Global financial transfers were more than $20tn in 2019 and are expected to hit $30tn by 2022, yet 60 percent...
Lend Academy Article: Hongling Capital: The Worst Victim of China’s P2P Lending Regulatory Crackdown
China's P2P platform Hongling Capital is shutting down; Lend Academy details its business highlights and subsequent shutdown in their article; continued losses, large loans and payment guarantees were a few of the factors that led to its closing; the article also highlights some of the issues with guaranteeing principal or interest and includes Hongling's plans for the future. Source
soCash has raised $600,000 in an angel funding round; firm offers a digital cash management solution for banks that plugs into its mobile app and directs cash for pickup at a nearby location; plans to use the new funding to build out its sales team and says the service can provide considerable cost savings for banks by helping to eliminate ATMs. Source
Chinese internet finance business, Lufax, is developing an online trading platform for Chinese investors that will allow them to invest in assets anywhere in the world; the firm is the world's second largest financial technology company; the trading platform it is developing will launch in 2017 and seeks to meet a demand from Chinese investors to diversify away from a depreciating yuan. Source
Transferwise CEO Taavet Hinrikus and LocalGloabe back DeFi start-up Radix in $4.1m fundraise Railsbank continues global expansion and launches in...
The deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India recently said at an event that currently there are different regulations for various categories of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) which could lead to regulatory arbitrage, and that the central bank is moving in the direction of harmonizing some of the regulations, and they will get clarity on this sooner than later. Source
One of China's e-commerce giants, Baidu, has obtained regulatory approval for Baixin Bank; follows banking sector business activity from competitors Alibaba and Tencent; the banking unit will be digital only, offering online banking, telephone banking, ATM and mobile banking services; Baidu owns 30% of Baixin Bank and will work in partnership with China CITIC Bank which currently owns 70% of the bank. Source
The Economist magazine's intelligence unit (EIU) has published a report on regulatory support for financial inclusion in developing countries and it is now gaining traction with press and analysts; the report scores countries on having an inclusiveness strategy and building governmental and private sector expertise, then provides in-depth details in areas including credit markets, non-regulated lenders, payments and insurance; Colombia ties Peru this year for the most progressive country; India has shown the most improvement; Latin America and East/South Asia are leaders regionally while Africa and the Middle East remain behind; the EIU performed the research in conjunction with the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion and the Multilateral Investment Fund at the Inter-American Development Bank. Source
Ant Financial is planning to raise $3 billion primarily through a debt offering to finance its acquisition of MoneyGram; it is also planning for future acquisitions; the company has been valued at $75 billion and is still planning a near-term initial public offering. Source
Chinese marketplace lender Hexindai has added a payments function to its mobile app; firm has partnered with China UnionPay for Quick Pass; QuickPass allows platform investors to use funds for payments at merchants in the China UnionPay network. Source