All Tech News

Iraqi telco Asiacell announced on Monday it will collaborate with local OTT and streaming platform 1001 to bundle entertainment content into its subscriber packages.

Two more fintech alliances have been announced in the last week, one involving a virtual and physical cards collaboration in Nigeria and another a financial infrastructure initiative that aims to be extended across the continent.

GLN International, a cross-border payment infrastructure provider in Asia and a subsidiary of Korea’s Hana Bank under Hana Financial Group, says it has launched a nationwide QR payment service in Vietnam in partnership with local payment processor NAPAS.

Payment giant Mastercard has announced what it describes as a major step forward in its ASEAN AI strategy with the successful rollout of authenticated agentic transactions across multiple ASEAN markets, alongside plans to establish a new regional AI Centre of Excellence in Singapore.

PLDT Global Corp, part of Philippines’ telco group PLDT, has expanded its Tindahan ni Bossing (TinBo) digital platform, described as the go-to app for all the needs of overseas Filipinos, with the launch of a new service called ePadala.

Cambodian telco Smart Axiata says it has signed an MoU with super app firm Grab to look at ways to collaborate on B2C and B2B initiatives that leverage Smart’s 5G network to create a more connected and customer-centric digital and mobility ecosystem.

Cambodian telco Smart Axiata says it has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Amazon's Prime Video to deliver richer digital lifestyle experiences for its 5G customers.

The People’s Own Savings Bank (POSB) Zimbabwe’s only 100% home grown savings bank, has announced a strategic collaboration with Mastercard to launch POSB Remit Outbound.

Indian telco Bharti Airtel announced on Thursday it is giving all of its 360 million customers free access to Adobe Express Premium for a year.

Network International, a leading fintech company in the Middle East and Africa, has signed a strategic processing agreement with Saudi Sudanese Bank, one of Sudan’s prominent financial institutions.

Sri Lankan operator Dialog Axiata has announced what it calls a landmark strategic partnership with UnionPay International (UPI), a China-headquartered company described as one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing global payment networks.

Technology company ACES India and state-owned operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) have signed a strategic agreement to deploy advanced telecom and digital connectivity infrastructure at Noida International Airport in Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India.

Orange Middle East and Africa announced on Monday it has signed a deal with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) granting it mobile-only broadcasting rights for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations tournament currently underway in Morocco.

Thailand’s True Digital Group, Vietnam’s VNPT Technology and AIoT integration firm T3 Technology have officially kicked off an initiative to design, develop and sell AI-powered smart home solutions in Vietnam.

API-enabled technology platform Setu, owned by payments technology company Pine Labs, has announced the launch of what it calls India’s first agentic bill-payments experience.

UAE-based telco e& announced on Wednesday it has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Motorola Mobility to explore new market opportunities in the Middle East region, possibly including AI.

BENEFIT, a leading Bahrain company in fintech and electronic financial transactions, licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) as an ancillary service provider to the Kingdom’s financial services industry, has announced a deal that will help to enable real-time cross-border payments between Bahrain and India.

Digital transformation projects focused on younger end users have been highlighted this week in West Africa where operator Orange Liberia has signalled its support for digital literacy and the government of Guinea has targeted internet provision for schools.

Singapore-headquartered global payment platform Thunes says it has launched real-time cross-border payments to and from Colombia through Bre-B, the country’s new national instant payment system from Banco de la Republica, the Central Bank of Colombia.

The GSMA announced on Tuesday two separate key initiatives with African mobile operators – one to make 4G handsets more affordable across the continent, and the other to strengthen Africa’s AI ecosystem.

It’s been a busy time for cashless payments in India, with two big announcements in the past week involving the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.

PLDT’s wireless unit Smart Communications announced on Thursday that it has launched a new video calling service powered by Video Over LTE (ViLTE) technology that allows users to make video calls without using a third-party app.

Airtel Business, part of global communications solutions provider Bharti Airtel Limited, has entered into a strategic partnership with precise-positioning-technology company Swift Navigation to launch India’s first AI/ML-powered, cloud-based location service.

Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) has reportedly entered discussions with Thai telco True Corp and AIoT integration firm T3 Technology to find ways to collaborate on AI-powered smart-home solutions for Vietnam.

In what is proving to be a busy week for digital payments news in the Middle East and North Africa, a fintech and a major bank have recently announced a partnership to accelerate digital payments in Libya.

There’s been a flurry of digital payments news this week from Saudi Arabia involving a wide variety of major names in the market, notably Ant International, Google Pay and Thunes.

Pakistani telco Ufone 4G says it has partnered with domestic digital healthcare platform Oladoc to bring affordable and accessible healthcare to millions of Ufone’s subscribers across Pakistan.

dLocal, a payment platform that connects global businesses with emerging markets, and international money transfer company Western Union have announced a strategic alliance to enable digital payment methods on Western Union's online platforms in Latin America.

In what it calls a decisive turning point in its mission to bring finance and essential services closer to citizens, everywhere, for everyone, KaliSpot, which describes itself as a Senegalese fintech born in the United States, has announced the deployment of its first 1Net smart kiosks in the Senegalese capital, Dakar.

The UAE’s Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) and e& money, the fintech arm of technology group e&, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide wage protection services via the e& money platform. This enables individuals to manage salary payments for domestic workers in line with applicable legislation and regulatory frameworks.

The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) has launched a new mobile application called BEAC NG2020 to help the public and financial professionals authenticate BEAC banknotes from the Type 2020 series.