Chinese Search Engine Baidu Seeks to Raise $2B For Financial Services
Chinese company Baidu is in talks with prospective investors for the purpose of raising $2 billion in funding focused on expanding its weight in financial services, Reuters reported yesterday. The...
View ArticleAlipay Heads to Israel
Chinese mobile payments platform Alipay today launched in Israel. Its entry into Israel comes as a result of partnering with Israel Credit Cards (ICC, CAL) and OneBill, according to reports. Israeli...
View ArticleAlibaba to Buy 33% Equity Stake in Fintech Affiliate Ant Financial
The Alibaba Group will take a 33% equity stake in Ant Financial, it’s affiliate fintech company that operates popular mobile payments service Alipay, the group announced today. The stake comes from an...
View ArticleAmerican Express Will Invest Heavily in Its Networks in 2018
EXCLUSIVE – American Express will be investing in its networks as one of its four major strategic priorities for 2018 as a way for the credit card company to adapt to the growing prominence of digital...
View ArticleTencent Continues Investment in AI as WeChat and Weixin Reach One Billion Users
EXCLUSIVE-- There are now approximately one billion users of Wechat and Weixin, the mobile messaging apps maintained by Tencent Holdings, according to the fourth quarter earnings the Chinese gaming and...
View ArticleWill Cash Be Gone by 2020?
Cash is on its way out. Yes, we’re aware this notion has been part of the dialogue ever since the advent of digital payments. But how quickly will cash be replaced as its use is reduced? That’s...
View ArticleLatest Funding Round Could Lift Ant Financial to $150B Valuation
Ant Financial, the fintech company that manages popular Chinese mobile payment service Alipay, is looking to raise $9 billion in a new private funding round, something that could turn the company into...
View ArticleChina’s Tremendous E-Commerce Growth Leads to Spike in Mobile Payments
It’s no secret that China's e-commerce scene is huge and growing, with players like Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent. By extension, China's stellar status in the e-commerce landscape also translates into a...
View ArticleWhat the Sale of Baidu’s Banking Unit for $1.9B Says About the Future of...
Like everything in China, the purchase of Baidu‘s financial services unit by TPG Capital Management LP and Carlyle Group LP today is a big deal. It is also a deal that will require a big effort by the...
View ArticleMany Americans Don’t Think Cashless Payments Are Secure
Many Americans have doubts about cashless payments. That’s because they don't think it is a secure method. A new report commissioned by eWallets-focused startup GATE titled, “The Future of Payments...
View ArticleOne Third of Chinese Tuition Payments Come Through Alipay, Western Union Says
While those of us in the U.S. experiment with Venmo or Apple Pay, payments in China have reached the point where even large transactions are routinely processed via the smartphone, even tuition...
View ArticleWant Access to Chinese Remittances? You Need to Crack Alipay
With global remittances expected to grow by more than 4% this year, providers are utilizing mobile and other digital technologies to ensure sending money between countries is easier than ever. China,...
View ArticleFintech Unfiltered: Chris Skinner on Ant Financial and the Global Payments...
Over the past few years, mobile payments has become a service that customers expect from their banks, FIs and e-commerce platforms. Most countries have their own idiosyncratic mobile payment platforms....
View ArticleSamsung Pay Crosses 1.3 Billion Transactions, But Falls Short of Apple Pay
As it makes its way to South Africa and continues to amass impressive partnerships with the likes of Alipay and PayPal, Samsung Pay might have completed three years in the mobile payments market, but...
View ArticleAlipay’s Annual Active Users Soar 40% YOY
Alipay has over 700 million annual active users as of August 2018, according to an investor day presentation from parent Ant Financial that was emailed to Bank Innovation. This represents a 40%...
View ArticleCan QR Codes Make It in America? SwiftPass Thinks So
The scale of mobile payments in China staggers the Western imagination. In 2017, $15.4 trillion in mobile payments were processed, 54% by Alipay, and 39% by Tencent’s WeChat Pay. By the most generous...
View Article3 Notable Fintech Funding Rounds in November
Venture-backed fintech funding saw a dip in value and deals globally in the third quarter, compared with the record high 2Q quarter, according to a CBInsights report, with a total of $5.64 billion...
View ArticleApple, Amazon, Alibaba Are Coming After Banks, Regulators Say
Giant technology companies are moving inexorably into the finance business and could quickly upend the banking industry, according to the financial industry’s global watchdog. In its most detailed...
View ArticleHave a Credit Card? You’re Among China’s Fortunate: Shuli Ren
Owning a credit card can seem like a rite of passage in the U.S., where even a college student with no income can sign up and start swiping. More than two-thirds of Americans over the age of 15 carry...
View ArticleStandard Chartered adds mobile banking to social media platforms
Standard Chartered customers can now do their mobile banking through social media platforms. Starting this month, the London-based company is letting customers in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe transfer...
View ArticleWith entry into China market, Paypal expands global ambitions
This week, PayPal expanded the scope of its global ambitions through a 70% equity stake in Chinese payments company Guofubao Information Technology, which is known as GoPay. Through it, PayPal acquired...
View ArticleGoogle, Walmart help drive India payments past 1 billion transactions
A payments platform created by India’s largest retail banks surpassed a billion transactions in October, a milestone that affirms the tremendous growth of services offered by U.S. giants from Walmart...
View ArticlePayment apps are struggling to retain users, data shows
When it comes to keeping users engaged, payments apps seem to be missing the mark. According to a report from mobile analytics platform App Annie and the mobile marketing platform Adjust, only 6% of...
View ArticleJack Ma’s booming loan business threatens Visa, AmEx in China
As Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc. and American Express Co. prepare to enter China for the first time, one of their biggest competitive threats will come from a company that doesn’t issue credit cards. Jack...
View ArticleWorldRemit links with Alipay on one-tap global payments to China
WorldRemit is partnering with Alipay to reduce friction in cross-border payment transactions. The integration allows WorldRemit customers to send money to Chinese recipients by connecting with their...
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