FintechNGR, Africa Fintech Network Call for Collaboration on Cross-border Payments
The Fintech Association of Nigeria (FintechNGR), and the Africa Fintech Network (AFN), have called for enhanced collaboration on cross-border payments and remittances.
They made the call during a recent webinar hosted by both bodies, aimed at driving innovation and collaboration within the fintech sector.
The event, themed: “Scaling Cross-Border Payments and Remittances,” brought together industry leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities in advancing cross-border financial transactions.
The webinar, which had average of about 200 participants, featured key insights from seasoned practitioners and experts from across Africa, Hong Kong and Singapore.
South African Fintech Startup Omnisient Secures $7.5M Series A
Omnisient, a fintech startup based in South Africa, has recently secured $7.5 million in Series A funding from Arise. Arise is an investment firm specializing in African financial services and fintech companies. This investment is poised to support Omnisient’s mission to enhance financial inclusion across Africa and beyond.
Founded in December 2019, Omnisient has, in particular, developed a privacy-preserving data-sharing and collaboration tool. This technology enables secure and private sharing of information across sectors such as retail, financial, and healthcare sectors.
Read more here: https://www.livebitcoinnews.com/south-african-fintech-startup-omnisient-secures-7-5m-series-a/
Nigerian fintech chief fined $250mn after holdings described as a ‘fiction’
A US federal court has ordered a Nigerian businessman, who last year sought to buy the English football club Sheffield United, to pay more than $250mn in fines and barred him from serving as a director of a public company.
Last year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission had charged Dozy Mmobuosi and three of his companies, including two Nasdaq-listed enterprises, with fraud for inflating the “financial performance metrics of his companies and key operating subsidiaries to defraud investors worldwide”.
Judge Jesse M Furman, of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, has now entered a final judgment by default against Mmobuosi and his companies after the entrepreneur failed to make any representations in the civil complaint filed last December by the SEC.
Read more here: https://www.ft.com/content/a5b0aa78-2e8d-456a-9784-ffd5f9b9bbbd
African Leaders in Beijing Eyeing Big Loans and Investment
African leaders descend on China’s capital this week, seeking funds for big-ticket infrastructure projects as they eye mounting great power competition over resources and influence on the continent.
China has expanded ties with African nations in the past decade, furnishing them with billions in loans that have helped build infrastructure but also sometimes stoked controversy by saddling countries with huge debts.
China has sent hundreds of thousands of workers to Africa to build its megaprojects, while tapping the continent’s vast natural resources including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals.
Read more here: https://english.aawsat.com/business/5056329-african-leaders-beijing-eyeing-big-loans-and-investment
OCBC Singapore Users Faced Temporary Online Banking Disruption
Singapore’s OCBC Bank experienced technical difficulties on 1 September (Sunday) that temporarily disrupted its internet and mobile banking services.
Customers encountered challenges accessing their accounts and conducting online transactions.
The bank assured that customer funds were not affected during the service disruption, and no customer data was compromised.
ATM and card services was said to have remained fully functional throughout the incident.
Read more here: https://fintechnews.sg/100869/digital-banking-news-singapore/ocbc-singapore-online-banking-disruption/
Fed governor Waller cool on interlinking fast payment systems
The interlinking of fast payment systems is a plank of the G20 roadmap for boosting cross-border payments. Several countries have put bilateral agreements in place while many more are experimenting, including via BIS projects.
However, in a speech at an event in India, Waller warned about the drive for ever faster cross-border payments.
“Not all frictions that slow payments down are bad. Certain frictions are purposely built into the global payment system for compliance and risk-management reasons. Slowing down the speed at which payments are cleared and settled helps banks prevent money laundering and counter the financing of terrorism, detect fraud, and recover fraudulent or misdirected cross-border payments,” he told his audience.
Read more here: https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/44655/fed-governor-waller-cool-on-interlinking-fast-payment-systems
Hong Leong Bank Adopts AI for Collections, Sees 15x Productivity Gain
Hong Leong Bank has made substantial improvements in the efficiency of its collection operations by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), according to The Sun.
The bank noted that the productivity of its AI-driven collection agents has surged by 15 times, accompanied by an 86% reduction in associated costs.
According to Hong Leong‘s Group Managing Director and CEO Kevin Lam, the deployment of AI voice bots, which manage up to 16 simultaneous calls, has been instrumental in these advancements.
This system, which began its rollout in the latter half of the financial year 2024 (FY24), has replaced the workload previously handled by more than 20 human agents.
Read more here: https://fintechnews.my/46053/ai/hong-leong-bank-adopts-ai-for-collections-sees-15x-productivity-gain/
