Global Fintech Trends – 9th July, 2024
Mastercard Ghana Fintech Forum advocates cybersecurity and contactless payments to drive fintech growth [Modern Ghana]
Mastercard hosted the second annual Mastercard Ghana Fintech Forum in Accra, bringing together key stakeholders and thought leaders in the fintech industry to discuss critical developments and foster collaboration.
Read more here: ttps://www.afropages.fr/modern-ghana/mastercard-ghana-fintech-forum-advocates-cybersecurity-and-contactless-payments-to-drive-fintech-growth
₦714 million glitch: fintech giant OPay gets court order to restrict customer accounts
Chinese-backed fintech giant OPay has received approval from a Federal High Court in Lagos to freeze customer bank accounts in thirty listed banks as part of a process to recover ₦714 million received by customers during a system glitch. The system glitch occurred from December 10, 2023, to March 4, 2024, and allowed customers to receive value for unsuccessful transactions, according to court documents seen by TechCabal.
OPay contacted customers who received value for sums above ₦500,000 via emails and phone calls and asked them to fund their accounts so the retained funds could be debited immediately after it became aware of the issue.
The fintech recovered 10% of the total amount from those customers.
Read more here: https://techcabal.com/2024/07/08/opay-court-order/
PoS agents now have less than 60 days to register their businesses
Here’s a refresher course if you don’t recall: In May 2024, Nigeria’s government directed all point-of-sale (PoS) operators to register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) by July 7, 2024 to tackle fraud and improve transparency.
So, what’s new? The CAC has extended the deadline for PoS agents to register until September 5, 2024. This announcement came on Saturday, with a warning that those who miss the new deadline could be prosecuted and risk losing their business.
The reason for the extension? They want to help operators in remote areas who might’ve struggled with network issues during registration. Some operators have been griping about how hard it is to register online, which got Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, involved.
He suggested making it easier, like how state tax cards work, so the government can manage infrastructure without making life hard for businesses.
Read more here: https://techpoint.africa/2024/07/08/techpoint-digest-873/
Payaza Africa Rolls Out Upgraded Payaza 2.0 Platform
Payaza Africa Limited, a leading provider of comprehensive payment solutions, catering to businesses of all sizes and industries across Africa, recently, unveiled a refreshed visual identity, a revamped website, and an upgraded web app interface, collectively named Payaza 2.0.
The payment solution company noted the rebrand embodies Payaza’s innovative spirit and commitment to enhancing user experience, with new primary colors, Indigo and screaming green, reflecting the brand’s vibrant energy.
In addition to the visual changes, Payaza 2.0 also introduces new products and services, including Stride by Payaza and EventPorte, aimed at expanding the platform’s reach and impact throughout Africa.
Read more here: https://techeconomy.ng/payaza-africa-rolls-out-upgraded-payaza-2-0-platform/
Olawale Oluwalana is transforming Africa FinTech & E-commerce with Blockchain solution using waffmart.com wallet for Digital Exchange and Online store
Waffmart.com is a Digital Exchange and online Store platform founded by Olawale Oluwalana, its a product of Wafunicus Nigeria-based company located in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.
Olawale Oluwalana is the Managing Director at WafUnicus. He was born in Ilawe Ekiti to the family of Late Chief Mr & Mrs Pius Adebiyi Falana family on 1st September 1988. He is happily married to Motunrayo Oluwalana with 3 beautiful Children. He change his surname from Falana to Oluwalana after his National Youth Service with the consent of his late Father who passed onto glory in 2021.
Nominations Now Open for SFF 2024 Fintech Excellence Awards
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) have opened nominations for the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) Fintech Excellence Awards 2024.
Now in its ninth year and supported by PwC Singapore, the awards aim to recognise innovative fintech solutions from both corporates and individuals globally.
The focus will be on those leading the way in adopting new technologies to transform industry practices, enhance financial services, create growth opportunities, and promote financial inclusion.
This year, the awards feature six categories, with a total of eight winners to be announced at SFF 2024.
Read more here: https://fintechnews.sg/98147/singapore-fintech-festival-2024/nominations-open-for-singapore-fintech-festival-excellence-awards/
Banque de France and HKMA kick off cross-border CBDC project
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is to become the first central banking institution outside of the EU to participate in the European Central Bank’s digital euro exploratory project.
Under the initiative, the Hong Kong central bank is collaborating with the Banque de France to test interoperability between their wholesale CBDC infrastructure – the BDF’s DL3S2 and the HKMA’s Ensemble Sandbox – with the main focus on real-time cross-border and cross-currency payments. The cross-border experiment aims to explore how to optimise settlement efficiency of cross-border transactions, and facilitate interoperability between financial market infrastructures in different jurisdictions.
Read more here: https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/44424/banque-de-france-and-hkma-kick-off-cross-border-cbdc-project
Visa and Tangem combine payment card with crypto wallet
Crypto wallet provider Tangem is partnering with Visa on the launch of a payment card that will be integrated with the Swiss firm’s self-custodial hardware wallet.
The partnership with Visa will combine a Visa payment card with Tangem’s hardware wallet enabling users to make seamless payments using their crypto or stablecoin balance at Visa-accepting merchant location. Tangem Wallet is a card-shaped cold wallet that allows users to store, buy, earn, transfer, and swap over 6,000 cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Unlike traditional custodial solutions, which depend on third-party entities to handle user funds, Tangem’s card embeds a private key within the chip and requires the physical card’s use in every transaction.
Read more here: https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/44428/visa-and-tangem-combine-payment-card-with-crypto-wallet