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.
Sub-Saharan Africa
- Mastercard partners with Kenya-based PSP, DGO Group, to enable 40,000+ African merchants to accept Mastercard payments.
- Forbes looks at the founding role of women in Africa’s fintech industry.
- QuartzAfrica’s review of 2018 begins with a discussion of partnerships between Nigerian fintechs and “global payment giants.”
Central and Eastern Europe
- Estonian fintech startup CostPocket wins Rockstart pitch competition at the Digital Freedom Festival.
- Trulioo announces its ID verification services are now available in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
- Russia-based Oz Forensics wins Fintech Startup of the Year award at India FinTech Awards 2018.
Middle East and Northern Africa
- ACI Worldwide helps the National Bank of Kuwait launch Swift’s global payments innovation (gpi).
- Albawaba asks “What UAE Startups Should Expect in 2019?”
- Daily Sabah calls 2018: “The Year of Million-Dollar Startups in Turkey.”
Central and South Asia
- InstaReM introduces new feature to enhance ability to make multi-currency payments to multiple beneficiaries.
- Pakistan’s CareemPay is the latest fintech to challenge the country’s payment industry.
- Indian government announces new initiatives to support fintech innovation.
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Forbes profiles “corporate credit cards for startups” specialist Brex and the potential of the company to expand to Brazil by 2021.
- Mexico’s El Empresario considers the potential for the country’s fintech sector in 2019. In Spanish.
- iProUP’s Mundo Fintech looks at the fintech industry in Argentina i the wake of the financial crisis. In Spanish.