As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Brazilian card processor Conductor to deploy 3D Secure authentication technology from TAS Group later this fall.
- Distributed check capture specialist Panini and technology distributor J. Fleischman team up to bring check truncation to Paraguay.
- Visa introduces loyalty program available to issuing banks in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Asia-Pacific
- TransferWise opens office in Hong Kong as part of expansion into Asia.
- AsiaCollect, a credit management services provider based in Singapore, raises $4.5 million in funding.
- Foreign exchange and international payments company, Frontierpay, opens Asian headquarters in Singapore.
Sub-Saharan Africa
- South African fintech walletdoc partners with EasyPay to make it easier for consumer to pay monthly subscriptions and utilities.
- Western Union opens office in Ivory Coast.
- Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Procurement introduces eGovernment Procurement System.
Central and Eastern Europe
- Albania’s Raiffeisen Bank Shqipëri partners with NF Innova to deploy digital self-service kiosks.
- Efigence provides UI/UX design, development and implementation for new investment platform from Polish home equities broker, CDM Pekao.
- Russian SME crowdfunding platform SimplyFi partners with Tochka Bank to offer direct lending to the bank’s business customers.
- Sberbank introduces support for Google Pay.
- Western Union partners with Russia’s Post Bank, enabling money transfers via Post Bank’s mobile app.
Middle East and Northern Africa
- Kuwait Finance House (KFH) to use VISA’s token service for its mobile wallet.
- Saudi Arabia-based Maalem Financing to deploy Islamic core banking technology from Path Solutions.
- Turkish government launches fintech task force to improve fintech ecosystem locally.