Asia

Blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin, is increasingly seen as a way to cut costs for international payments.

China’s Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba, is continuing its acquisition spree by purchasing stakes two digital payments firms, including South Korea’s Kakao Pay and the Philippines’ Mynt.

India's latest government-supported payments initiative, Bharat QR, officially launched on Monday, aiming to provide an interoperable mobile payments platform linking small merchants and consumers across channels via several major card payment networks.

While Apple battles a group of large Australian banks over terms of its mobile payments app, it has entered separate deals with ING Direct and Macquarie.

The growing number of Chinese consumers traveling to the U.S. and other countries is becoming a two-for-one opportunity for payment companies. The market's gigantic and growing — and it has a lot of trouble executing transactions.

OMA Emirates, a UAE-based payments provider, has acquired India-based MobiSwipe Technologies, a mobile payments provider launched in Mumbai in 2012.

The group of Australian banks that want to collectively bargain with Apple over terms of its Apple Pay app have sharpened their focus to an area the technology giant is likely to defend fiercely.

China's role in the in bitcoin market has increased in recent years as its citizens are among the virtual currency's leading traders and miners.

Ant Financial, the parent of China’s largest online payment service, is seeking to raise less than $3 billion by issuing debt to fund its acquisitions, people familiar with the matter said.

China’s central bank is holding a closed-door meeting with several domestic bitcoin exchanges on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said, heightening concerns that regulators will tighten their oversight of trading in digital currencies.