Asia

Feb 25 2021

Philippines based Moneybees, an OTC Cryptocurrency Service, Launches New Outlets to Support Local Bitcoin, Ethereum Transactions

Moneybees, which claims to be the very first over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency service in the Philippines, has announced that it’s launching three new outlets this month.

The outlets are being opened to accommodate the growing demand for OTC transactions among Filipino cryptocurrency traders and investors, according to a release shared with Crowdfund Insider.

The update revealed that the large volume of crypto transactions has come at a time when the Bitcoin (BTC) and larger digital asset market continues to set all-time highs.

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at around $50,000 at the time of writing, after briefly surging as high as $58,000. Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and in terms of adoption, is currently trading at just over $1,600 after briefly crossing the $2,000 mark.

The present crypto market bull run has seen hundreds of billions of dollars in capital entering the market within weeks. The BTC market cap had managed to exceed $1 trillion but has now retraced to around $936 billion (at time of writing). Ethereum market cap presently stands at around $186 billion (and had surpassed $200 billion recently).

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno had noted late last year that the institution had recorded 59 billion worth of digital currency transactions during H1 2020 (in the Philippines).

Moneybees is focused on banking the crypto industry by teaming with money changers such as Tivoli Money Exchange, an institutional money changer service that was founded in 1983.

Moneybees is now able to serve more clients who need to purchase and sell cryptocurrencies via Tivoli’s Trinoma, Glorietta, and Okada branches.

As mentioned in the update:

“This partnership with Tivoli brings a total of 7 outlets for Moneybees where their customers can cash out their trading gains from exchanges that don’t have peso cashouts like Binance, Bittrex, Bitstamp, etc. Users can transact as high as P5,000,000 in one day.”

Paulo Del Puerto, CEO of Moneybees, noted that “the partnership with Tivoli is a great step for us to fulfill our mission of making crypto more accessible in the Philippines by providing a familiar and secure way of buying and selling crypto via OTC.”

Launched in 2017, Moneybees is now an established cryptocurrency over-the-counter service in the Philippines. The company aims to make the exchange between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies a lot more accessible. It offers the technology to local money changer businesses with physical outlets so they are able to carry out digital currency transactions at their shops, without having to deal with the risk of excessive market volatility.

Moneybees reportedly supports nearly all crypto users who are using Binance, Bitmex and other exchange services.

Paulo Del Puerto added:

“With the rising demand for cryptocurrency trading and investment, we aim to facilitate 2 Billion pesos worth of transaction volume in 2021. To serve more customers, we’re also looking at opening more outlets in malls around the Philippines and partner with major market players in the remittance and money exchange industry. We target to open 100 outlets by the end of the year.”

Moneybees is “duly registered” with the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas and with the Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLC) as “a Remittance Agent with Virtual Currency Exchange (VCE) service.”

Moneybees confirmed that it only works with government-licensed or approved remittance centers and money changers in order to facilitate financial transactions. The company plans to further expand its services nationwide by working with even more outlets in major cities in the country.

(Note: to view the list of locations of Moneybees outlets, you can check here.)

Source

Feb 24 2021

MC Payment Ltd becomes First Digital Payments Company to be Listed on Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) Catalist

MC Payment Limited has revealed that it’s now listed on the Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) Catalist. The company claims that it’s the first digital payments platform to be listed on Catalist.

With a market cap of around S$139 million (appr. $105.4 million), the listing of MC Payment Limited brings the total number of firms listed on Catalist to 218, with a total market cap of about S$11 billion ($8.34 billion).

Based in Singapore, MC Payment Ltd is a Fintech firm that offers merchant payment services and e-commerce enabling solutions, with a special focus on servicing clients who are merchants in the retail, transportation and food and beverage sectors.

MC Payment Ltd maintains a business presence in several different Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Anthony Koh, CEO at MC Payment Limited, stated:

“As the first digital payments company to be listed on SGX, today marks an exciting start to MC Payment’s new growth chapter. Our listing comes at an opportune time, with digital payments in the region surging amidst the rise in online transactions, following safe-distancing measures imposed by the Covid-19 outbreak.”

Mohamed Nasser Ismail, Global Head of Equity Capital Markets, SGX, noted that they are pleased to welcome the listing of MC Payment Limited on SGX Catalist and will be supporting the “growth ambitions” of Singapore’s homegrown tech firm.

Ismail added that as a payment processing platform with properly developed infrastructure and the appropriate licenses across Southeast Asia, MC Payment is “well-positioned to tap on SGX’s fundraising platforms and Singapore’s technology hub status as a launchpad into the region.”

Founded in 2005, MC Payment Pte Ltd is an e-payment solution provider with headquarters in Singapore.

The company mainly works with acquiring banks and solution providers to provide merchants a “secure” and “compliant” processing platform.

MC Payment says it aims to solve all our payment problems. The company processes payments locally and globally with its wide range of payment methods, cross-border processing services and international payment network.

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Feb 23 2021

Asian Banks Collaborate on Cross-Border CBDC Project

Global regulators continue to work on strategies in a bid to regulate their prospective crypto markets. One topic that continues to pop up even in regions that are averse to cryptos is CBDCs. In Asia, some major banks are planning to join hands to launch a pilot on the blockchain.

Apex Banks Look To Control Crypto Rise

Financial regulators from four Asian economies have announced that they intend to create cross-border central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the coming years.

The project rightly named the Multiple Central Bank Digital Currency (m-CBDC) is an ongoing partnership between four major Asian countries. The project aims to resolve challenges like the traditional cross-border payments system’s inefficiencies, high transaction cost, and complex regulatory guidelines. The body of regulators hopes to attract more apex banks to join in the study of blockchain technology.

The m-CBDC sees the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, and the Digital Currency Initiative of the People’s Republic of China collaborate to develop a prototype leveraging blockchain technology.

The m-CBDC project builds upon the Inthanon-LionRock project set up in 2019 to facilitate cross-border payments. The new efforts will see the Asian nations further explore the potential of DLT by developing a proof-of-concept (PoC) prototype. The bridge project will also look to investigate “business use cases in a cross-border context using both domestic and foreign currencies.”

Pilot Tests Are Underway On CBDC

As Bitcoin prices rose up to $50K, global capital markets are seeing an outflow of funds into the crypto markets. Financial regulators are left in dire straits as digital assets continue to court attention and generate juicy returns for investors despite their associated risks.

In response, many countries have been on the march to create a digital version of their fiat currencies. Pilot programs launched in China and some parts of Europe have seen significant progress in this field. Although CBDCs do not address the inflationary question, world governments see it as a way to put a cap on cryptocurrencies’ rise.

While several developed countries are making progress, the world’s largest economy, the United States of America, has continued to drag its feet on the CBDC question. Although regulatory agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SECC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have been doing their bit marshaling the crypto space, no official announcement has been made concerning a CBDC program.

Asian Banks Collaborate on Cross-Border CBDC Project

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Feb 19 2021

Southeast Asia’s Funding Societies, an Online Capital Formation Platform, Reports S$2 Billion in Business Financing Disbursals

Southeast Asia-based Funding Societies, a digital financing platform, has revealed that it has made S$2 billion (appr. $1.5 billion) in disbursals of business financing to SMEs across the region as the company enters its sixth year of offering loans.

Funding Societies’ management noted that the amount is partly crowdfunded by more than 200,000 retail investors on its platform and has been disbursed through 3.7 million+ different loans.

Funding Societies reported S$ 850 million (appr. $640 million) in disbursals last year, meanwhile, its platform default rate managed to stay below 2% during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an effort to reduce its portfolio risk during 2020, Funding Societies had tightened up its credit underwriting criteria so that only quality notes would get crowdfunded. The platform also focused on companies that were likely to do well during the pandemic.

These high-performing industries include healthcare, medical supplies, transportation, among several others. Funding Societies reported an 18% growth in platform investors since January 2020.

Big Four auditing firm Ernst & Young’s 2020 ASEAN SME Transformation Survey has revealed that 68% of the surveyed 1,200 SMEs across the six major ASEAN nations (Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam) are open to doing business with non-traditional lending platforms.

Non-traditional lenders may be appealing because of their greater speed and convenience. Small and medium-sized enterprises may prefer the faster and more flexible loan approval process and the digital know-your-customer (KYC) processes, which usually don’t require asset security or visiting physical bank locations.

At present, there’s an annual trade financing gap of approximately $150 billion in Asia, according to estimates provided by the Asian Development Bank. Around 60% of firms have had their applications rejected when applying for trade financing, the bank noted, while pointing out that these businesses did not proceed with the trade due to the lack of funding.

Kelvin Teo, Co-founder and Group CEO of Funding Societies, stated:

“We’re thrilled to reach this major milestone before we even realised it. It is a momentous occasion and encouragement for us. There is much more to do, as we continue to serve the needs of SMEs and Investors in the region. We’re grateful to raise Series C funding last year, enabling us to further help SMEs even amidst uncertain times.”

As reported earlier this month, Singapore based Funding Societies had announced the expansion of operations into Thailand. The online capital formation platform will operate under a crowdfunding license authorized by the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to a note from Funding Societies, the company worked for more than a year with regulators to set up operations in the country.

Funding Societies currently operates in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Thailand will be the fourth country where the marketplace will operate in its six years of activity. Funding Societies notes that it is the only SME digital financing platform in Southeast Asia to be licensed in four countries.

Source

Feb 17 2021

Cross-Border Payments Fintech Tranglo Continues to Expand Operations Globally to Support Local Businesses

Malaysia-based Tranglo, a cross-border payment firm, has established four new payment channels that are connected to financial networks in Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda. The payment corridors mark the Fintech firm’s first entry into Sub Saharan Africa and Latin American (LatAm) regions.

Tranglo’s management stated that they plan to do their part in reducing the overall cost of remittance payments in these areas.

World Bank data shows that Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most expensive regions to send money to, averaging around 8.5% per transaction to send $200 during Q3 2020. Meanwhile, it costs around 5.8% of the transaction to send the same amount to Latin American regions. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals has recommended lowering the cost of transactions to 3% by 2030.

Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda reportedly ranked 1st, 2nd, and 7th respectively in the world’s list of top 10 largest remittance recipients in the region last year, according to World Bank data. Remittance inflows for these countries was valued at $25 billion (or 43% of the total value of such payments in the region).

Tranglo’s network in these areas is supported by major online wallets, instant banking services, and cash pickups as well.

Meanwhile, remittance inflows to Brazil were valued at $3 billion last year. Despite projections of the global decline in remittance payments due to the COVID outbreak, Latin America has been fairly resilient, especially Brazil, which reported no contractions in growth during 2020.

With around three-fourths of remittance payments in Latin America originating from the United States, Tranglo had initially expanded operations to the North American markets via strategic partnerships with established players, which included integrating their international transactions infrastructure with Tranglo’s API.

Tranglo’s Brazil-based network includes direct bank transfers and cash pickups.

Tranglo’s single interface platform is supported by domestic and international partnerships, and it is currently accessible in more than 23 countries.

Jacky Lee, CEO at Tranglo, stated:

“It is just the first of many to come. We are already planning to expand into countries like Mexico and Argentina next, bringing our cross-border payment solutions to even more businesses in the region and beyond. We are also focusing on enhancing e-wallet support to stay ahead in the digital economy, so stay tuned for more exciting development this year.”

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