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Vietnam May Soon Emerge As One Of Southeast Asia’s Blockchain Innovation Hubs
Looking at financial inclusion alone, only 31% of adults in Vietnam have bank accounts. But smartphone ownership is on the rise, with 40% of the population expected to own these devices by 2021, which means app-based, blockchain financial services could bring the underbanked into the fold.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Mobile money services make waves in Myanmar
Seven years ago, the country had virtually no formal banking sector. Now, its clunkier commercial lenders face extinction thanks to the arrival of exciting new mobile money services whose mission is to march onwards and upwards.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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Asia emerges as a strong market for impact investing
Asia’s integration into the impact investing scene is further reinforced when South Korea joined the Global Social Impact Investment Steering Group.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- impact investing, youth
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Initiative aims for cross-border interconnectivity of mobile wallets in Southeast Asia, India
Singtel will start with Thailand’s largest mobile operator, AIS. The Group plans to progressively expand this service from the second half of 2018 to other regional associates, which include Airtel in India, Globe in Philippines and Telkomsel in Indonesia.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- fintech
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Alibaba is doubling down on Southeast Asia as its rivals, including Amazon, are moving in
The latest round will bring Alibaba’s investment in Lazada to $4 billion. It follows a $1 billion investment last year, which added to its initial $1 billion purchase of a majority stake in Lazada in April 2016. The latter deal signaled that Alibaba, long dominant in China, would enter Southeast Asia by buying an existing player rather than by building a presence there from scratch.
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- e-commerce
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Press release: Impact Terra secures nearly USD 3.0 million to digitize smallholder farming
Impact Terra, the Myanmar based agriculture and fintech social enterprise, today announced that it has secured nearly USD 3.0 million in funding to lead the digitization of smallholder farming. Its support includes a grant from the Geodata for Agriculture and Water (‘G4AW’) facility and a grant from venture philanthropy organization Leap201.
- Source
- Press release
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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These Two China Banks Lent More To Global Energy Projects Than The World Bank
China's two development banks spent more money on global energy projects than the emerging markets lending arm of the World Bank, known as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Grab, Uber’s Southeast Asia rival, now offers micro-loans and other financial services
The Singapore-based company has been pushing itself into fintech for some time, with the most visible moment being the launch of its mobile payments service last November. Today, it extended that further still by introducing micro-loans and insurance options for Grab drivers and businesses that use its GrabPay services.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific