A new dispatch from our ‘QR Codes Are Very Much Alive In Asia’ reporting program: Hong Kong’s subway system will soon allow its commuters to pay by scanning QR codes thanks to a deal with Alibaba that was announced this week. The partnership — which is with Alibaba’s Ant Financial affiliate — will see scan-to-pay […]
View More Hong Kong is adding QR code payments to its subway stationsCategory: online payments
11/11 shows biometrics are the norm for payments in China
Chinese consumers were quick to adopt digital payments, and a recent shopping binge showed they are ready for another leap: biometric payments. On November 11, Alibaba wrapped up Singles’ Day – the world’s largest shopping event – and hauled in $30.8 billion in total transactions, a staggering amount bigger than Cyber Monday and Black Friday combined. […]
View More 11/11 shows biometrics are the norm for payments in ChinaAlibaba rival JD sees Singles’ Day revenue jump 27% thanks to offline push
Alibaba may have pioneered the concept of Singles’ Day, the world’s largest shopping day based on sales, but it very much not the only e-commerce giant involved. JD.com, Alibaba’s biggest rival in China, just announced that it sold RMB 159.8 billion ($23 billion) in goods for its Singles’ Day campaign. Unlike Alibaba, which racked up $31 billion […]
View More Alibaba rival JD sees Singles’ Day revenue jump 27% thanks to offline pushIndia’s Meesho, which enables social commerce via WhatsApp, raises $50M
Meesho, a Bangalore-based social commerce startup, has closed a $50 million investment to grow its business in its Indian homeland ahead of future international expansion. This Series C round means that Meesho, which graduated Y Combinator in 2016, has now raised three funding rounds in the past year. Its $3.4 million Series A came in […]
View More India’s Meesho, which enables social commerce via WhatsApp, raises $50MAmazon makes offline retail push in India
Amazon unleashed a flurry of new products this week at a U.S. press event, but halfway across the world, it is getting deeper into physical retail in the Indian market. The U.S. e-commerce giant is buying up 49 percent of More in a deal that sees Amazon partner and PE firm Samara Capital pick up the […]
View More Amazon makes offline retail push in IndiaJack Ma says he isn’t about to retire from Alibaba but is planning a gradual succession
Reports of Jack Ma’s impending retirement are greatly exaggerated, it seems. Ma, the co-founder and executive chairman of Alibaba, has pushed back on claims that he is on the cusp of leaving the $420 billion Chinese e-commerce firm. The New York Times first reported that the entrepreneur plans to announce that he will leave the firm to pursue […]
View More Jack Ma says he isn’t about to retire from Alibaba but is planning a gradual successionGreyOrange raises $140M to develop fully-automated robotics for warehouses
GreyOrange, a Singapore-headquartered firm that develops robots for warehouses, has pulled in a $140 million Series C funding round as it targets more expansion and growth. The company was started in 2011. Today it has five regional offices across the world — covering India, Singapore, Japan, Germany, and the U.S. — three R&D centers and more than 60 […]
View More GreyOrange raises $140M to develop fully-automated robotics for warehousesWith a $10 million round, Nigeria’s Paga plans global expansion
Jake Bright Contributor Jake Bright is a writer and author in New York City. He is co-author of The Next Africa. More posts by this contributor African tech leaders Fope Adelowo, Ken Njoroge, Tayo Oviosu to speak at Disrupt SF Offering a white-labeled lending service in emerging markets, Mines raises $13 million Nigerian digital payments […]
View More With a $10 million round, Nigeria’s Paga plans global expansionTerra is an ambitious crypto project to build a stable coin through e-commerce
Four of the world’s largest crypto exchanges are leading a $32 million investment in an ambitious venture out of Korea that’s aiming to develop a new stable coin using e-commerce as the lynchpin. Global exchanges Binance Labs, OKEx, Huobi Capital, and Dunamu — the firm behind Korea’s Upbit — have all poured capital into Terra, a crypto […]
View More Terra is an ambitious crypto project to build a stable coin through e-commerceGoogle is supercharging its Tez payment service in India ahead of global expansion
Google launched its Tez paymen app in India a year ago, and now the company is giving the service major push into retail as it prepares to expand it to other parts of Asia and beyond. The app itself is being rebranded to Google Pay — bringing it in line with Google’s global payment service, […]
View More Google is supercharging its Tez payment service in India ahead of global expansionAlibaba confirms it raised $3B for its newly consolidated local services business
Alibaba has confirmed that it has raised $3 billion for its new-look local services business after it united its Koubei local services business with Ele.me, the on-demand delivery business it recently acquired. The company said it put the capital into the business alongside SoftBank, according to a note within its financial results that were released today. […]
View More Alibaba confirms it raised $3B for its newly consolidated local services businessChina reaches 800 million internet users
China’s internet population has now grown beyond 800 million, according to the latest data from the Chinese government. A new report [in Chinese] issued by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) put the number of people in China with access to the internet at 802 million. The agency — which is a branch of the […]
View More China reaches 800 million internet users