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MoneyGram Agrees to Merge with Ant Financial
MoneyGram (NASDAQ: MGI), a global provider of innovative money transfer services, and Ant Financial Services Group, one of the world’s leading digital financial services providers and parent company of Alipay, a global mobile payment platform, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which MoneyGram will merge with Ant Financial, with stockholders of MoneyGram being offered $13.25 per share in cash. The transaction will connect MoneyGram’s money transfer network of 2.4 billion bank and mobile accounts and 350,000 physical locations with Ant Financial’s users, who enjoy a broad suite of technology-based financial services, including payments, credit and insurance products. The combination will provide consumers in over 200 countries and territories with convenient and accessible financial services, which furthers Ant Financial’s mission to promote equal access to financial services globally.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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What makes Senegal’s digital currency different?
Towards the end of last year, a regional bank for francophone west Africa, Banque Régionale de Marchés (BRM), issued a digital currency in Senegal (which it initially dubbed the eCFA but has since decided to rename). It acts similar to other digital currencies and consumers can interact with it across existing payment platforms, such as electronic and mobile wallets.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Safaricom Extends Lead on Mobile Money Transfers
Safaricom has expanded the value of mobile money transfers under its M-pesa platform by 4.45, latest industry data shows, as the company continues to lead in the mobile money market.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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New mobile payments facility to help enhance financial inclusion in Rwanda
Rwanda’s cashless economy push has received a timely shot as regional lender KCB Bank Rwanda prepares to launch a new payment system that is tipped to expand digital and mobile banking services across the country.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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Nigeria: Central Bank Bars Banks From Virtual Currency Transactions
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Tuesday, banned banks from all transactions in bitcoin and other virtual currencies. A circular signed by the apex bank's director, financial policy and regulation department, Kelvin Amugo, stated that the move was necessitated by money laundering and terrorism financing risks inherent in operations of virtual currencies.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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Mastercard helps expand financial inclusion in Pakistan by optimizing National ID cards with e-payment functionality
Mastercard, a leading technology company in the global payments industry, announced a strategic collaboration with Pakistan’s NADRA Technologies to optimize National ID cards with electronic payments functionality. The move will allow Pakistani citizens to carry out financial transactions and receive government disbursements by utilizing the unique 13-digit identification number of their identity card.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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New CGAP Survey Finds Technology Alone Cannot Deliver Successful Interoperability in Digital Financial Services
No matter how well designed the technology, interoperability in digital financial services will not reach its full potential unless the right business structure and incentives are in place, CGAP found in its new report, Digital Finance Interoperability and Financial Inclusion: A 20-Country Scan.
- Categories
- Technology
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MobiKwik, Paytm Go Multilingual As e-Wallets Tap Users in India’s Hinterland
Majority of the mobile wallets companies are launching multilingual interfaces as focus shifts to make digital payments and commerce more inclusive and widespread by enabling users to transact in their native languages following demonetisation.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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