Singapore is separated from Malaysia by a 1,056-meter (or 0.65-mile) Johor-Singapore Causeway, yet crossing the narrow strip of water separating the city-state of Singapore and its 5.6 million residents from the nation of Malaysia and its 32 million citizens means moving between two entirely different payments universes. To say Singapore is payment card-enthused would be...
While Alibaba and its charismatic founder tend to eat up a lot of the Western press when it comes to Chinese eCommerce and its national explosion, Tencent has quietly been growing an ever-larger and more global footprint — and a bigger valuation to go along...
Alibaba is making a big offline commerce play with the announcement that it will invest HK$22.4 billion (USD$2.87 billion) for a major stake in China’s top supermarket operator, Sun Art Retail Group. The move comes as part of a new pair-up with French retailer Groupe Auchan and Taiwanese conglomerate...
The push of U.S.-based credit card companies to finally gain access to the Chinese mainland has hit yet another bump. Reuters reports that the Chinese government is pushing foreign payment card companies to form local joint ventures for onshore operations, said three people familiar with the...
In India, WhatsApp sends messages and Paytm sends money. Or at least, that was the old order of things. But as of today, Paytm users will have the option of accessing newly added chat features — including photo and video sharing — within their Paytm...
Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee is looking to appeal the five-year jail term he was recently given for bribery and other charges. Lee was sentenced to five years last Friday. The sentencing of the billionaire scion was a watershed for South Korea’s decades-long...
In late July, PayPal and Baidu captured the world’s attention when they inked a strategic partnership that gives Baidu’s 100 million or so mobile wallet users access to PayPal’s 17 million merchants. On its face, the deal has plenty of upside for both firms. PayPal...
In recent memory, Chinese tourists have become some of the world’s most avid international shoppers. But this summer — though tourists from China will still be hitting American and European cities in record numbers — they won’t be spending quite as much in foreign retail...
Western Union money transfers are coming to gas stations. In Australia. According to reports, a new partnership between BP Australia and Western Union will allow consumers to send money overseas while they are at the petrol station topping off their tank. Australian consumers are already...
