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.
Middle East and Northern Africa
- Turkey’s Albaraka Turk introduces interest-free digital banking app designed for Europe’s Muslim community.
- National Bank of Bahrain launches digital payment and trade finance portal.
- Ziraat Bankası KSA, a Saudi Arabian subsidiary of Turkish banking Group Ziraat, upgrades its core banking system to Temenos T24.
Central and South Asia
- JP Morgan establishes Financial Inclusion Lab in partnership with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE).
- India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) scheduled for August launch with core banking technology from Infosys Finacle.
- City Bank unveils end-to-end digital supply chain finance facility in Bangladesh.
Latin America and the Caribbean
- EBANX and Wordline partner to launch new debit card payment option for Spotify Brazil.
- Brazil’s Zen Finance to offer $1 billion in working capital to SMEs courtesy of funding from BRL Trust and BRZ Investments. In Portuguese.
- Crypto Insider sees a lot to like in Mexico’s fintech industry.
Asia-Pacific
- United Overseas Bank plans digital-only bank to appeal to South East Asia’s mobile-first consumers.
- Australian challenger bank Judo Capital raises $140 million in funding.
- Singapore Ministry of Education launches IBF Careers Connect to help train and retrain financial professionals.
Sub-Saharan Africa
- Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) develops risk-based cyber security framework for banks and PSPs.
- Absa Group of South Africa launches WhatsApp banking.
- Nigeria’s Paylater reaches one million download milestone for its financial services app.
- Pan-African banking group Ecobank names finalists for its annual fintech challenge competition.
Central and Eastern Europe
- Cryperium Releases Crypto-Fiat Solution.
- Sberbank Group CTO David Rafalovsky selected to lead Sberbank’s Technology Block.
- IBM Ukraine wins bid to develop information technology for NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy.
- Google Pay arrives in Croatia, making it the third CEE country to gain support for the technology.