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.
Central and South Asia
- India’s ZestMoney raises $20 million in new funding.
- Fiserv to streamline and automate cash management processes for Eurasian Bank of Kazakhstan.
- Indian digital investment advisor Kuvera raises $4.5 million in Series A financing.
- Telecom operator Tcell and Wallet Factory launch mobile financial app, TezSum, in Tajikistan.
- Cashfree, an Indian payments company, raised $5.5 million in a round led by Smilegate Investment.
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Brazilian credit marketplace FinanZero raises $11 million in Series B funding.
- Tencent Holdings invests in Argentine mobile payments app Uala.
- Euromoney considers the battle for dominance in Brazil’s emergent fintech space.
Asia-Pacific
- Expense management specialist Expensify integrates with Southeast Asia-based ride share company Grab.
- WorldRemit initiates international transfers to UnionPay debit cards in China.
- Singapore machine learning data analytics firm AIDA picks up investment from Mastercard.
Sub-Saharan Africa
- Ghanan fintech KudiGO raises $450,000 in seed funding.
- The Financial Times looks at the rise of mobile money in Kenya.
- South African accelerator and incubator Founders Factory Africa (FFA) and Standard Bank welcome five fintech startups to their incoming class.
Central and Eastern Europe
- Sberbank partners with Digital Horizon and Gazprombank to support biometric technology company Speech Technology Centre.
- Billon Solutions wins approval from Polish Financial Supervision Authority to operate as a registered e-money institution.
- N26 announces plans to open a technology and innovation center in Vienna, Austria.
Middle East and Northern Africa
- Vocalink brings real-time payments to Saudi Arabia courtesy of new partnership with Saudi Payments, a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority.
- Investors from the Qatar Investment Authority believed to participate in SoFi’s $500 million funding round.
- Financial Times looks at financial inclusion and “homegrown fintech” in Iraq.