The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has announced a consultation process that will begin to set a framework for P2P lending; following the consultation process the regulator is likely to begin issuing licenses for P2P lending businesses; the regulators initiative would provide for a new source of funding for borrowers and would also help to support small businesses. Source
CredEx has developed a mobile app for loans in China; allows for borrowing of as much as RMB 300,000 (USD 43,000); the firm's business has been built around a focus on five factors including: mobile apps for loans, anytime access to borrowing and repayment, personalized interest rates, mobile internet risk control and uniquely connecting financial institutions with borrowers. Source
The new head of Ant Financial's international operations, Douglas Feagin, helped ink a deal with 930,000 merchants across Europe to help Chinese travelers use Alipay; Doug Feagin explained to the Financial Times why the deal was done: "120 million Chinese travelers went abroad in 2015 and that's growing at 18% a year. The vast majority of whom use Alipay."; Alipay has now expanded into India, Europe and Southeast Asia; it is still looking to go public in the near future. Source
ICICI Bank will integrate Twitter's digital customer care support features through the bank's Twitter account; Twitter business support features to be utilized by ICICI Bank include Twitter's support indicator, message button and links for customer conversations; with the new customer support features, ICICI Bank seeks to make banking more rewarding for its customers. Source
Cryptocurrency platform Omega One was this year's PitchIt @ Lang Di winner; the company operates an automated trade execution platform with trading services for traders, investors and institutions seeking to trade globally across the world's crypto exchanges; in comments on Omega One, LendIt Co-Founder Jason Jones said, "Omega One opens the market to the next wave of capital from institutional investors by providing much needed transparency and liquidity."; among the prize winnings for the firm include a RMB1 million ($150,148) investment from JadeValue, co-working space for six months and two tickets to LendIt USA 2018. Source
Fifteen employees of Jinxing Investment are on trial in Shanghai for fraudulent lending of 1.5 billion yuan (US$220 million); the employees are charged with illegally raising funds and taking investments from the public that were not used for their intended use; Ji Jianhua, the company's chief financial officer, told the court that the investments were fake and that funds were directed to personal or related accounts of president Wang Mian; the company shut down in June 2016 and Wang Mian escaped and has not been found. Source
Ant Financial Services Group is focused on serving small and micro enterprises as well as consumers. With the vision "to turn trust into wealth," Ant Financial is dedicated to building an open ecosystem of internet thinking and technologies while working with other financial institutions to support the future financial needs of society. Businesses operated by Ant Financial Services Group include: Alipay for payments, Yu'e Bao for money market services, Ant Fortune for wealth management, Ant Check Later and Ant Micro Loans for financing, Zhima Credit (formerly Sesame Credit) for credit reference, Zhao Cai Bao for online lending and MYBank for small business lending. Source
Southeast Asia’s largest bank, DBS Bank, has been one of the most innovative and profitable; while presenting at a Credit Suisse investment conference DBS CFO Chng Sok Hui said they could raise the return on equity to 14.5 percent; the digital customers are three times as valuable to the bottom line of the bank; DBS has implemented chatbots and other innovative technologies to improve the digital experience for a customer who is increasingly using their phones to bank. Source.
ICICI Bank, one of the “Big Four” banks of India introduced banking services on WhatsApp just three months ago; the...
Open banking is facilitating innovation across the banking sector and ING has plans to use it for voice automated artificial intelligence services; the bank's vision includes voice automated banking services through devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home, where digital assistants can pay bills and provide personalized advice through voice prompts; the bank is seeking to utilize new concepts being developed in Europe and has invested EUR800 million ($945 million) in a digital transformation. Source