As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from the Periphery is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.
MENA
- Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG) invests “substantial capital” in U.S. VC firm, 500 Startups.
- Madfooat.com raises $2.3 million in Series B funding.
- Saudi Arabia Monetary Authority introduces online payments service via the Saudi Payment Network.
Africa
- nanopay CEO Laurence Cooke discusses the role of mobile money payment platforms will play in the transformation of Africa’s banking system.
- South African Reserve Bank establishes division to build proof of concept for distributed ledger technology-based interbank clearing and settlement.
- South African software company Finteq will collaborate with Zimbabwe’s Zimswitch EFT switch and clearing house to build an automated clearing house.
LATAM
- Banks in Chile shut down accounts of local cryptocurrency exchanges.
- Brazil’s leading consumer loan marketplace FinanZero raises $3.6 million in Series A funding.
- Deutsche Welle looks at Spain’s “under the radar” rise as a digital leader.
CEE
- Romania’s first factoring fintech platform, Instant Factoring, goes live.
- Sberbank partners with systems integrator I-Teco to develop joint cloud platform, SberCloud.
- PKO Bank Polski teams up with blockchain company Coinfirm to log and store client transactions and agreements.
Asia