WhatsApp approved for launching digital payment services in India

In a significant development that sees Facebook gaining entry into India’s booming digital payment space, WhatsApp has been granted approval to role its payments service in India. WhatsApp, which has over 400 million users in India, its biggest market, will compete with Alphabet Inc’s Google Pay, Softbank- and Alibaba-backed Paytm and Walmart’s PhonePe. Menlo Park,…

Indian digital payments giant Paytm valued at $16 billion in latest funding round

On Monday, Paytm, an Indian digital payments company stated it has raised fresh funds totaling to $1 billion from a group of investors which includes existing backers such as SoftBank’s Vision Fund and China’s Ant Financial Services. The funding round saw Paytm being valued at $16 billion. A fresh investment in Paytm by Japan’s SoftBank’s…

JPMorgan and National Bank of Canada tests blockchain tech for debt issuance purposes

JPMorgan’s blockchain platform was built using Quorum, a type of open-source blockchain that it has developed in-house and is looking to spin-off. On Friday, JPMorgan Chase & Co disclosed, it has field tested tested a new blockchain platform for issuing financial instruments with the National Bank of Canada and other large firms. The platform is…

Community Financial Services Association of America aiming to promote predatory loans

Mick Mulvaney, U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the CFPB intends to invalidate the payday rule asap. In a significant development, a leading trade group for small-dollar lenders has asked a federal court to block rules that are meant to shield consumers from predatory loans. As per rules issued in November 2017 by the…