The People's Bank of China is reportedly ramping up efforts to create a digital currency that would coincide with their paper currency; the currency released by the People's Bank of China will be legal currency and make use of special encrypted technology; there has been an effort within the central bank to create a digital currency since 2014; problems related to the right technology and deployment of the currency have persisted. Source
Shanghai-based marketplace lender, Lufax, has announced it will be expanding its business into Hong Kong and Singapore; firm also announced plans in September for a Hong Kong-listed IPO which is expected to raise approximately $5 billion; company will leverage its relationship with Ping An for the expansion; funding for the expansion will also be supported by a $1.2 billion fundraise from earlier in the year. Source
The partnership with Sino Guarantee will provide lending capital of RMB 500 million to China Rapid Finance also helping the marketplace lender to develop and offer lending products on wealth management platforms; Bank of Shanghai will also provide capital support as well as payment channels and fund custody services. Source
OpenTap has begun to offer marketplace loans in India targeting low to middle income consumers; company seeks to meet the market demand for borrowers who are creditworthy yet don't qualify for traditional loans; estimates the target market for low to middle income consumers at 12,000; loans will be available for up to Rs 50,000 ($730); average loan size has been approximately Rs 25,000 ($365). Source
SRS Fin Tech Labs has announced the launch of a new marketplace lending platform in India called OxyLoans; firm seeks to originate $1 billion in loans by 2024; loans will be available in India, GCC and the UK; rates on loans will range from 12% to 36% with loans up to Rs 4 lakh (approximately $5,890). Source
Southern Cross Financial is seeking to take advantage of New Zealand's expanding real estate supply with challenges in traditional mortgage lending; on December 1, the firm will become a P2P mortgage lender, evolving from a mortgage brokerage business; the firm has been arranging loans between alternative credit consumers and approximately 150 investors as a mortgage broker; the new P2P structure will provide a more standardized process for borrowers and investors. Source
At a financial forum in Shanghai, Jack Ma of Alibaba expressed his support for fintech innovation in digital banking that could further help China's inclusive finance efforts; the holding company founder's comments were centered around the capabilities of its affiliate Ant Financial, which offers a range of digital banking services; Jack Ma said capabilities from the platform could help other fintech firms to increase their financial inclusion business efforts; "We would like to entirely share with partners our capability of data collection and data processing to jointly develop the inclusive financial system," said Jack Ma; as a proponent for financial inclusion and fintech industry growth Jack Ma also said Ant Financial was a leading fintech market platform capable of partnering with other fintech companies for overall industry expansion. Source
On November 14 to 18 Singapore held its first Fintech Festival providing S$1.15 million to ten fintech firms; supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Association of Banks in Singapore, awards were given ranging from S$250,000 to S$50,000; the top prize of S$250,000 for the MAS FinTech Awards (Singapore Open) was given to fastacash Pte Ltd; the Fintech Festival follows significant expansion in Singapore which now has the largest fintech hub in the world and numerous subsidies available to attract fintech startup companies. Source
The central bank of Indonesia has opened a fintech office; the central bank will use the fintech office to maintain its regulatory oversight while also providing support for new fintech startups; it plans to collect information on the industry for regulatory development; it will also facilitate the development of fintech companies and their introduction to the economy both in Indonesia and globally. Source
Prime Minister Modi's plan to demonetize has put a lot of strain on much of Indian society, now the ICICI Bank is looking to ease that burden by helping to make 100 villages cashless in 100 days; the plan was born out of a successful program that made one village cashless in 2015; the 100 villages will be spread throughout the country and will help 10,000 people overall; local people will be able to use their mobile phones to transact with merchants and banks. Source