What The FinTech #93: 24 Apr 2022
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What was the FinTech this week in: 📰
BLOCKCHAIN - CRYPTO - DIGITAL ASSETS - DE FI
Gaming platforms FlickPlay, The Sandbox take steps toward metaverse
LINE’s NFT marketplace is live despite regulatory uncertainty
NFTs lead to financial risks, warned China
Crypto payments frozen across India, hitting trading
Gaming platforms FlickPlay, The Sandbox take steps toward metaverse
Gaming companies FlickPlay and The Sandbox announced a new partnership on Monday that will allow players to use a blockchain asset on both platforms, representing a key step in the building of the metaverse that promotes interoperability. FlickPlay app which allow players to unlock digital collectibles by using augmented reality to create videos and other contents from their phone, on Monday announced its release of their first NFT collection that can be used as avatars on The Sandbox platform. The Sandbox claims it may be the first to bridge an NFT in the virtual world with usage linked to the physical world.
LINE’s NFT marketplace is live despite regulatory uncertainty
LINE, the Japanese and South Korean messaging app, announced the launch of its NFT marketplace, LINE NFT. The platform is backed by LVC Corporation, the company in charge of LINE’s crypto and blockchain operations. Users can now engage in NFT-related activities on the marketplace, such as trading, purchasing, or selling. LINE NFT was launched on the LINE blockchain. Users must connect their LINE BITMAX Wallet to store their purchased NFTs. LINE NFT also allows holders of LINE NFTs to send or exchange NFTs with their friend contacts. The initial supply of LINE NFT is estimated to be around 40,000 NFT products. LINE is currently one of Japan’s most popular texting apps. The launch represents a potential for NFT to enter the mainstream in Japan, as the number of LINE domestic users is reported to exceed 90 million.
NFTs lead to financial risks, warned China
China warned of financial risks associated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as three industry bodies jointly issued guidelines to prevent the digital asset market from overheating. NFTs are ownership certificates of a unique digital item such as a video, recording, or cyber artwork. Such digital collectibles are gaining traction in China and have been embraced by tech companies including Ant Group and Tencent Holdings. Although NFTs could contribute to China's digital economy, they could also lead to speculative trading, money laundering, and illegal financing. NFTs must not be used in the issuance of financial assets such as securities, insurance, loans or precious metals. The associations also barred members from providing trading venues, or financing, for NFTs. In addition, cryptocurrencies must not be used to price, or settle NFTs, and real name authentication is required for NFT issuers, buyers and sellers, for anti-laundering purposes.
Crypto payments frozen across India, hitting trading
Crypto investors would now be able to use India’s online retail payments system to transfer funds to its local exchange. Since its announcement, at least 4 other companies that provide crypto-related trading services have either suspended rupee deposits or seen banks and payment gateways pull support for money transfers onto their platforms. Daily trading volumes on Indian crypto exchanges, which collectively cater to about 15 million people, has tumbled by between 88 per cent and 96 per cent since peaking last year, data from CoinGecko show. WazirX, India's biggest crypto bourse, saw volumes drop 93 per cent from an October high, according to the data. Coinbase already offered trading in crypto pairs in India, which doesn't require customers to deposit rupees into their accounts. "After the Coinbase announcement, whoever was providing support to the industry has withdrawn support.
Articles that may interest you on this subject:
Bitcoin ETFs set to roll out in Australia to test crypto demand => here
Gemini launches crypto rewards card across US => here
HONG KONG
Hong Kong-based SME lender secures $250m debt facility
Livi Bank Now Offers Instant Personal Loans up to HK$1 Million
Hong Kong’s Times Square mall enters metaverse as troubled retailers look to virtual world to lure shoppers amid downturn
Hong Kong-based SME lender secures $250m debt facility
Hong Kong-based FundPark has secured an asset-backed securitization facility of up to US$250 million, with Goldman Sachs as the senior facility provider. Alternative Credit Fund and Cypress Capital Hong Kong Limited also joined in as mezzanine investors. FundPark operates a proprietary platform that provides merchants – mainly cross-border ecommerce SMEs – with access to additional working capital. Since its establishment in 2016, the company has supported SMEs, with a combined gross merchandise value of over US$4 billion, through loan advancements of more than US$600 million, the company said.
Livi Bank Now Offers Instant Personal Loans up to HK$1 Million
Hong Kong’s virtual bank Livi announced that it has launched its personal loan offering from HK$10,000 up to HK$1,000,000. The Livi Flexi Loan is fully automated and available 24/7 where approvals would take about 2 minutes and have the funds deposited immediately into the customer’s LiviSave account. Livi said that no documents are needed for loans below HK$250,000. Powered by Livi’s data-driven technology, the livi Flexi Loan offers customers a personalised credit assessment model that is tailored for them and loan periods ranging from three to sixty months. Repayments will be automatically deducted from customer’s accounts.
The Times Square mall in Causeway Bay is tapping the virtual world to lure more shoppers by partnering with the popular Bunny Warriors and AiR Metaverse, which has produced a replica of Hong Kong in the online world. The collaboration heralds the first entry of a local shopping centre into the AiR metaverse. Times Square aims to launch more such campaigns in the future to connect the real and the virtual worlds. AiR has created a Hong Kong-themed virtual world that allows users to connect every aspect of their life to the metaverse. The partnership highlights how real estate companies have been increasingly looking to the metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to either promote their projects or tap another revenue stream by selling the virtual tokens.
SINGAPORE
Singapore-based Stripe users can now accept payments via PayNow
Payments startup Thunes acquires majority stake in tech firm Tookitaki; invests over US$20m
UK Paytech MYPINPAD merges with Singapore’s SmartPesa
Singapore-based Stripe users can now accept payments via PayNow
Singapore based businesses using Stripe can now accept local electronic fund transfer service PayNow across its suite of solutions, the global payments processing firm said on Wednesday (Apr 20).Stripe users based outside Singapore can also accept PayNow if they create a Singapore Stripe account. Stripe claimed nearly 70 per cent of Singaporean adults have made a purchase via Stripe since 2017. Merchants can now also offer their customers the option to pay recurring payments for subscriptions using PayNow. Stripe is also integrated with various other payment methods, like GrabPay and AliPay, credit and debit cards and buy-now-pay-later platforms.
Payments startup Thunes acquires majority stake in tech firm Tookitaki; invests over US$20m
Singapore based global payments startup Thunes, has acquired a majority stake in anti-money laundering and compliance technology firm Tookitaki through an investment of over US$20 million. Both businesses will continue to operate independently, with the deal helping the companies accelerate their global business expansion. Tookitaki’s capabilities will be extended to help Thunes safeguard and create more transparency around its payment system for its global customers.
UK Paytech MYPINPAD merges with Singapore’s SmartPesa
Payment technology companies, UK-based MYPINPAD and Singapore based SmartPesa have merged to expand their mobile payments acceptance and solutions for customers and merchants. The new combined entity, which will operate under the MYPINPAD brand, will double its existing footprint in the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa regions, with a view to expand into North America in 2022. MYPINPAD provides secure payments acceptance and personal authentication solutions using smartphones and tablets. SmartPesa develops payments and agency banking solutions for merchants and banks, supporting mobile-based multi-channel payments online and offline.
CHINA
China's Ant Group to take up majority ownership of payments platform 2C2P
China to run digital currency trials to boost economy
Tencent commences test programme for digital yuan wallet
China's Ant Group to take up majority ownership of payments platform 2C2P
Ant Group, the fintech unit of China's Alibaba Group is set to become the majority investor in Singapore-based payments platform 2C2P as part of a partnership, announced on Monday. The deal will lead to the integration of Ant's Alipay+ payment service with 2C2P's platform used by merchants in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. In its recent development, 2C2P has also announced their partnership with Hoolah to extend their services to merchants offering BNPL services in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong this year.
China to run digital currency trials to boost economy
In a quest to strengthen the country economically and become a global superpower, China decides to run digital currency trials of which the real purpose seems to be keeping a close eye on data and mass transactions. As the visibility of the government increases, authorities are called upon to monitor and enforce compliance on transactions, with the power to wipe out amounts in digital currency without any permission from its users. In fact, entrusting the PBOC with a digital currency policy is another way of targeting private tech firms in the country. Around 90% of mobile payments in China run through two tech giants, stated Alibaba and Tencent, citing Portal Plus. The government’s digital currency expansion is established in a way that could influence the market of Wechat Pay and Alipay.
Tencent commences test programme for digital yuan wallet
Tencent has rolled out a wallet that enables users to make transactions using China's central bank backed digital currency. Undergoing A/B testing, the Tencent e-CNY Wallet, enables users to transact using the digital currency through QR codes on WeChat. To qualify, consumers would need to activate the wallet function of WeBank, Tencent’s digital banking arm, in the central bank's e-CNY app, downloadable in Android and Apple app stores. Users will be able to transfer funds, collect payments, and access credit card functions through the programme.
ASIA
Primer partners with hoolah to bring 'Buy Now Pay Later' solution to fuel merchants' growth across Asia
LINE Bank Taiwan Clocks More That 1 Million Users Within First Year of Launch
Stripe now supports Furikomi, Konbini payments in Japan
BigPay completes e-wallet offerings ahead of digital banking license announcement in Malaysia
Hoolah, BNPL platform in Asia, today announces its partnership with Primer, a no-code automation platform for payments and commerce, allowing merchants in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong to integrate with Hoolah's BNPL solution, providing consumers an additional payment method. Primer’s platform allows merchants to build payment flow they desire autonomously through their no code platform. The partnership will allow merchants to enable Hoolah’s BNPL payment option through Primer’s unified checkout and payment integration system easily.
LINE Bank Taiwan Clocks More That 1 Million Users Within First Year of Launch
LINE Bank Taiwan announced it has exceeded 1.1 million customers in the first year of its operations. The neobank was among the three entities to receive a virtual banking license from Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission in June 2019. Since its official launch in April 2021, the internet-only bank said that its LINE Bank debit cards have topped all industry peers in terms of transaction value and volume according to data from the National Credit Card Center (NCCC). According to financial data published, LINE bank’s growth rate for total deposit reached 45% while loans grew 115% compared to previous quarter. As of March 2022, their total customer base is 5.7 million in Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia market.
Stripe now supports Furikomi, Konbini payments in Japan
Stripe, a financial services and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company, now supports two forms of payments in Japan via one integration. Furikomi, a popular bank transfer method, and Konbini, a global convenience store payment option, are available through Stripe. By enabling bank transfers in Japan, Stripe has become the only fully unified SaaS solution that consolidates payments, billing, invoicing and revenue management tools into one complete platform. Furikomi allows businesses to transfer money safely from their bank accounts. Stripe said these transfers are critical for the $10 billion SaaS industry to manage recurring payments. Still, bank transfers can create challenges for companies, which must reconcile payments manually from a variety of bank accounts with separate invoices. It is exacerbated for SaaS platforms that charge recurring fees. With Stripe, Furikomi can automate and integrate payments. As a result, businesses no longer must reconcile outstanding invoices with ledger entries at the close of each month.
BigPay completes e-wallet offerings ahead of digital banking license announcement in Malaysia
AirAsia’s BigPay has finally enabled cashless and contactless QR payments on its app, completing its offering as an e-wallet player. The fintech platform is also one of the contenders of the digital banking license in Malaysia who’s on a mission to democratize banking services not only in the country but within the region as well. As one of Malaysia’s largest fintech platforms, BigPay prior to this did not allow for cashless payments via its app. However, due to the constant requests from its vast pool of users, the app is now a part of the DuitNow ecosystem. For context, DuitNow is a Malaysian initiative supported by PayNet to modernize the country’s retail payments to facilitate and drive innovation in e-Payments. with BigPay’s entry into the DuitNow ecosystem, its users will be able to use it for instant domestic money transfers, and pay at merchants that support the QR function.
PARTNERSHIPS & FUNDRAISING
B2B financing platform Recur Club raises $30M => here
Indonesian audio content platform NOICE gets $22M Series A => here
Coda Payments raises $690M for cross-border payments and alternative app stores => here
Indonesian payments infra startup Xendit raises $64.6M in Accel-led Series B => here
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