Asia

Two large deals happened this week in Australia to build scale against international financial services encroachment from card schemes and cross-border financial services — a concern that's cropping up in several nations.

Ride-sharing apps always seem to be racing to be something else — or at least something more — especially given the coronavirus pandemic's impact on travel. With a banking license in Singapore, Grab can add fuel to the strategy.

Tech pioneer Bill Gates praised India’s policies for financial innovation and inclusion, saying his philanthropic foundation is working with other countries to roll out open-source technologies modeled on the country’s implementation.

Ant Group Co. and a venture led by Grab Holdings Ltd. won licenses to run digital banks in Singapore, paving the way for the technology giants to expand their financial services in the Southeast Asian hub.

By allowing access to public chains, CBDCs could render much greater, and even revolutionary, functionality, says Cypherium's Sky Guo.

Japanese payment card network JCB has teamed with the State Bank of India to launch a cobranded debit card leveraging RuPay, the state’s domestic card scheme operated by National Payments Corporation of India.

Suning.com Co., one of the largest retailers in China, is considering selling a stake in its e-commerce business as it aims to ease financing pressures, according to people familiar with the matter.

Moscow-based JSC Post Bank has established a merchant acquiring agreement with JCB International to allow JCB cardholders to withdraw cash from all of the bank's ATMs and make payments at Post Bank point-of-sale terminals in Russia.

India banned another 43 Chinese apps including some of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s key shopping services, expanding its mobile blacklist to more than 200 applications.

JCB International has entered an acquiring partnership with Riyad Bank to enable acceptance of JCB cards at merchant terminals and ATMs throughout Saudi Arabia.