Finance

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was devastating for economies around the world. Generally known as developing economies, the Asian countries also suffered through severe challenges during the crisis. While giant Asian economies such as India, Japan, and South Korea saw a major decline in their growth rate, a small economy like Vietnam has outperformed

In an announcement made by Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI), Rene Buehlmann has been chosen as the new Chief to lead the Asian Pacific region. The former Chief Hugh Young had a vital role in building a solid foundation for the APAC region & will continue his journey within the Asian Pacific region as he has

[24]7.ai is a customer engagement solutions provider that has thrown a basket of opportunities to aspiring employees. It has undertaken this crucial operation amidst the crisis situation rendered by the COVID-19 pandemic. A Helping Hand for the Economy The customer solutions provider has revved up the hiring process to reach a workforce figure of 6000

The Biggest Annual Gain According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the 500 World’s Richest People $1.8 trillion combined to their net worth this year and are now worth $7.8 trillion. Equivalent to a 31 percent increase, it is the biggest annual gain in the eight-year history of the index and a $3 trillion jump from

Shares of Airbnb Inc. have doubled up in their stock market as valuing the home rental firm at just over $100 billion in the biggest U.S. initial public offering (IPO) of 2020. They also capped a plentiful year during which the investors flocked to tech stocks.  On the NASDAQ, Airbnb opened up at $146 far

As per the information mentioned on Bloomberg, Asia’s richest banker, Uday Kotak, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kotak Mahindra, is exploring a takeover for a smaller Indian rival IndusInd Bank Ltd. The people who have the knowledge of the respective matter said that this initiative would create the nation’s eighth-largest financial firm by assets. Uday

After transmuting its branding in Australia over a year ago, First Sentier has rebranded itself as ‘First Sentier Investors’ in the global market. Former recognition of First Sentier organization First Sentier was recognized as Colonial First State Global Asset Management(CFSGAM) before Commonwealth Bank sold it to Japanese banking Mitsubishi UFJ Group for $4 billion. Formerly

Recently, Paytm outnumber Zerodha’s user base by adding 6.6 million consumers. Presently, Paytm money also sell products related to the national pension scheme (NPS) and stocks. Likewise, it already sells Rs.20 crore worth of direct mutual funds on its platform daily. Further, it is anticipating a full- scale launch of its stockbroking service in September

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the platform for “Transparent Transaction- Honouring the Honest”. This new platform aims at easing compliance and expediting refunds to benefit the honest taxpayers. The Prime Minister said this platform will focus on making the tax system people-centric and public friendly, banking the unbanked, securing the unsecured, funding

Finance acts as oxygen for the organizations. The continuous flow of finance in the organization is what keeps the business running healthy. There are several ways of how business can generate finance—Debt financing and Share financing are the two most common ways preferred by companies. But both these options have their advantages and disadvantages. In

Focus on the OPEC+ Meeting As uncertainty around OPEC+ production cut compliance and post lockdown demand recovery continue to cloud the outlook, the crude oil futures traded lower in the mid-morning trade in Asia. ICE Brent August crude futures were down 24 cents/b (0.63%) from Friday’s settle at $37.60/b, while the NYMEX July light sweet

Uncertain and Challenging times for the Economy As the coronavirus crisis an unprecedented toll on the region’s service sector and major export destinations, International Monetary Fund said that Asia’s economic growth will grind to halt for the first time in 60 years. Changyong Rhee, the Director of IMF’s APAC Department said that policymakers must offer

Strengthening Singapore’s Food Security The Singapore agri-food industry will receive a S$30 million boost to speed up the production of commonly consumed food items like eggs, vegetables and fish. The package is called as 30×30 express grant and is aimed at further strengthening of Singapore’s food security as a part of its goal of meeting

The Delayed OPEC Meeting As the scheduled meeting between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries  and its allies was delayed, the stocks in the Asia Pacific rose in the morning. The meeting between OPEC countries and its allies, generally known as OPEC+ was pushed back, raising fears that a production cut might face challenges. Last

Effort to avert the Financial Crisis Asia’s leading multilateral development banks have recently announced that they will boost their support to companies and governments stricken by the coronavirus pandemic with an aim to avert the financial crisis in the region. The Beijing based Asian Infrastructure Bank has planned to lend at least $5bn to member

The Downfall continues The historical rout in the share market amid coronavirus does not seem to stop at all. The global equity markets were sold off heavily in the first trading session of the new quarter as investors digested a series of grim predictions about the human and economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic. On

Biggest Drop in more than three Decades The coronavirus outbreak continues to impact the stock market around the world as the asia pacific stock market experienced a seesaw on Tuesday. The stocks which were higher till afternoon seesawed after the Wall Street plunged to their biggest day drop in more than three decades overnight. Moreover,

Nifty and the Sensex slips again The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic in India just seem to extend as the Sensex on Monday slipped over 1900 points. On the other hand, Nifty also shed over 400 points in the opening session. Nifty opened at 9,455.60 while Sensex opened at 32,105.19 points. After closing at 73.91

The Historical Stock Market Rout Since coronavirus has been declared a pandemic, the fears about the disease have only grown. The stock market is experiencing a massive downfall and the shares of many of the world’s biggest tech companies have fallen by a considerable amount. In the United States, as investors reacted negatively to the

Hike in YES Bank Shares, While SBI Shares see a Downfall According to reports, the government of India has approved a plan for State Bank of India-led consortium to buy a stake in YES Bank. SBI has also been authorized to pick other members of the consortium.  Following the development, the shares of YES Bank

The new venture will be based in Singapore The international banking and financial services provider, Standard Chartered forged an alliance with Assembly payments, the Australian fin-tech start-up. The joint venture will provide payment solutions to the e-commerce sector globally. This new venture set to headquarter at Singapore will avail of a digital platform to manage

Generated $15.1 billion just from advertising Google announced revenue data for its video streaming site YouTube. It is the first time that the revenue data is shared by Google for YouTube. The no.1 video streaming site generated $15.1 billion for the year 2019 for advertising. YouTube recorded a 31% growth rate over the years, these

Adani’s Another Acquisition The Non-Banking Financial Company Arm (NBFC) of Adani Group, Adani Capital Pvt. Ltd, has acquired Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) loan business of Essel Finance. Adani Capital has secured a loan book of around Rs. 145 crores, operating out of 10 cities, comprising approximately 1100 customers and 40 employees through this

Helping Visually-Impaired People The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a mobile app called ‘MANI’ to help visually-impaired people to identify the denomination of currency notes. The app ‘MANI’ is an acronym for Mobile Aided Note Identifier. Users can download this app from Android Playstore or iOS App Store. The application also works offline

Some new investors along with existing ones participated HomeLane, the start-up coming out of IT city Bangalore provides people with home renovations and interior design services that have raised $30 million in a financing round. The funds will be used to further its research and development of proprietary technology. The Series D round of funding

This round was led by Goldman Sachs ZestMoney, the firm originated from Bangalore reported that it got funded from one of the largest banks of America, Goldman Sachs. It raised $15 million in Series B round of funding, which saw existing investors such as Naspers Fintech, Quona Capital, and Omidyar Network also participating. Lizzie Chapman,

The company is aiming revenue of $422 million by 2020 Byju’s, the e-education start-up released a statement in which it revealed the net profit of $2.8 million. The total revenue earned for the financial year 2018-19 was $188.8 million. At the same time interval, the company revenue jumped to $208 million from past years $73.2

Vertex Growth Fund led this round of financing The Bangalore based firm Licious known for providing fresh meat and seafood online has raised around $30 million. The new funds will be used to enhance its service area across India. The Series E round of financing was headed by Vertex Growth Fund, it also included some

The company aims to raise around $46.4 million through IPO Ehang Holdings Limited, the Chinese drone manufacturer wants to raise $46.4 million through initial public offerings in the US market. This has been updated in its recent prospectus submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission this December. The company is planning to list itself as

This round of financing led by Flipkart Wal-Mart owned Flipkart has participated in financing $60 million in an Indian startup Shadowfax. The investment will reinforce the logistic support network in the country. The Series D financing was led by Flipkart in the company originated out of Bangalore. This round of investment saw participation from Eight

This is the first gig of the company in fin-tech Xiaomi, the smartphone maker who is ruling the Indian market informed that it is going venture into the fin-tech sector. The company will offer credit to young working people. The behemoth phone maker launching Mi Credit carefully planned and designed the digital lending marketplace. The

The program will enhance growth prospects for the SMEs in Southeast Asia RHL Ventures, The Malaysian private investment company launched its accelerator program aimed at SMEs which are growing and aimed their business on contemporary technologies. The start-up began its operation in 2016, as an investment advisory group. The firm is a multi-family venture that

The fresh funding will be used for expansion On Monday Paytm announced that in a new round of financing it has raised 1billion US dollars. Paytm got an advantage by getting early in the market but now facing stiff competition from Google, PhonePe, and Facebook. This was the series G round of financing and saw

The initiative will streamline the process of verification Bukalapak in partnership with Cermati has started an online credit card application service in Indonesia. The collaboration will allow the customers to pick a credit card from different banks which include BRI, Bank Mega, and Citi. After choosing the card of their choice the customer must fill

The company got a license to work with Bank Indonesia Nium is working as a fund transfer operator with the Bank Indonesia. The company enables remit and transfer of funds for its clients who want to send money into the country as we as outside of it. Nium is a Singaporean remittance company that revealed

To implant payment functionality into Fashion Wearable The Tappy technologies formed strategic partnership with digital solution and financial service provider, MasterCard to enable contactless payments through fashion wearable by inserting their technologies into a range of analogue watch accessories. Because of collaboration with MasterCard, Tappy can incorporate its technology platform with MasterCard Digital Enablement Service

This round of investment was led by Tencent MX Player, the video playback app and streaming service provider announced that it has raised 110.8 million dollars in a new round of funding. This round of financing is driven by Tencent, the internet behemoth of China. The capital is vital for the company as it is

This round is led by Global Founder Capital Crewdible, the Indonesian micro-warehousing start-up has raised 1.5 million dollars in a pre-series A round of funding. This round of funding is headed by Berlin-based Global Founders Capital. The new investment will be used by the company to enhance its business in the big cities of Indonesia.

It replaced JD.com to move up the ladder Pinduoduo, the e-commerce start-up is already making huge strides in the market. The major competitor of Alibaba has replaced JD.com as the fourth most valuable internet company in China. The market value of the company stands at a whopping 47.6 billion US dollars. The company is only

The fund will help to get a firm grip in lucrative e-commerce market Club Factory, an e-commerce vendor from Chinese origin set itself in the market as a seller of fashion, beauty and electronic items. The company was able to source 100 million US dollars in a new round of financing. The funds will help

Credit flow to NBFC remains a challenge According to the reports, the merger of 10 public sector banks into four is improbable to resuscitate credit growth and to have meaningful cost synergies. The report published on 2 September 2019 stated, “Coupled with the ongoing moderation in growth for private banks led by auto sector slowdown and

Mahanagar Gas: India’s leading natural gas distributor Founded in 1995, Mahanagar Gas sells piped natural gas (PNG) to households and industries and compressed natural gas (CNG) to automobiles in and around Mumbai. It sells PNG to over 1 million households and CNG to over 600,000 vehicles. The company runs more than 220 CNG retail outlets.

Nandan Nilekani, the man behind Sahamati Nandan Nilekani, designer of Aadhaar has now come up with a new platform called Sahamati. Sahamati is an account aggregator (AA) that allows users to share their financial data digitally with third parties in secure manner. The app is basically designed to provide an aid to all the individuals

Kissht: A leading consumer startup Kissht is a consumer credit start-up company founded in 2015 by former McKinsey consultants Krishnan Vishwanathan and Ranvir Singh. The company works on an idea where it allows consumers to pay for their online orders in monthly instalments without credit card. Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal has invested 50 crores through

Future plans of Noon Academy in the Indian market Noon Academy, Saudi-based leading education technology startup is all set to expand and to enter the Indian EdTech space with their social learning app. Through series A financing round, the academy has recently raised $8.6 million, which was co-led by venture capitalists (VCs) in the Middle

This collaboration will create a seamless experience for asset storage and usage Infinito Wallet is the world leading universal home for leading cryptocurrencies and blockchain services. The wallet has an advanced, native security feature called Token Veri-Sign, which can identify the authentic token and its smart contract address among those with similar names, making it

Partner to strengthen mortgage-servicing capabilities through digital platforms Infosys announced a strategic partnership with ABN AMRO, the third largest bank in the Netherlands headquartered in Amsterdam. This partnership strengthens Infosys’ position as a leading technology and business process, management provider across the mortgage services value chain, improving experience and operational efficiencies, and further enhances the

Launched payment solution for global consumers Rapyd, the global FinTech-as-a-service platform that enables businesses and consumers to pay or be paid however they choose, launched Rapyd Checkout, an industry-first, hyper-local payments solution that allows merchants to accept local payment types in 100+ countries, including cash, bank transfers, local cards, and e-wallets. Over 500 locally preferred

Acquires to create efficiencies and drive revenue in areas that have not optimized in Air Black Box 777 Partners, an investment firm that specializes in unique high-growth investments, have acquired air Black Box. The acquisition of Air Black Box adds to the firm’s portfolio of pioneering companies in the aviation sector. By equipping its portfolio

Sri Lankan migrants worldwide can now send money instantly and 24*7 to any bank account in Sri Lanka TerraPay has partnered with Pan Asia Bank which enables TerraPay’s network partners to make instant cross-border money transfer to all bank accounts in Sri Lanka. Now Sri Lankan can migrants worldwide through TerraPay’s partner outlets/website/mobile-app can send

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) forfeits INR 2 million to three banks for tampering with various norms  RBI has imposed penalties on seven banks for violating various norms. In highlights, three leading banks in the country which are HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and IDBI Bank were fined of INR 2 million each for non-compliance

Contribution from other investors Smallcase Technologies, an online investment platform has raised $8 million in a series A round of funding led by Sequoia India. The funding round also saw contribution from other investors like Blume Ventures, Straddle Capital, BeenextPte Ltd, WEH Ventures and DSP Adiko. Sequoia India led the funding round According to a

Companies will work together to make it easier to enable digital payments and move money internationally Visa announced InstaReM is joining Visa’s fintech fast-track program in the Asia Pacific region. This program makes it quicker and easier for fintech partners to build and deliver new commerce experiences on Visa’s payments network. InstaReM is a leading

Entering Vietnam’s general insurance market Allianz announces its intention to enter the general insurance sector in Vietnam through a digital joint venture to be set up with the FPT Group – driving long-term success in the market and expanding Allianz’s footprint in Asia. FPT is a pioneer in digital transformation and delivers world-class services in

Giving Education to Fintech and Blockchain start-ups Token Economy Association is pleased to announce their partnership with Tribe Accelerator. Both parties will look to drive education of both FinTech and Blockchainprogrammes for start-ups, as well as act as another key catalyst for the mass adoption of blockchain in Singapore. Tribe Accelerator is the First Blockchain

Square’s free debit business card offers new flexibility to underserved small businesses when it comes to accessing and managing the fund Square, Inc., a financial, merchant services aggregator, and mobile payment company recently announced the launch of the Square In-App Payments Software Development Kit (SDK), enabling developers and sellers to process payments with Square within

The raised amount opens the doors for Toss to start plotting the big moves. Viva Republica, the parent of the financial services platform Toss, lately announced that it has closed an $80 million funding round that values the firm at $1.2 billion. Toss, rolled out in 2015 as a peer-to-peer (P2P) payments service, has grown

YES Bank’s Datathon invites participants from across the world to join its quest of data-driven innovation and develop models for the appropriate sourcing and usage of data across businesses. With an increasing focus on retail customers, YES Bank, India’s fourth largest private sector bank is now churning data to understand customer behavior and offer a