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.
Asia
- Singapore unveils new fintech fast track initiative to speed the patent-application-to-grant process for fintechs.
- Myanmar’s Myawaddy Bank chooses technology from Infosys Finacle to drive its digital transformation.
- Sri Lanka’s central bank announces plans to establish a fintech regulatory sandbox.
MENA
- ADGM proposes regulatory framework for digital assets.
- Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) inks MoU to foster innovation in financial services; plans collaboration with Accenture’s FinTech Innovation Labs.
- Saudi SAMA to develop fintech ecosystem in partnership with Deloitte.
Africa
- Open Banking Nigeria enters strategic partnership with Open Vector to develop API standards.
- Beta launch of its Bonga social network platform shows East African telecom giant Safaricom moving beyond its M-Pesa mobile money solution.
- How We Made It In Africa: African Business Insight spotlights funding trends among African fintech and agribusiness.
LATAM
- Brazil’s Central Bank issues fintech rules including authorization for P2P lending.
- Ethereum World News looks at the growing availability of Bitcoin ATMs in Argentina.
- Bankless Times checks in on the progress of – and provides a prognosis for – Peru’s first mobile money wallet, BIM.
- BBVA’s Propel Venture Partners invests in Brazilian neo-bank, Neon.
CEE
- Erste Bank Hungary readies for immediate payments and open banking era with ACI Worldwide.
- The Bank of Russia looks to blockchain technology for as an alternative to its financial message transferal service, SPFS (“Russia’s SWIFT”).
- EVO Payments to provide payment acceptance services for merchant customers of leading Czech bank, MONETA.