Hi fintech friends,
Please enjoy all the news and updates from the past week in today’s edition. If you feel TWIF brings you value, please share it with your friends (and maybe suggest they subscribe too).
Editor’s Note: If you’re an early-stage startup founder raising equity, I may be able to help - reach out to [email protected].
Want to be a This Week in Fintech - Asia Sponsor? Email me at [email protected] or see our sponsorship information here.
🦉🏆 Tweets of the Week
🇮🇳 India
📰 Market Updates
RBI, India's central bank, is reportedly evaluating neo banking business models.
Contact-less payments as a percentage of total in person payments grew from 2.5% in Dec, 2018 to 16% in Dec, 2021.
Dezerv, a wealth management startup, offers to manage portfolios with a hurdle rate of 15%.
NPCI, India's retail payments body, partnered withLyra Network, a retail payment rails in France, to accept UPI and Rupay.
The RBI Governorresponded to a question about fintech startups, claiming they can pose a systemic risk.
Plural, the online payment gateway of PineLabs, claimed to be processing INR 2,000 crs ($267mm) of monthly transaction value.
RBIplans to take its Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS), domestic financial messaging alternative to SWIFT, global, with plans to make it the regional default.
🚀 Product Launches
📝 Regulatory Updates
SEBI (securities): Introduced new nomination framework for mutual fund investments.
💰 Financing Announcements
Siply, a micro savings startup, raised $19mm.
WeRize, an agent driven financial product distribution startup, raised $15mm.
PayGlocal, a cross border payments acceptance startup, raised $12mm.
Pazcare, an employee health insurance startup, raised $8.2mm.
Mewt, a small business neobanking startup, raised $4.6mm.
Hostbooks, a small business accounting startup, raised $3mm.
Nume Crypto, a crypto payments acceptance startup, raised $2mm.
Gullak, a micro savings startup, raised $1.3mm.
Rooba Finance, an institutional crypto and digital asset management startup, raised $1.3mm.
DPDZero, a digital debt collections startup, raised $520K.
1-min Anonymous Feedback: Your feedback helps me improve this newsletter. Click UPVOTE 👍🏽 or DOWNVOTE 👎🏽
🌏 Asia
📰 Market Updates
Minna, Japan's first digital bank, claimed to have 1mm downloads and 400K in 12 months since launch.
Huobi Thailand, the Thai operations of Chinese crypto exchange, will cease operations in Thailand after its license was revoked.
Wirex, a crypto payments startup, launched new instant payment methods for users in Malaysia and Singapore to load money in their crypto wallets.
MAS, Singapore's central bank, partnered withIFC and UNDP to launch a global MSME finance program.
Ajaib, an Indonesian wealth management startup, launched crypto trading.
Babel Finance, a Hong Kong based crypto lending platform, paused withdrawals and redemptions.
💰 Financing Announcements
ACQUISITIONS:
🌏 International
Please find our global coverage and consider subscribing.
US and Global, written by Nik Milanovic published on Friday’s and Saturday’s.
Europe and UK, written by Michael Jenkins published on Monday’s.
Latin America, written by Christine Chang.
Africa, written by Benjamin Dada.
If you’ve made it this far - thanks! As always, you can always reach me at [email protected]. I’d genuinely appreciate any and all feedback. If you liked what you read, please consider sharing or subscribing.
1-min Anonymous Feedback: Your feedback helps me improve this newsletter. Click UPVOTE 👍🏽 or DOWNVOTE 👎🏽
