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Tanzanian Government Ponders Harmonization of Mobile Money Transactions
The government now wants all telecommunication companies to register their mobile money transactions with the National Switch as it seeks to rollout interoperability across all operators.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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What’s Driving India’s Fintech Boom?
An explosion of smartphone users and a world-class digital infrastructure are fueling the rapid growth of fintech in India. But innovating for low-income groups remains a challenge.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Ant Financial’s $100 billion valuation would put it in the same league as the world’s biggest banks
Ant Financial Services Group, the Chinese fintech giant, is planning a funding round that could fetch a valuation similar to the world’s biggest and oldest banks: The digital payment company is raising as much as $5 billion in equity that may value it at more than $100 billion, according to Reuters.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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WhatsApp Payments testing for Android, iOS in India could worry Paytm, other e-wallets
WhatsApp has been working on a digital transaction feature since 2017, and the same was spotted at times in the wild. The appearances in the past have been on earlier beta version of the popular messaging application.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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Asia-Pacific fintech market to reach US$72 billion by 2020, finds Frost & Sullivan
Active support and initiatives by financial regulators such as the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Bank Negara Malaysia and Bank Indonesia has enabled the Asia-Pacific Fintech ecosystem to grow significantly in 2017.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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China’s Ant plans equity fundraising at potential $100 billion valuation – sources
Ant’s last fundraising in 2016 valued the owner of Alipay, China’s top online payment platform, at about $60 billion. The new round should start with a valuation of between $80 billion to $100 billion, the people said.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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Is Mobile Money Killing Off the Group Microfinance Model (And Would That Be Such a Bad Thing)?
SAJIDA Foundation, an NGO and microfinance provider in Bangladesh, recently took the bold step of going cashless. But shifting to mobile money meant the end of group meetings – the locus of traditional microcredit for decades. The NGO was betting on clients embracing this new approach, but after the initial rollout, it noted some troubling downsides along with the expected benefits. Ashirul Amin of BFA explores the pros and cons SAJIDA has encountered in its cashless journey, and how it is responding with a hybrid method that blends old and new.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment
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Apple brings Alibaba-linked payment system into China stores amid market push
Apple Inc will accept Chinese mobile payment app Alipay in its local stores, boosting its ties with giant e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd amid a push by the iPhone maker to revive growth in the world’s No.2 economy.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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