This week IFAD launched  the Platform for Remittances, Investment and Migrants’ Entrepreneurship (PRIME) Central Asia Initiative in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The Line of Finance aims to promote Islamic finance, improve financial inclusion, and support private sector development in Uzbekistan.

With the issuance of this Green Bond, Zuoli will finance, amongst others, green buildings and energy efficiency projects in the Zhejiang province.

The proceeds of this Social Bond are to be allocated towards both micro loans up to $10,000 to microenterprises and SME loans up to $1 million to small and medium enterprises.

Li told Reuters in an interview that in “traditional finance” investing in SMEs was rarely worthwhile for global institutions as the due diligence was difficult, risks were high and funding amounts small.

The annual survey on mobile payments showed 98 percent of respondents indicated mobile was their most commonly used payment method, up 5 percentage points from 2019.

IFC's $5 million investment will provide critical working capital to help them continue their operations and stay afloat during the ongoing public health crisis.

Hong Kong-based HKT Financial Services, the Fintech division of the HKT Group, has launched another Fintech project, HKT Flexi, a digital or online financing platform that allows users to make payments via the HKT Flexi App.

As contactless payments become the norm amid the worldwide pandemic response, China rolled out its digital currency this month in four cities, setting it up to become the world’s first cashless society.