Tue, 21-Oct-2025

PayPal Holdings to lay off its 7% workforce to cut costs

PayPal Holdings

Paypal Holdings Inc announced that it is preparing to lay off 7% of its workforce. The payments company’s stock increased by around 2.4% in afternoon trading. PayPal lowered its annual revenue growth projection in November. The latest in a line of fintech companies to be impacted by the economic slowdown, PayPal Holdings Inc announced on Tuesday … Read more

Billionaire Jack Ma to give up control of China’s Ant group

Jack Ma
  • Jack Ma indirectly owned 53.46% of his shares.
  • he will only possess 6.2% of the voting rights after the adjustment.
  • The adjustment will not change the economic interests of any shareholders.

BEIJING: In response to a Communist Party assault on the country’s internet sector that singled out the flamboyant billionaire, Jack Ma will cede leadership of Chinese fintech behemoth Ant Group, the business announced on Saturday.

Ma, one of China‘s most well-known businessmen, once exemplified a generation of Chinese technology moguls with his rags-to-riches personal story and fondness for public spectacle.

However, the former English teacher has withdrawn from the public eye after Beijing destroyed Ant’s anticipated IPO in Hong Kong in 2020 as a result of his scathing remarks about government regulators.

In a statement released on Saturday, his business announced changes to its ownership structure that would prevent “any shareholder, acting alone or in concert with other parties, from exercising control over Ant Group.”

The notice outlined the company’s previous complicated organizational structure and stated that Ant was the “control person” because Ma indirectly owned 53.46% of his shares.

Based on the information in the statement, he will only possess 6.2% of the voting rights after the adjustment.

The Ant statement stated that the modification was made to further improve the stability of the company’s corporate structure and the sustainability of its long-term growth.

Ten individuals — including the founder, management, and staff — will “exercise their voting rights independently”, it said.

The adjustment will not change the economic interests of any shareholders.

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MMBL CFDO Showcases Fintech at GITEX 2022

MMBL CFDO

Sardar Mohammad Abubakr is the Chief Finance and Digital Officer of MMBL. He presented on Fintech Surge at GITEX GLOBAL 2022. The greatest tech expo in the world, GITEX GLOBAL took place at Dubai. Sardar Mohammad Abubakr, the Chief Finance and Digital Officer (CFDO) of Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited (MMBL), presented on Fintech Surge: ESG … Read more

ICCIA organises Best of Entrepreneurship Series programme

iccia

KARACHI: The Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (ICCIA) organised the first programme of 2022 of the Best of Entrepreneurship Series on Thursday, a statement said. The programme was held under the theme of fintech ecosystem and opportunities in financial markets, with the aim to highlight the challenges and explore different opportunities in the … Read more

Chinese diplomat inaugurates tech festival

Chinese diplomat

LAHORE: The Pakistan China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) and Ecommerce Gateway conducted the inaugural ceremony of PTCL Business Solutions ITCN Asia-Pakistan Tech Festival at Expo Centre, Lahore. According to a statement, Consul General of China in Pakistan Peng Zhengwu while inaugurating the festival, appreciated the IT products being developed in Pakistan. He … Read more

Bazaar raises $70 million in Series B round

bazaar

KARACHI: Bazaar, a Karachi based B2B ecommerce and fintech startup, has raised $70 million in a Series B round led by Dragoneer Investment Group and Tiger Global, a statement said. The round that came just six months after Bazaar’s $30 million Series A was also joined by existing investors, including Indus Valley Capital, Defy.vc, Acrew … Read more

NayaPay raises $13m in seed round

navapay

KARACHI: NayaPay, a Pakistan-based fintech platform, has raised $13 million in one of the largest seed rounds in South Asia, a statement said. The round was led by Zayn Capital, global fund manager MSA Novo and early-stage VC Graph Ventures from Silicon Valley, bringing together a diverse mix of leading global institutional and angel investors. … Read more

Top 10 countries with world’s most gazelle companies

gazelle companies

BEIJING: China has the second-highest number of gazelle companies in the world, according to Hurun Global Gazelle Index list for 2021. Gazelle companies refer to startups founded in the 2000s that are worth over $500 million and are not yet listed on a public exchange and most likely to go “unicorn” or hit a valuation … Read more

Young Arabs swipe to fintech as saving, investing takes off

Young Arabs

DUBAI: Being raised in the Middle East with a lack of savings and investment culture, many young Arabs are turning to online banking services to help track their spending and budget. When Mayar Akrameh was growing up in Lebanon, financial advice was simple: work long, work hard and aim for a high-paying job. Now the 29-year-old … Read more

Saudi Aramco, Raed invests $5.5 million in emerging fintech startup Lamaa

Aramco

RIYADH: Riyadh-based fintech startup Lamaa has secured a $5.5m investment from Saudi Aramco’s entrepreneurship arm Wa’ed and Raed Ventures Arab News reported. The deal represents one of the largest seed funding rounds in Saudi Arabia. Lamaa provides financing solutions, such as supply chain finance and Buy Now Pay Later schemes, for small and medium enterprises. Wa’ed and … Read more

Three Egyptian banks to launch a $64 million fintech fund

CAIRO: The National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, and Banque Du Caire plans a fund to support fintech companies, Arab News reported. The fund, to be launched in October, will have a minimum capital of one billion Egyptian pounds ($64 million), with the possibility of other banks or financial institutions also contributing, according to a statement from … Read more

Saudi Arabia to see more fintech unicorns soon: official

JEDDAH: Fintech Saudi was launched in 2018 by the Saudi central bank and the Capital Market Authority, to turn the kingdom into an innovative fintech hub, Arab News reported. It has a digital strategy that supports regulators and the growing fintech startups that have emerged in the kingdom over the last two years. These moves are in … Read more

Fintech firms dominate Saudi startup scene, attracting venture capitalists

fintech

RIYADH: Saudi startups in the financial technology sector emerged as the most funded in the kingdom, and more private investors and venture capitalists are rushing to invest in these firms at early stages of their business lifecycle, Arab News reported. The number of deals closed recently hit a record with over $150 million in the first … Read more

Mastercard Strives to Take the Lead in Crypto Markets

Mastercard

Mastercard (MA), the world’s largest payments company, wants to make it easier for people to acquire, spend, and hold cryptocurrencies.

Mastercard also wants to be a major player in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) with cryptocurrencies developer ecosystem.

Mastercard’s Start Path program is now open to startups and entrepreneurs who are focused on crypto and digital assets. The program allows new businesses to use the credit card network’s technology.

Mastercard established a Start Path global engagement program to support fast-growing digital assets, blockchain, and cryptocurrency startups, in order to make crypto holders’ transactional lives easier.

“As a leading technology player, we believe we can play a key role in digital assets, helping to shape the industry and provide consumer protection and security,” Mastercard’s executive vice president of new digital infrastructure and fintech, Jess Turner, said.

The Start Path program will provide cryptocurrency companies access to Mastercard’s most up-to-date tools and solutions, allowing them to scale their innovations and cutting-edge technology.

“These startups use the program to connect with our ecosystem of banks, merchants, partners, and digital players across the globe to deliver new solutions,” Mastercard explained.

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TikTok Influencers Forbidden from Promoting Cryptocurrencies

tiktok

TikTok, a very popular video-sharing application that is partly responsible for the rise of meme cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin, has banned its users from promoting cryptocurrencies,  stated British Newspaper.

Apart from cryptocurrency, TikTok has recently modified branded content policy which prohibits many other financial services and products, including loans, credit cards, and forex trading.

For promoting certain products, popular social media profiles are generally paid.

To cater to the app’s young consumers, several big fintech businesses, such as Revolut, would work with “fintok”(a very particular corner of the country’s fastest-growing social media app) influencers.

On the other hand, the new policy will put an end to such collaborations.

There were fears that some fraudulent users were looking for young people’s gullibility and with the lack of investment knowledge.

The firm has also improved its approach to user safety by implementing a system that deletes any films that breach its guidelines instantly:

“Over the next few weeks, we’ll begin using technology to automatically remove some types of violative content identified upon upload, in addition to removals confirmed by our Safety team.”

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