News
Egypt’s Fincart raises $2.8M seed round to expand e-commerce platform across Africa, Middle East
Egypt-based Fincart, a shipping platform, has closed an oversubscribed $2.8 million seed funding round co-led by Launch Africa and Antler MENAP, with participation from Yango Ventures, Five35 Ventures, Bluestream Capital, Hi2 Global, Kalahari Venture Labs, and other MENA and Africa-focused investors.
Hong Kong, Singapore-based KPay receives in-principle approval for Singapore major payment institution licence
KPay Group, a fintech company co-headquartered in Hong Kong and Singapore, has received in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for a Major Payment Institution license, under the Payment Services Act 2019 for its Singapore subsidiary, KPay Merchant Service (Singapore).
China’s BYD, Australia’s Smart to jointly integrate novated leasing into EV purchase process
China's electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer BYD and Australia's salary packaging and novated leasing provider Smart will jointly offer BYD and DENZA electric vehicles available through novated leases to more than 2.5 million Australians employed by Smart's clients.
Samsung, Maybank launch Malaysia’s first Samsung Wallet QR payment, usable across 5 countries
Samsung Malaysia Electronics and Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) have jointly launched QR payment functionality within Samsung Wallet in Malaysia, allowing eligible Samsung Galaxy users to access Maybank's MAE Scan & Pay feature natively within the wallet application from July 21, 2026.
Danantara acquires controlling stakes in four state-owned investment managers
PT Danantara Asset Management (DAM) has officially signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) for shares in PT Mandiri Manajemen Investasi (MMI), PT BRI Manajemen Investasi (BRI MI), PT BNI Asset Management (BNI AM), and PT PNM Investment Management (PNM IM) on Wednesday.
U.S. Section 301 hits Southeast Asia: 10% for three, 12.5% for Singapore, Vietnam, technology escapes
New U.S. Section 301 tariffs took effect on Friday (July 24) across 60 economies, hitting seven Southeast Asian nations: Malaysia, Cambodia, and Indonesia with a 10 percent additional duty, while Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore face the higher rate of 12.5 percent.
Visa, China’s Lianlian complete first live B2B agentic payment transaction using AI agent
US payments company Visa and China's Lianlian DigiTech have completed their first live business-to-business agentic transaction using LoopXPay, Lianlian's AI agent, in which the agent sourced a product sample from a supplier and completed the purchase within a single automated workflow.
Huawei, Thailand jointly launch AI ecosystem initiative, to push innovation, talent development
Huawei has joined Thai government agencies, telecom carriers, large language model developers, AI associations, and universities to launch the Thailand AI Ecosystem Initiative, in order to push Thailand as a hub for AI innovation in Southeast Asia.
Vietnam’s VinFast ships over 5,000 EVs to Europe, Southeast Asia in 2 days
Vietnam's VinFast loaded more than 5,000 electric vehicles onto two cargo vessels at Hai Phong Port on July 20 and 21, marking the company's 37th and 38th dedicated export shipments in less than four years since its first international delivery of 999 vehicles in late 2022.
Japan’s JCB, Malaysia’s Fiuu to jointly expand card payments across Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines
Japan's JCB International and Malaysia's Fiuu, a payment processing platform formerly known as Razer Merchant Services, have entered into a direct acquiring partnership covering Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, enabling JCB card payments across online and offline merchant channels in the three markets.
