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.
CEE
- Lithuania to allow entrepreneurs to register and manage startups remotely as Virtual Limited Liability companies (VLLC) using blockchain technology.
- Latvia considers tax on cryptocurrency transactions.
- Trend News Agency takes a look at the regulatory challenges to the fintech industry in Azerbaijan.
Asia
- Indonesia’s first invoicing platform Paper.id makes the case for modernizing financial management in developing countries.
- Myanmar Citizens Bank and Construction and Housing Development Bank to deploy core banking technology from Temenos.
- Filipino tech entrepreneur Gary Viray shares his thoughts on 4 things fintech startups can learn from the mobile payments boom in Cambodia.
MENA
- DIFC FinTech Hive expands accelerator program to include insurance, Islamic finance, and regtech services.
- Travelex and UAE Exchange to be combined under single holding company, Finablr, in advance of potential IPO.
- Gulf International opens Shariah-compliant, digital-0nly bank in Bahrain.
Africa
- Vio Digital, a South African startup that leverages blockchain technology for worldwide P2P money transfers, to go live in May.
- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Digital Financial Services Lab (DFS Lab) has announced investment in four African startups: Cherehani Africa, NALA, Nobuntu, and a digital lender from Kenya still in stealth.
- Report on fintech funding in East Africa shows Kenya receiving 99% of financing with neighbors Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania making up 1% combined.
LATAM
- Nubank Adds Facial Biometrics to Fight Fraud.
- Argentine fintech supermarket iKiwi expands in Latin America.
- Chile and U.K. to increase financial and professional sector trade links in areas including fintech, asset management, and green fintech.