-
Why Mizuho took a majority stake in India’s Avendus
Japan’s financial heavyweights like Mizuho, MUFG and Sumitomo Mitsui are increasingly looking for more promising banking opportunities overseas as growth in their home market is flat given a legacy of ultra-low interest rates, deflation, heavy corporate cash holdings stifling investment, and a shrinking population. India has emerged as a preferred market for Japanese financial firms.…
-
UK neobanks hungrily eye U.S. market
UK neobanks, including Monzo and Revolut, are hungrily eyeing the massive, affluent but ultra-competitive American market. Monzo launched in the U.S. in 2022 via a partnership with Sutton Bank after an initial failed attempt to get its own U.S. banking license in 2021. Revolut also operates in the U.S. via partnerships, such as the one…
-
Why Toss Bank had a stellar Q3
Korean digital banks tend to be a cut above the industry standard, and Toss Bank is no exception. Leveraging the broader Toss super app’s 10 million monthly active users (MAU), the company has successfully integrated payments, stock trading, and lending, improving profitability and user engagement. While most tech companies outside China have struggled to build super apps,…
-
Paytech deals drive Europe’s Q3 fintech funding
A recent Finch Capital report shows that paytech deals drove Europe’s fintech funding in the third quarter, which fell slightly from the April to June period. Overall, paytech startups raised €896 million the third quarter, up 117% from €413 million sequentially. A key third quarter paytech deal was XBO Ventures’ US$25 million strategic investment in Rapyd’s Series F round, which…
-
Why is GXS Bank cutting 10% of its staff?
One of the brightest ideas (or not) of Southeast Asia’s early 2020s tech bubble was centralizing every digital service imaginable in a single smartphone app, a barely veiled attempt to replicate the success that China’s dominant platform companies enjoyed with this business model. Unsurprisingly, the results have been inconclusive because China is a unique market…
-
Why The CBDC Fever Has Cooled In Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia has 11 countries with a combined population of 700 million people, including some of the world’s most dynamic markets for digital finance: Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. From mobile wallets to digital banks to cryptocurrency and CBDCs Southeast Asia is usually a few steps ahead of the rest of the world…
-
Paytm’s remarkable comeback gains momentum
Paytm just might be that rare SoftBank bet that pays off big—even though the Japanese telecoms giant’s Vision Fund completed its exit from the Indian fintech sensation in Dec. 2024. While Paytm’s core financials continue to improve, its performance in capital markets (the stock is up 43% over the past year) is equally, if not…
-
South Asia Fintech Heats Up Outside of India
–
As one of Asia’s largest economies and a wellspring of digital financial innovation, India has long dominated the fintech industry in wider South Asia. Historically, neighboring countries have been slower to adopt digital financial technology. That is changing with the ascendancy of fintech in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and, to a lesser extent, Nepal. The payments segment…
-
Klarna hops on the stablecoin bandwagon
If there was any doubt that the world is in the midst of a stablecoin craze – we hesitate to use that loaded term “bubble” – it should be dispelled by the recent launch of a stablecoin by buy now, pay later (BNPL) behemoth Klarna. In a news release, Klarna explains its rationale for the issuance of…
-
Why the K Bank IPO is a crapshoot
–
South Korean digital lender K Bank has been talking about an IPO for years, literally. Since 2022, the company has twice aborted plans to go public. In early November, it formally filed for a third time, aiming to go public in the first half of 2026 on the Korea Stock Exchange (KOSPI). Both the company and…
