China

There's been a lot of funding flowing into technology that targets the spending of Chinese travelers as they visit other countries. But this narrow use case isn't the only opportunity for investment and innovation.

WeChat, China’s most popular social media and messaging service, has launched a new bid in Europe and the U.S. to develop its payments offering and win new advertisers.

Banks are asking Hong Kong property agents to stop accepting China-issued UnionPay cards, as mainland authorities escalate their crackdown on capital flows out of the country.

Tencent Holdings Ltd. is planning to spin off its e-book business as it boosts spending on payments and content to lure users and keep them glued to its WeChat service.

Ingenico ePayments, the online and mobile commerce division of France's Ingenico, has signed an agreement with Air China to accept Discover Card payments in North America, a key market for the Beijing-based airline, with plans to expand to other regions later this year.

Paytm, the Indian mobile payments startup backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., has begun its global expansion by launching a mobile bill and tax payment service in Canada.

Operating from Kansas, payments processor Euronet Worldwide has been working furiously—and quietly—on a way to disrupt China-based Ant Financial's deal to buy Dallas-based MoneyGram ever since news broke in January.

Chinese financial-technology investments this year may exceed 2016’s record $10 billion as companies continue to raise funds for expansion and big banks grow their digital services, according to Accenture Plc.

JD.com Inc. agreed to sell its finance arm for 14.3 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) in cash while retaining a share of its future profits, part of a deal to spin off the fast-growing division and create a strong rival to billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Financial.

China’s Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba, is continuing its acquisition spree by purchasing stakes two digital payments firms, including South Korea’s Kakao Pay and the Philippines’ Mynt.

The growing number of Chinese consumers traveling to the U.S. and other countries is becoming a two-for-one opportunity for payment companies. The market's gigantic and growing — and it has a lot of trouble executing transactions.

China's role in the in bitcoin market has increased in recent years as its citizens are among the virtual currency's leading traders and miners.

Ant Financial, the parent of China’s largest online payment service, is seeking to raise less than $3 billion by issuing debt to fund its acquisitions, people familiar with the matter said.

China’s central bank is holding a closed-door meeting with several domestic bitcoin exchanges on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said, heightening concerns that regulators will tighten their oversight of trading in digital currencies.

Hong Kong and Singapore have long been economic crossroads. China and India are economies with vast populations. And Shenzhen is bursting with innovative creativity. All of these contribute to the Asian fintech market being far ahead in adoption and ecosystem creation.

India's sudden shake-up of its currency system last fall was an early holiday for digital payment companies, and Visa was no exception.

To date, Ant's Alipay has been comparable to PayPal, seldom venturing beyond payments. The financial products Alipay plans to pursue as it enters new markets put it more firmly in direct competition with mainstream banks.

Alipay's deal to buy MoneyGram for $880 million may be the centerpiece of its strategy to expand beyond China's borders, but it's not its first move in recent months. The Alibaba payments affiliate has already extended its reach in several other ways.

Ant Financial, the company that operates Alipay, is buying MoneyGram for $880 million, its boldest move yet in a series of partnerships and investments that signal an international ambition.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. raised its full-year sales forecast after quarterly results beat estimates, as Chinese spending stays strong and the company wrings revenue from fledgling areas such as cloud computing, entertainment and search.