Miles Software Teams Up With SBM Bank; Salim Group Invests In Youtap

Welcome to The Axis, your late look at payments news from around the world. Coverage includes Indonesia-based Salim Group’s investment in Singapore-based Youtap. In addition, Miles Software is partnering with SBM Bank (Mauritius) Ltd. (SBM) and SBM (NBFC) Holdings Ltd., and investors are turning to gold as the Turkish Lira struggles.

Indonesia-based Salim Group has taken up a minority stake in Singapore-based Youtap, Deal Street Asia reported. With the arrangement, the companies are seeking to bring eMoney applications and solutions to both consumers and merchants in different markets. Youtap provides financial services and contactless payments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA and Asia), while Salim Group operates in several sectors in Indonesia and the Philippines.

“Salim’s global footprint in food, manufacturing and distribution, coupled with their investments and vision in FinTech and desire to be a leading eMoney payments provider across multiple markets, makes them an ideal partner and shareholder,” said Youtap CEO and Founder Chris Jones. “We look forward to providing Salim with our full suite of payments solutions and applications, enabling them to become a leader in eMoney payment acceptance across multiple markets.”

India-based Miles Software has teamed up with SBM Bank (Mauritius) Ltd. (SBM) and SBM (NBFC) Holdings Ltd. to bring MoneyWare, its flagship technology platform, to the bank and NBFC, the companies said in an announcement. The partnership seeks to combine the capabilities of the MoneyWare platform with SBM’s goal to be the leading financial services provider in Mauritius and other areas.

In an announcement, SBM (Mauritius) Ltd. CIO Samir Khare said, “SBM has established its leadership position in the regional financial services industry, and with this strategic engagement with Miles Software, the bank will be able to reinforce this position with even more innovative solutions and higher standards in customer service.”

With the Turkish Lira’s currency crisis potentially spreading around the world, investors are turning to safe havens like gold. The precious metal, for example, rose in value by 0.4 percent as the value of the Lira crashed. Kinesis CEO Tom Coughlin  said in a press release that “the sharp rise in the price of gold seen in the past few days off the back of the Turkish Lira crisis reflects a rising trend amongst investors wanting to protect their investments from volatility caused by political instability.” Kinesis, which seeks to build a bullion-backed blockchain monetary system, plans to launch its currencies in November.