Japanese social-media company LINE will shut down its US-based crypto exchange BITFRONT claiming that its decision has nothing to do with “certain exchanges that have been accused of misconduct”. BITFRONT seemed to be referring to the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX which has just claimed another victim as crypto lender BlockFi was forced to file for bankruptcy due to its financial ties to the former. The crypto exchange was initially launched in 2018 in Singapore as BITBOX before rebranding as BITFRONT in 2020 ahead of its move to the US. BITFRONT said in a statement that this move was taken in…

Hex Trust, a digital asset custodian licensed in Hong Kong and Singapore, has received a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA). The MVP license allows Hex Trust to provide a range of virtual asset services to institutional clients and investors in Dubai including virtual assets custodial services, broker-dealer services, and staking services. Hex Trust received its provisional license from VARA and opened its MENA headquarters in Dubai in June 2022. The office is headed by Filippo Buzzi who was previously with financial consulting group Fidinam. The company last raised a US$88 million Series B…

Virtual bank ZA has partnered with online money transfer service Wise to offer low-cost and quick international money transfers to Hongkongers. ZA Bank users will soon be able to make international money transfers from HKD to 14 currencies, including AUD, USD, GBP, CAD, SGD and more. The transfers can be made via the ZA Bank app without having to switch apps or platforms. Customers will have to pay a single, upfront fee comprising a Wise fee and a convenience fee which will be shown transparently. 50% of all transfers globally sent with Wise are completed instantly within 20 seconds and…

Global cross-border payments network Thunes has partnered with Tencent Financial Technology, Tencent’s fintech arm, to allow members of its global network to send international payments to Weixin users. Weixin, with its international version known as WeChat, facilitates one of China’s most popular payment methods Weixin Pay. The majority of Weixin and WeChat’s 1.3 billion users are concentrated in China. According to Thunes, it is the first payment infrastructure partner to connect with Tencent Financial Technology. Daphne Huang, SVP APAC, Thunes said, “China is now seen as a global leader in digital payments and payment innovation, and mobile payments are at…

Singlife with Aviva was formed through the merger of Singlife and Aviva Singapore, bringing together one of the world’s oldest insurers with Singapore’s youngest homegrown financial services company. While the merger was officially completed in January 2022, it also presented the technology teams with the mammoth task of merging the digital-native operations at Singlife with legacy IT systems at Aviva. Ned Lowe, who was formerly the CTO at Singlife, is now leading this critical integration project for the combined company in his Head of Engineering role. When it comes to identity management for the newly combined company, it is a…

Hong Kong FinTech Week (HKFW) 2022 concluded on November 4, wrapping up a landmark five-day event for Hong Kong fintech amid an eventful week for the city as it steps back on the world stage. The entire week attracted a record high of over 30,000 visitors and over 5 million views online from over 95 economies, featured over 500 distinguished speakers and over 600 sponsors and exhibitors, and attracted more than 30 international delegations. The main conference saw a full cast of global financial and technology leaders with many returning in person to the city for the first time since…

Hash Blockchain Limited (HBL) has received approval from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) to operate a virtual asset trading platform in the territory. The HashKey Group member will operate under a Type 1 securities licence and a Type 7 (providing automated trading services) licence for professional investors. The issuance of HLB’s licence came after the Policy Statement on Development of Virtual Assets in Hong Kong by the city’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau. The Bureau outlined its vision and approach to developing Hong Kong into an international virtual assets’ hub. “The recent policy statement is…

A vast majority of the populations in the emerging markets of Southeast Asia, Latin America, and India are at the cusp of financial inclusion, thanks to the growing availability and adoption of digital lending services. The fintech-as-a-service market is predicted to grow to around US$ 949 Billion by 2028 due to the popularity of the alternative payment solution Buy Now Pay Later in these markets. With increased acceptability for digital lending in segments that had never been a part of the financial mainstream, organizations must enhance risk decisioning while ensuring faster turnaround on credit applications. Maintaining a high rate of…

Project mBridge, a collaboration between four central banks and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre, has completed a successful pilot involving the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) by commercial banks to conduct real-value transactions across borders. The large-scale pilot, which ran from August 15 and September 13, 2022, saw 20 commercial banks from Hong Kong, Thailand, Mainland China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) use the mBridge platform to conduct 164 payment and foreign exchange (FX) transactions. The pilot represented the largest cross-border CBDC pilot to date, BIS said in its project report,…

Lithuanian payment processor Paysera has partnered with payments infrastructure platform Airwallex to enable its clients to send money to 149 countries and open IBAN accounts of 9 countries. Paysera is a licensed e-money institution providing payment gateways, currency conversion, payment cards, an event ticketing platform, a parcel locker network, and a finance management app. The company also announced in mid-2021 that it has partnered with German neobank N26 to offer its payment processing services in 18 European countries. Founded in 2004 in Vilnius, Paysera has one million app installs and generated EUR 13 million in revenue in 2020. The company…

Ant Bank and AlipayHK have announced the launch of Ant Bank PayLater on AlipayHK’s e-wallet ahead of the Double 11 and Christmas shopping sprees. The buy now pay later (BNPL) service, which is currently in its trial period, allows approved users to choose to pay in installments when shopping with AlipayHK and on Taobao. Users can apply to use the service on the Ant Bank Mini App in AlipayHK, after which they will be able to enjoy three-month interest-free installment plans upon spending HKD100 or more. Repayments can be made on the Ant Bank Mini App in AlipayHK — whether…

The Hyphen Group, formerly known as CompareAsiaGroup, announced that it has closed a new US$20 million investment round led by technology company PCCW. While further details were not disclosed, a PCCW filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange suggests that the group contributed US$11.4 million to the sum. Hyphen Group’s announcement also mentions the involvement of existing shareholders and that the funding round sees PCCW joining the company’s board. Founded in 2014, the company started off as an online financial comparison platform before rebranding and evolving into a comprehensive financial management platform for consumers. “Extremely pleased to share the news of…

Family offices and high-net worth individuals (HNWIs) in Hong Kong and Singapore are embracing digital assets, attracted by the prospect of high returns, the opportunity to broaden their portfolios, and increased confidence in the market following the entrance of institutional investors, a new report by KPMG says. The report, which draws on a survey of 30 family offices and HNWIs carried out in Q2 2022, as well as in-depth discussions with survey respondents and other stakeholders, found high interest in the new asset class and increased participation. Of the family offices and HNWIs surveyed, 92% said they were interested in…

Asia Pacific accounts for 55% of the global trade finance’s volume. As the region’s trade grows, so does the financing gap. The high cost-to-serve, perceived risks, legacy systems and processes has left US$700 billion worth of unmet demand in emerging Asian economies. As the industry races to close the trade finance gap, digitisation is seen as a crucial enabler; but where do corporates in Asia stand? Which segments have the propensity to adopt a bank’s digital trade platform? What features are most valuable? And what challenges do they face? PSYKHE, a strategic design consultancy that helps organisations in Asia Pacific…

The HKU-SCF Fintech Academy, Cyberport and Hong Kong Productivity Council have published a Fintech Talent Study Report which found an urgent need to nurture more talents to address the fintech talent gap. The report, which was unveiled at the Hong Kong Fintech Week 2022, was produced based on insights from interviews with 12 financial executives and a survey of over 390 financial institutions. The survey reveals that e-payments and digital currencies, as well as cybersecurity and data privacy are considered the top fintech trends in Hong Kong. Furthermore, big data analytics and artificial intelligence are expected to be the key…

Digital insurer ZA International has unveiled plans to tokenise its ZA Coin loyalty programme to create more applications for the coin within the platform’s ecosystem. ZA Coin has 380,000 users at present, with a total redemption amount of close to HKD 500 million since its launch in 2020. ZA Coin can also be converted into cash and credited to ZA Bank users. About 30,000 users transact daily with ZA Coin, and over the past month, nearly 150,000 users have made such transactions, representing about 40% of ZA Coin’s user base. ZA International was established in Hong Kong in 2017 by…

Cyberport’s premier annual venture capital event, the Cyberport Venture Capital Forum (Forum) was successfully concluded on 28 October 2022. The forum was held again in a hybrid mode, gathering over 100 international venture capital experts, investors, venture companies and the Cyberport start-up community for two consecutive days. The forum, together with the Smart Living Venture Day, the Startup Workshop and the Startup Clinic, attracted around 2,500 participants and about 110,000 page views on the online platform. In addition, the forum also facilitated over 300 one-on-one meeting between investors and start-ups. Peter Yan, Chief Executive Officer of Cyberport, said, “Venture capital…

The 2022 Hong Kong Fintech Week is being held this week, bringing together tens of thousands of industry leaders, policymakers and fintech innovators to discuss some of the biggest opportunities in the fintech industry as well as the challenges faced by the sector. This year’s event, themed “Pushing Boundaries, Reaping Benefits”, is the seventh edition of the flagship event and features over 250 distinguished speakers, 400 sponsors and exhibitors, and more than 30 international delegations. The main conference, which took place on October 31 and November 01, saw government officials, regulators and industry leaders announce new initiatives and share updates…

BaseBit Technologies bested nine other finalists to win the Global Fast Track HK pitching competition this year. The announcement was made this morning at the Hong Kong FinTech Week 2022. This is the third Global Fast Track HK pitching competition. The winner will receive a publicity campaign through the Hong Kong Fintech Week’s communication channels and a complimentary exhibition booth in next year’s Hong Kong Fintech Week. The company combines data collaboration with data security to generate valuable insights from data for better business decision-making. BaseBit was founded in 2016 with Hong Kong as its headquarters.  More than 400 fintech…

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (HKEX) has launched Core Climate, a new international carbon marketplace that seeks to facilitate the trading of carbon credits and instruments. Core Climate’s participants will be able to source, hold, trade, settle and retire voluntary carbon credits on the platform, and all projects listed on the marketplace are verified against international standards. HKEX says that carbon credits on the platform will come from internationally-certified carbon projects from carbon avoidance, reduction and removal projects from around the world. Core Climate is the HKEX’s latest initiative in its efforts to develop an integrated ecosystem and international…