Mastercard Partners With Amazon to Digitize Payment Acceptance

Mastercard and Amazon Payment Services have partnered to digitize payment acceptance in the Middle East and Africa. Under the partnership, Amazon will adopt Mastercard’s single touchpoint for payment processing across 40 markets, enabling faster, more secure transactions for merchants. Expanding Payment Acceptance Mastercard, a U.S. multinational payment card services firm, has partnered with Amazon Payment … Read more

Binance Secures Regulatory License in Kazakhstan for Crypto Trading

Binance Kazakhstan has secured a full Digital Asset Trading Facility (DATF) license from the Astana Financial Services Authority. This approval allows the crypto exchange to operate as a trading platform, broker-dealer, and digital asset custodian. Kazakhstan becomes the first Central Asian country where Binance has regulatory approval, positioning it as a key fintech hub. Binance … Read more

Ugandan Fintech Firm Gets Funding From Dutch Impact Investor

Ugandan fintech firm Agent Banking Company (ABC) receives undisclosed investment from Dutch impact investor Goodwell Investments. The funding, part of Goodwell’s $167M African startup fund, will expand ABC’s customer base, agent coverage, and services. CEO Richard Jabel says the investment will enhance financial inclusion and services accessibility via mobile phones, agents, and merchants. Affordable Financial … Read more

Lightning Network-Focused Startup Lightspark Sets Its Sights on Latam

Lightspark hopes to enter Latin America’s cryptocurrency market through its partners in the region, including exchanges like Bitso and fintech institutions like Nubank. Nicolas Cabrera, Lightspark’s vice president of product, explained that the company will focus on targeting Latin America’s remittances and cross-border payments market, using its products to streamline these processes. Lightspark Aims to … Read more

Lawmaker Flags Concerns Over SEC’s Crypto Approach

Congressman French Hill has raised concerns over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s handling of digital asset regulations, criticizing Chairman Gary Gensler’s leadership for creating legal uncertainty and a politicized approach. The lawmaker highlighted his subcommittee’s legislative successes but expressed frustration with the SEC’s broad and unclear regulations, which he argued burden digital asset … Read more

World Banking Giants Join Project Agora to Reengineer Cross Border Payments

Over 40 leading private banking institutions have joined Project Agora, a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) initiative to integrate smart contracts to change the current payment flow standard. The objective is to design a system combining public and private money to enhance cross-border settlement processes. Project Agora Gains Support From Private Banking Giants Project Agora, … Read more