Dubai Duty Free, one of the world’s largest travel retail operators, today announced its partnership with Alipay+ to power a seamless travel and checkout experience for international visitors.

Consumers from South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Mongolia, and Italy as well as Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao are now able to access promotions and pay with their home digital apps at duty-free stores in Dubai and Al Maktoum International airports.

Following the $2 million investment obtained in the previous pre-seed round, Fimple has now secured an additional $3.5 million investment in the Bridge Investment tour, adding a new angel investor to its list. Led by Apy Ventures, the tour saw participation from KT Portfolio, Tera Portfolio, and angel investors. This total investment of $5.5 million aims to strengthen Fimple’s position as a leader in the finance industry by supporting the company’s expansion and innovation goals.

TPAY, the leader in payments in the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey (META), has released a white paper explaining how mobile money payment is enhancing users' capabilities to accommodate digital payments and in-store purchases while also growing the merchants’ and wallet providers’ businesses, bridging the gap between the digital and physical realms of finance.

Blackstone today announced that Private Equity funds managed by Blackstone have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Sony Payment Services Inc., one of Japan’s leading payment service providers, from Sony Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group. Sony Bank will roll over a certain portion of its equity and will continue to support the growth of SPSV as a minority investor.

The Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) has kicked off the development of the pioneering Islamic Finance Knowledge Pavilion Marketplace.

The Pavilion will provide a digital marketplace of validated solution providers (institutions, consultants, and experts) in Islamic finance and economic development, and offer a one-stop shop for listing opportunities and seamless digital experience in the matchmaking of suppliers and customers.

Consumer card spending increased just 4.1 percent year-on-year in 2023 – noticeably lower than the growth seen in 2022 (10.6 per cent) – as Brits cut back on new clothes, eating out and home improvements amid rising inflation and household bills. However, consumers continued to prioritize moments of joy and shared experiences, boosting travel, entertainment, and pubs & bars. 

The Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (Invest Qatar) has partnered with Microsoft to develop AI.SHA is an innovative AI-powered assistant harnessing GPT capabilities through the Azure OpenAI service. This groundbreaking initiative positions Invest Qatar as one of the first investment promotion agencies (IPA) in the world to adopt advanced technology, paving the way for transformative changes in professional interactions between investors and businesses in Qatar.

Circle, a global financial technology firm and the issuer of USDC and EURC, has today announced receipt of a conditional registration as a Digital Asset Service Provider (‘DASP’, or ‘Prestataire de Service sur Actifs Numériques’ (PSAN)) with the French Financial Markets Authority (‘Autorité des Marchés Financiers’ (AMF)).

Tameed Digital Lending Platform, which offers shariah-compliant  Government Purchase Orders Financing for SMEs in Saudi Arabia, announced that it has successfully closed a funding round (Series A) amounting to SAR 56.75M (USD 15M) led by Alromaih Investments.

AppTech Payments Corp., a pioneering Fintech company powering frictionless commerce between business-to-business and business-to-consumer, announces Reno International Airport as the first international airport to adopt its newly acquired FinZeo platform, which manages all financial transactions and payments within the airport’s facilities. The Company anticipates additional airports to fully adopt the platform in the coming weeks.