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Scaling up
Ripple is accelerating its Southeast Asia expansion with a deal to add Singapore-based remittance firm BKK Forex as a partner. Ripple has also hired former Uber and Google exec Brooks Entwistle as managing director for the region.
Entwistle was chief business officer (international) at Uber, where he launched the ride-sharing app in Asian markets. He also spent more than 20 years at Goldman Sachs, serving as partner and chairman of Goldman’s Southeast Asia operations.
Ripple earlier this year opened a new remittance corridor between Bangladesh and Malaysia in partnership with bKash and Mutual Trust Bank, giving it a foothold in Southeast Asia.
Walmart versus Google
India’s United Payment Interface reported a rare decline in February, dipping to 2.29 billion transactions from 2.3 billion in January. It was the first monthly decline since the height of the initial pandemic wave in April 2020, reports Inc42.
Walmart’s PhonePe grabbed top share with 42.5% of the transaction volume, leading Google Pay with 36%. Paytm was far back in third with 12.6%.
The Indian government is considering licenses to outside firms to operate independent payment rails, which would serve as an alternative to UPI.
AP card
WePay has partnered with business payment technology firm Nexus to allow small businesses to accept payments through a virtual card.
Called NexusDirect powered by Chase (WePay’s owner), the card is designed for micro merchants and sole proprietors in fields such as lawn care, pest management, marketing and other mobile workers. It enables the workers to have payments directly routed to their bank account.
These firms can receive payments without having to supply banking details to each customer or make contact with payment hardware.
Climate crypto
Neptune Digital Assets and Link Global Technologies have agreed to jointly build a bitcoin mining operation partly using green energy in Alberta, Canada.
The facility will use a mix of solar, wind and natural gas, according to Coindesk. Neptune is anticipating demand for sustainable and carbon neutral cryptocurrency mining as bitcoin matures and draws attention for climate change concerns.
Bitcoin mininguses a lot of energy, enough to stress electrical grids in some cases and draw attention from utility regulators.
From the Web
Google payments chief quits after 15 years at company
REUTERS | Monday, March 22, 2021
Senior Google executive Caesar Sengupta, head of the tech giant’s payment initiatives, said on Monday he was leaving the company next month, after 15 years.
Coinbase to Pay $6.5 Million to Settle CFTC Investigation Over Trading
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL | Sunday, March 19, 2021
WASHINGTON—Cryptocurrency-exchange operator Coinbase Inc. agreed Friday to pay $6.5 million to settle regulatory claims that it reported misleading information about its trading volumes.
Deliveroo aims for $12 billion market cap in biggest London debut in a decade
REUTERS | Monday, March 22, 2021
Food delivery company Deliveroo could make Britain’s biggest stock market debut since commodities giant Glencore went public nearly a decade ago, after setting a price range on Monday that values it at up to $12 billion.
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