Europe, Canada, the Netherlands and Kuwait. Source
ICICI Bank will integrate Twitter's digital customer care support features through the bank's Twitter account; Twitter business support features to be utilized by ICICI Bank include Twitter's support indicator, message button and links for customer conversations; with the new customer support features, ICICI Bank seeks to make banking more rewarding for its customers. Source
Online lending platform, Capital Float, received the Fintech Startup of the Year award at the India Fintech Awards 2016, demonstrating its kirana loan app which it says gives instant approval with no paperwork; the award provides Capital Float with INR 500,000 along with many event partner benefits; within the industry the company has also been focusing on the country's demonetization which has been helping business growth for fintech firms. Source
European online lender Spotcap has received A$20 million (USD$15.15 million) from New Zealand Bank, Heartland; Spotcap has also launched its platform in New Zealand and will be accelerating growth in Australia, helping to expand its business in the Asia Pacific region; Spotcap's lending targets small and medium enterprises with credit lines and loans of up to $250,000. Source
According to the Wall Street Journal, PayPal and bitcoin have been used for funding Islamic terrorist attacks in Indonesia; the virtual payments were reported to be more difficult to track; the Indonesian Financial Transactions Report and Analysis Center says terrorism financing cases have increased in the country from 12 in 2015 to 25 in 2016. Source
Standard Chartered China's credit cards can now be added to WeChat user payment accounts, marking the first foreign capital-backed bank to cooperate with Tencent this way; according to Tencent Financial Technology Group (Tencent FiT) Payment Platform Product Manager Chen Qiru. the cooperation will help WeChat Pay to acquire more international users and WeChat Pay will strengthen cooperation with international financial institutions. Source (Chinese)
Chen Wei accumulated losses of over 489,400 yuan ($71,154) from lending platform Jiedaibao, operated by Renrenxing; the Chinese platform facilitated transactions between borrowers and lenders, allowing lenders to set their own interest rates and manage their own credit lending strategies; Renrenxing managed oversight of the platform including responsibility for collections; Chen's strategy was to borrow from platform lenders at low rates and lend to borrowers at higher rates, benefiting from the difference; Chen initially reported success but then increased borrower defaults led to losses of over 489,400 yuan ($71,154); Chen was subpoenaed by Jiedaibao for the funds he owed; Jiedaibao later dropped the case but Chen is now suing Renrenxing for the money owed from borrowers; more than 30 users have now filed court cases against Renrenxing for payments totaling over 22.5 million yuan ($3.27 million); new regulations have now been instituted to stop intermediaries from offering protection against losses. Source