News

Astra Financial and WeLab launch digital bank services in Indonesia

PT Bank Jasa Jakarta (BJJ), owned by financial business unit Astra Financial and fintech firm WeLab since 2022, have on Monday launched Bank Saqu, a digital banking service, as a financial partner for individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia with a solopreneur spirit. The launch of Bank Saqu is in line with the vision of BJJ to…

XREX Singapore receives MAS major payment institution license in-principle approval

XREX, a Taiwan-based blockchain-enabled financial institution specializing in cross-border payments in emerging markets, announced last Thursday that its Singapore entity has obtained in-principle approval for a major payments institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the nation's central bank and financial regulator.

Singapore and Indonesia launch cross border QR payments

Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have on last Friday launched the cross-border quick response (QR) payment linkage between Indonesia and Singapore. This linkage enables customers of participating financial institutions to make seamless cross-border retail payments using their existing mobile banking applications to scan QRIS…

Malaysia and Singapore launch cross-border real-time payment systems connectivity

Malaysian central bank Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and Singapore central bank the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have jointly launched the real-time payment systems linkage between Malaysia’s DuitNow and Singapore’s PayNow.

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Ant International, Grab, StraitsX collaborate to enable cross border payments with Purpose Bound Money for local merchants

Ant International, Grab, and StraitsX (part of Fazz) have on Thursday announced a collaboration to look into the potential for Purpose Bound Money (PBM) to be applied to cross border payments. If successful, this advancement in cross border payment capabilities will expand PBM use cases with the aim of launching in Singapore in 2024.

Supermom launches initiative to partner 25 Singaporean brands expanding to Indonesia

Supermom, a Singapore-based parenting networks backed by AC Ventures, has announced the launch of a new initiative committed to helping small businesses develop. The tie-up is set to facilitate market entry to Indonesia for 25 Singapore-based family-centric brands.

JazzCash and Fatima Gobi Ventures team up to boost startups in Pakistan

Pakistan-based FinTech platform JazzCash and Pakistan’s venture capital (VC) company Fatima Gobi Ventures (FGV) have announced a strategic partnership that is poised to have a massive impact on advancing the growth of startups and budding businesses in the country.

Binance Labs invests in $ARKM token to support on-chain insights at scale across the blockchain ecosystem

Binance Labs, the venture capital and incubation arm of Binance has invested in $ARKM, the native token of Arkham. Binance Labs said in a statement on Wednesday that Arkham is an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered blockchain intelligence and data platform that provides granular information and visualization tools for on-chain activity.

China’s Meituan explores deal for Delivery Hero’s Southeast Asia arm Foodpanda – report

Meituan has held talks with Delivery Hero about buying Southeast Asian operations that run under the Foodpanda brand, the people said.

Malaysia’s unicorn Carsome cutting “hundreds of jobs” to reach profit – report

Carsome “makes adjustments to its workforce where necessary,” the company said in an emailed response to Bloomberg's questions, declining to comment on specific numbers. “We remain committed to investing in all of our current markets and plan to accelerate profitable growth in 2024.”