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Countries such as Georgia and Ghana have focused on recording the ownership of land on blockchain. This facilitates subsequent transactions

Google has updated the functionality of Gmail by allowing users to request or receive money via email. As the company explains, the process

Plans for a bitcoin ETF have met opposition in the US. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected the proposal citing an inabilit

This week, I talk about R3’s future with blockchain, Canada’s fintech sandbox, KPMG’s report on fintech investments and more!

Fintech news for the week of February 6, 2017. Resistance to Apple Pay down under While Apple Pay has been welcomed in most countries, Australia seems to be the exception. The Cupertino California based company has accused a group of leading local banks of creating roadblocks to the adoption of the payment system down under. The conflict stems from the banks’ insistence to having access to the iPhone’s NFC antenna. Apple views this as a ploy to avoid paying fees for the servi

Fintech weekly recap for the week of January 30 2017

Ant Financial jumps into the US Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s financial arm has purchased Texas headquartered remittance business MoneyGram. Ant Financial will pay $880 million in a deal that may prove very lucrative for both parties. The move allows Ant to expand internationally by leveraging MoneyGram’s footprint in over 200 countries. MoneyGram also benefits by gaining access to Ant Financial’s massive user base at a time when it’s revenue growth has stalled. Uptick in blockch

Fintech news for the week of January 9 2017. Amazon pushes further into financial services Although mostly known as the world’s largest on-line retailer, Amazon is also making a push into finance. Last year, it acquired Indian payments processor Emvantage Payments and was on the prowl for other acquisitions. It also introduced the “AWS Financial Services Competency” program, providing fintech companies that meet the requirements with instant recognition and credibility. Conti

Your curated fintech news for the first week of 2017. Indonesian sandbox The regulatory sandbox topped my list of 2016 fintech developments. This came as no surprise as it sometimes felt that a week wouldn’t go by without a new jurisdiction announcing their own iteration of the program. The new year is off to a similar start with the launch of the Indonesian ver sion. The news comes in the same week as new regulations targeting peer-to-peer lending businesses were announced.

The rise of the regulatory sandbox States and cities around the world recognized the importance of promoting fintech within their borders an

Your curated fintech news for the week of 12 December 2016. Sandbox down under Back in May, I reported that the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) was planning a fintech regulatory sandbox. The details of the program have been made public with the release of ASIC’s fintech licensing exemption, well summarized by this infographic. The program is unique in that contrary to other jurisdictions where an application is required for admittance into a sandbox, in

Fintech news for the week of 21 November 2016. Prominent members walk away from consortium The R3 blockchain consortium of banks and other financial institutions had a difficult week. News first came that heavyweight members Goldman Sachs and Santander had decided to leave with some speculating that the departures were due to issues related to the current fundraising round. R3 was looking to raise $200 million but later downsized that amount to $150 million. Rumours indicate

Fintech news for the week of 14 November 2016. Singapore Fintech Festival recap The inaugural Singapore Fintech Festival concluded this past week with almost 11,000 delegates enjoying conferences and festivities. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) took the opportunity to announce a slew of initiatives to further cement its position as a global fintech leader, including: The release of the final guidelines of the fintech regulatory sandbox; The establishment of a grant