Hello fintech friends,

It has been an eventful month at This Week in Fintech!

Our NYC team celebrated surpassing 100,000 monthly readers (and 80,000+ subscribers) with Nasdaq in Times Square. We also collaborated with Visa, the world's longest-running fintech, on a new white paper that delves into the relationship between banks and fintechs and offers insights into the future. Give it a read here!  

Now, please find below the November edition of "What was going on with Chinese fintechs". As always, feel free to reach out to me with any feedback you may have.

-Ning

Product & Partnership Launches 

• XTransfer and Transfermate have partnered to offer importers and exporters local payment and fund collection services in the US, Mexico, Malaysia, Canada, Singapore, and New Zealand.
• Shein has partnered with the Mexican fintech Stori to introduce a local annual-fee-free credit card, enabling customers to make interest-free installment payments at Shein and earn loyalty points.
• Standard Chartered Bank has started offering exchange services for the digital yuan, China's central bank digital currency (CBDC).
• HSBC piloted tokenized deposits in intra-group treasury transactions using blockchain technology provided by Ant Group.
• Zetrix launched a cross-border supply chain financing pilot with Bank of China and Dixchain. 
• Visa and Tencent have partnered to expand Visa's reach in the Chinese remittance market. 
• Maybank expanded cross-border services to China. 

Licensing & Regulations 

• Mastercard has secured a formal approval to begin domestic payment processing in China, enabling the credit card network to issue yuan-denominated banks cards.
• Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao resigned and pleaded guilty to violating US anti-money laundering laws in a $4.3 billion settlement, concluding a lengthy investigation into the largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Financing, Investment & Acquisition 

• Lufax Holdings is set to purchase Ping An OneConnect Bank from OneConnect Fintech Technology for HK$933 million (US$119.5 million).
• Liquido, a U.S.-based fintech founded by Chinese citizens, has just obtained the license from the Central Bank to operate as a payment entity in Brazil.
• Ant Group has received approval to release AI products to the Chinese public.
• Alipay plans to divest its 3.4% stake in Indian food delivery giant Zomato for approximately $400 million via block deals on Indian stock exchanges.

Other News 

• Alibaba’s Jack Ma ventured into the food business. 
• China’s largest bank, ICBC's US division was hit by a ransomware attack, causing trade rerouting and disruption in the US Treasury market.
• China recorded its first quarterly deficit in foreign direct investment as foreign companies redirect profits to more attractive investment destinations.
• China's financial regulator has revised rules, effective from January 1, that reduce capital requirements for banks heavily exposed to mortgages.
• Despite expectations of a rebound, Hong Kong IPO market continues to remain sluggish.
• China's central bank backs fintech firms in entering the credit rating market and encourages consolidation and expansion among existing rating companies.

Other Reads

• Understanding China's Troubled Economy in Five Charts
• Chinese banks grapple with problem loans amid economic difficulties
• Shengjing Bank: The Truth behind a troubled Chinese Bank’s strange bailout
• Why Hong Kong is still bullish on crypto

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