BIDC, a subsidiary of BIDV and one of Cambodia’s fastest-growing commercial banks, has gone live on BPC’s SmartVista platform, replacing its legacy systems and enabling EMV contactless card issuing and acquiring. The upgrade supports the bank’s cardholders and merchant network with enhanced payment security and lays the foundation for digital retail growth. BIDC can now issue EMV contactless cards more efficiently across mobile and branch channels. Merchants benefit from faster “tap-and-go” acceptance and streamlined settlement. Customers enjoy simplified payments, 3D Secure online protection, and consistent digital self-service. The new platform also consolidates operations, reduces time-to-market, and provides a scalable foundation for future growth. Nguyen Xuan Dung “Offering modern card programmes and secure payment experiences to our customers are critical to our strategy and future growth,” said Nguyen Xuan Dung, Senior Executive Vice President, BIDC. “The modernisation with BPC marks an important milestone. We’ve moved from fragmented systems to a single platform that lets us launch new card products quickly, offer contactless acceptance, and extend secure services to customers wherever they bank.” BIDC chose SmartVista for its modular, secure, API-first design, enabling management of domestic CSS and international Visa portfolios on a single platform. Features include multi-account, multi-currency cards, policy-driven lifecycle controls, and integration with mobile banking, including virtual cards. Acquiring modernisation enhances ATM and POS acceptance, clearing, and settlement, while providing the bank with real-time visibility and stronger fraud management. Veasna Nguon “BIDC was looking for one singular platform and SmartVista is designed just like that,” said Veasna Nguon, Business Development Director, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, BPC. Looking ahead, BIDC and BPC plan to expand card features and broaden merchant acceptance. They also aim to introduce cash-recycling machines and deepen mobile integration to support Cambodia’s cashless payments agenda.     Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Rashed_stock via Freepik The post BIDC Migrates to BPC’s SmartVista, Expanding Card Services and Payments in Cambodia appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

MetaComp, a Singapore-based company specialising in unified Web2.5 payments and wealth management, has completed its Pre-A+ funding round, bringing total funding to US$35 million across two rounds in three months. Alibaba, Spark Venture, and other institutional investors supported the round, with existing shareholders co-investing. 100Summit Partners acted as exclusive financial adviser. The funding will expand MetaComp’s StableX Network across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. It will also advance the company’s AI strategy for an Agent-Skills-MCP architecture, designed to support Web2.5 payment and wealth services. MetaComp reported full-year net profitability in 2025. Combined cash flows and new capital now provide more than US$100 million in available liquidity. The company operates through licensed affiliates, including Alpha Ladder Finance, which holds Capital Markets Services (CMS) and Recognised Market Operator (RMO) licenses. These affiliates provide regulated services across payments, treasury, and investment, covering both traditional and tokenised assets. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) licenses MetaComp as a Major Payment Institution, authorising it to provide Digital Payment Token and cross-border money transfer services. MetaComp serves over 1,000 institutional and accredited clients globally through its group-level platform. Its proprietary Client Asset Management Platform (CAMP) manages more than US$500 million in wealth assets and runs at a monthly rate exceeding US$1 billion. In 2025, the platform processed over US$10 billion in payments and over-the-counter trading across 13+ stablecoins. The StableX Engine and VisionX Compliance Engine support the network. They enable clients to move, convert, and manage capital under a single regulatory framework. MetaComp and Alpha Ladder provide integrated payment, treasury, and investment services through the PayX and WealthX1 platforms. The platforms bring together traditional finance and digital assets on a unified Web2.5 architecture. Tin Pei Ling, Co-President of MetaComp, said: Tin Pei Ling “Traditional payment systems remain constrained by multi-day settlement cycles, high costs and limited currency coverage, and that gap is exactly what we were founded to solve. This funding accelerates the StableX Network across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, where demand for compliant, real-time cross-border settlement is growing fastest.”       Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by lekhawattana via Freepik The post MetaComp Secures US$35 Million in Pre-A+ Funding to Expand Web2.5 Platform appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Global payments technology firm EBANX will open its new Asia-Pacific (APAC) headquarters in Singapore on 24 March. The facility will act as a regulatory and product development centre for the company’s global e-commerce operations. The Brazil-founded enterprise currently processes payments for over 100 APAC merchants. It has accounted for 36% of its Total Payment Volume (TPV) in 2025. EBANX projects a 30% TPV growth within the region in 2026, driven by business and consumer activity across emerging markets. EBANX CEO and Co-Founder João Del Valle noted the ongoing trend of Asian businesses entering markets in Africa and Latin America. João Del Valle “In the current global landscape, companies are searching for diversified growth opportunities, strengthening South-South ties and building resilient global partnerships,” Del Valle stated. The Singapore office follows the firm’s acquisition of a Major Payment Institution licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 2025. Chief Product Officer Eduardo de Abreu, who recently relocated to Singapore as regional CEO, will lead the new headquarters alongside 25 professionals spanning engineering, compliance, and treasury. Abreu explained that the new base will anchor the firm’s global product strategy and facilitate payment solutions for international merchants. Furthermore, the new Singapore hub is designed to support businesses from Europe and North America. Its primary goal is to help them tap into rapidly expanding markets like India and the Philippines. Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore based on an image by bunditinay via Freepik. The post EBANX to Open New APAC Headquarters in Singapore appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Razorpay announced the launch of the “World’s First Agent Studio”, built using the Claude Agent SDK from Anthropic, at Razorpay’s flagship event, FTX’2026, in India today. Razorpay Agent Studio is a B2B agent marketplace and builder platform for payments and business banking. It is said to function similarly to a team of AI specialists, with each agent purpose-built to handle a specific commerce challenge, ranging from recovering failed payments to settling disputes before escalation. For the initial rollout, Razorpay has introduced production-ready agents: Abandoned Cart Conversion Agent, Dispute Responder Agent, Subscription Recovery Agent, and Cashflow Forecaster Agent. Harshil Mathur, co-founder and CEO of Razorpay, shared, Harshil Mathur “With the launch of the world’s first Agent Studio for payments, we’re enabling companies to deploy AI agents that can understand and monitor their revenue flows, resolve payment issues, and unlock insights across billions of transactions in real time.” The Agent Studio also has a “Build Your Agent” feature, which enables businesses to create their own AI agents in plain English without needing to code. Businesses can describe what they want the agent to do, choose the systems it can access, and set a few rules. From there, the agent is created instantly and starts handling the tasks automatically. The company also introduced the Razorpay Agentic Experience Platform, an AI-native layer developed with Claude. It is designed to make interactions with Razorpay as seamless as having a conversation. The platform introduces three capabilities: Agentic Onboarding, Agentic Dashboard and Agentic Integration. Irina Ghose, Managing Director of Anthropic India, added, Irina Ghose “Razorpay’s work with Claude shows how AI agents can address real commerce challenges – recovering revenue, resolving disputes, and predicting cash flow. It’s a great example of what AI can do when it’s embedded into the operating fabric of business.” Last year, during Global Fintech Festival 2025, Razorpay introduced India’s first concept of agentic payments with NPCI and OpenAI, where it showcased how AI could move from recommendations to completing payments. The 7th edition of FTX brought together 70+ speakers from global and Indian companies, including NVIDIA, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Airtel, ICICI Bank, and more. Featured image edited by Fintech News Singapore based on image by muhagraph on Freepik The post Razorpay Debuts AI-Native Agent Studio for Payments, Powered by Claude appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

OpenWay and UnionPay International (UPI) have expanded their partnership to support UnionPay products on the Way4 platform. Way4 is OpenWay’s platform for card issuing, acquiring, switching, and digital wallet services in real time. With the expansion, OpenWay clients can issue, acquire, and tokenise UnionPay cards, allowing for a more consistent rollout of UnionPay-powered payment services across markets. OpenWay has enabled the launch of Big Pay functionality for UnionPay cards on Way4 with six major banks in Central Asia. This is the first global integration of a UnionPay card with a Big Pay solution. OpenWay plans additional Big Pay integrations, which will expand mobile and digital wallet options for UnionPay cardholders on Way4. Since 2004, OpenWay has driven international payment scheme (IPS) innovation in Central Asia, powering the first UnionPay card issuance in Kazakhstan on the Way4 platform. The company has also supported the rollout of UnionPay chip cards and acquiring infrastructure in the region. Today, the Way4 platform is used internationally for cross-border card scheme integration, wallet-based services, real-time payments, and AI-based payment solutions. Rustem Nurmambetov, Operational Director, OpenWay in Central Asia, said: Rustem Nurmambetov “This partnership demonstrates the power of glocal innovation. Global breakthroughs often begin with local vision. Together with UnionPay International and our local banking partners, we are setting a global precedent for modern, inclusive, and interoperable payments.”     Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by rawpixel.com via Freepik The post OpenWay Enables Big Pay for UnionPay Cards on Way4, Expands Global Support appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Kredivo Group, the Indonesia-based buy now, pay later and fintech company, has acquired Vietnam-based digital bank Timo, according to Tech in Asia, based on sources familiar with the matter. The report indicated that final paperwork has been signed, though the deal has not yet been formally announced. Financial terms remain undisclosed for the Kredivo Timo acquisition. Kredivo plans to invest approximately US$15 million in Vietnam over the next three years, targeting one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing fintech markets. Kredivo Group’s co-founder and CEO, Akshay Garg, will purportedly oversee operations of the combined entity. The Timo brand is expected to be retained, with Kredivo’s Vietnam operations consolidated under it over time. The integration will unfold in two phases: first, migrating Kredivo’s lending technology into Timo’s platform, followed by the introduction of card-based payment products. Phoenix Holdings, an early Timo backer, is expected to retain its stake following the deal. Timo currently operates in partnership with Viet Capital Bank, as Vietnam does not issue standalone digital banking licences. Featured image edited by Fintech News Singapore based on an image by Zay Win Htai on Freepik The post Kredivo Group Acquires Vietnamese Digital Bank Timo in Regional Push appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Alteryx has surpassed US$1 billion in annual recurring revenue as it expands its push into enterprise AI and automation. The company is positioning its Alteryx One platform as a way for businesses to connect data, business context and AI in a single platform, with a governed and repeatable logic layer designed to preserve lineage and support AI use at scale. Alteryx added that thousands of customers are moving to its simplified pricing model. The push comes as businesses look for more reliable ways to scale AI. Alteryx cited research showing that 28 percent of organisations have limited or no confidence in the accuracy and quality of their data. Andy MacMillan Andy MacMillan, CEO of Alteryx, said, “When automation becomes agentic, inconsistency is no longer just inefficient. It becomes an enterprise risk. AI requires a governed and repeatable logic layer. Without that foundation, organisations don’t just move faster — they scale risk faster than productivity. Alteryx is purpose-built for this next phase, giving enterprises the control, transparency, and confidence to operationalise AI, and giving lines of business the flexibility they need to adapt and change.” Alteryx’s global community reached more than 750,000 members in 2025, marking 10 years since its launch. Its customers executed more than 380 million automated workflows in 2025, up from more than 260 million in 2023. The company’s platform supports newer generative AI use cases, including natural language interaction with data, while maintaining explainable and auditable outputs aligned with enterprise compliance needs. Alteryx also expanded its cloud data platform ecosystem, including a deeper partnership with Google Cloud, and introduced a refreshed brand identity tied to its focus on AI-powered analytics and enterprise-scale automation.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Borin via Freepik The post Alteryx Surpasses US$1 Billion in ARR Amid Rising Enterprise AI Demand appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Mastercard has rolled out a new Crypto Partner Program that brings together more than 85 firms across digital assets, payments and financial services. The new global initiative is intended to create a forum for collaboration as digital asset use cases become more closely tied to mainstream financial systems. Among the companies joining the program are Anchorage Digital, Binance, Bybit, Circle, Crypto.com, DCS Card, dtcpay, Episode Six, Fireblocks, Gemini, Paxos, Paymentology, PayPal, Ripple, StraitsX, Thought Machine, Thredd, TRM Labs and Worldpay. Mastercard said digital assets are increasingly being used in areas such as cross-border remittances, B2B money transfers, payouts, settlement and other forms of cross-border money movement. These use cases are starting to create new opportunities to improve how money moves across markets. Through the program, participants will engage with Mastercard teams on the design and direction of future products and services. This includes solutions aimed at combining the speed and programmability of digital assets with existing card rails and global commerce flows. Mastercard said the initiative is focused on turning technical innovation into scalable and compliant use cases that can operate across markets and fit into everyday commerce. It also aims to support more consistent standards and responsible growth across the ecosystem. The launch builds on Mastercard’s earlier digital asset efforts, including its Start Path track for blockchain and digital asset firms and its Engage platform, which includes a Crypto Card program. Mastercard said it will continue focusing on trust, standards and connecting systems at scale as it works to bridge on-chain innovation with existing payments infrastructure.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Vladislav via Freepik The post Circle, Binance and Ripple Join Mastercard’s New Crypto Partner Program appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Mastercard is rolling out a new platform to help banks tackle SME cross-border payment friction in Asia Pacific. The company has launched Mastercard Global Commerce Suite for Small Businesses, a new offering powered by Mastercard Move. It is designed to help banks support SMEs with cross-border payments, collections and expenses. It is now available to banks and financial institutions in Hong Kong SAR, with plans to expand into selected Asia Pacific markets. The launch comes as more SMEs in the region expand into cross-border trade while continuing to face issues such as limited payment visibility, compliance requirements, vague timelines and fragmented processes. Mastercard said the suite includes virtual accounts in multiple currencies, a multi-currency card, app-based controls, API links to marketplaces and ecommerce platforms, and near real-time payment tracking. It also includes authentication and compliance features aimed at reducing friction and fraud. Anouska Ladds Anouska Ladds, EVP, Commercial and New Payment Flows, Asia Pacific at Mastercard, said, “Mastercard Global Commerce Suite for Small Businesses aims to offer banks a powerful, scalable way to support SME growth by bringing payments, visibility, and control together in one platform that is purpose-built for cross-border commerce. It will enable banks to serve SMEs more effectively, while building the foundation for deeper, long-term relationships as their customers grow.” Mastercard Move supports money movement across more than 200 countries and territories and in more than 150 currencies.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by mrsiraphol via Freepik The post Mastercard Rolls Out Cross-Border Payments Suite for APAC SMEs appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Thunes has made two senior hires as the company expands its payments network and strengthens its leadership team. The company has appointed Guy Duncan as Chief Technology and Product Officer and Parvinder Bhatia as Chief Financial Officer. Duncan joins Thunes with experience in digital transformation and scaling technology platforms. He previously served as CTO at Tide and OVO Energy. Duncan also led BMW’s digital transformation across 64 markets and helped scale Tide’s platform from 50,000 to more than 1 million members. At Thunes, he will lead the company’s technology and product teams, with a focus on building teams and deploying AI across its Direct Global Network. Guy Duncan Guy Duncan, CTPO of Thunes, said, “Thunes is at a fascinating juncture where technology and innovation acts as the ultimate strategic enabler. I am thrilled to join a team that shares my ‘Think Big’ philosophy and entrepreneurial mindset. My focus will be on ensuring our solutions solve customer friction both for now and for the future, through innovative, production-ready AI and scalable architecture.” Bhatia joins from bunq, where he served as CFO and supported the bank’s financial strategy and international expansion. He has more than 24 years of experience across fintech, private equity and venture-backed businesses. At Thunes, he will lead the company’s global finance organisation and work with the leadership team as the company continues to grow its cross-border payments infrastructure. Parvinder Bhatia Parvinder Bhatia, CFO of Thunes, added, “Thunes has built a remarkable foundation for global cross-border payments and I am joining at a time of significant momentum. I look forward to working with the board and the executive team to navigate our next phase of international growth, ensuring our financial strategy remains as innovative and robust as our technology.”     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by ghiska via Freepik The post Thunes Taps Guy Duncan and Parvinder Bhatia for Next Growth Phase appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Stablecoins are gaining ground in APAC finance as clearer rules draw more institutional interest, a new Money20/20 Asia report found. Published ahead of Money20/20 Asia in Bangkok this April, the report draws on insights from more than 130 stakeholders across the region and points to a fintech sector moving beyond experimentation in areas such as AI and digital assets. It highlights three main themes for 2026: maturing core technologies, deeper collaboration between banks and fintechs, and the growing importance of trust across data, cybersecurity and governance. In digital assets, the report says interest is rising particularly around stablecoins, with attention shifting away from speculative crypto activity and toward practical uses in B2B and cross-border payments. It says growing regulatory clarity is helping support that shift and attract larger traditional financial institutions, while also noting that monetisation remains a hurdle for many players and that digital assets are still seen as a parallel option rather than a replacement for fiat. AI is also moving further into deployment. The report says it has progressed beyond experimentation into active scaling, with firms focusing on embedding it into core operations. At the same time, it warns that AI is also creating new risks, especially in fraud, phishing, identity verification and broader cybersecurity. Ian Fong “APAC is no longer experimenting — it’s executing. The region is building financial infrastructure that is faster, safer, and more inclusive than ever before. What happens here will influence the future of money globally.” said Ian Fong, VP of Content at Money20/20 Asia. Separately, the report found Southeast Asia was the top market APAC fintech organisations are focused on or expanding into over the next 12 to 18 months, cited by 22.9 percent of respondents. Digital Trust Emerges as a Core Priority That focus on trust runs throughout the report. It says 91.7 percent of respondents view cybersecurity and data privacy as a top priority, while 88.2 percent see digital identity as a foundational part of the modern banking and payments ecosystem. The report adds that security is increasingly being treated as a business capability woven into products and operations, rather than just a compliance requirement. The report also points to a more collaborative regulatory climate across Asia Pacific. It says regulators are increasingly engaging through initiatives, pilots and public-private partnerships, with growing momentum toward regulatory harmonisation across markets. Respondents broadly viewed regulation as increasingly supportive of innovation, particularly in areas such as digital assets and AI risk management. Overall, the report suggests APAC fintech is moving into a stage where the question is no longer just what can be built, but what can be scaled, trusted and sustained.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by tamirt via Freepik The post Money20/20 Asia Report Maps APAC Fintech’s Shift to Scale appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Mastercard has introduced Virtual C-Suite, a new agentic AI offering designed to help small businesses operate with executive-level insight and decision-making. The first tool to be launched under the suite will be a Virtual CFO, which Mastercard said will be introduced this year through financial institutions, accounting platforms and software providers. Additional AI-powered roles tied to functions such as security and marketing are planned over time. Virtual C-Suite builds on Mastercard’s Agent Suite and is designed to work within the accounting systems, business software and banking applications that small businesses already use. According to Mastercard, the system can analyse business performance, identify risks and opportunities, forecast likely outcomes, and recommend both immediate and longer-term actions. Business owners will be able to access the service through dashboards and conversational interfaces, including for questions about cash flow and business performance. Mastercard said the recommendations will draw on a business’ own financial activity as well as insights from transactions across its network. It processed 175 billion transactions in 2025, and said the system is designed to help businesses manage how they pay, get paid, and handle working capital. Mark Barnett, Mark Barnett, Global Head of Small and Medium Enterprises at Mastercard, said, “With Virtual C-Suite, we are bringing the innovative technology, quality data at scale, and strategic expertise usually available to large enterprises to small business owners. Our goal is to turn operational complexity into clarity — helping entrepreneurs regain time, make smarter decisions, and translate their ambition into measurable growth.” Mastercard is positioning the offering as a tool for SMEs, which often operate with lean teams and may lack dedicated subject matter expertise. It said the service is aimed at giving smaller businesses access to the kind of analysis and support that has typically been more available to larger enterprises.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Freepik The post Mastercard Launches Virtual C-Suite AI Tool for Small Businesses appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Broadridge has added Crypto.com to its NYFIX network, allowing market participants to route crypto orders through its existing FIX-based trading infrastructure. The integration also marks NYFIX’s first cryptocurrency trading connection in Asia. With the tie-up, firms already connected to NYFIX can route crypto orders directly to Crypto.com through the same network used for other asset classes. The integration also gives Crypto.com access to NYFIX Marketplace. Broadridge said the setup supports order routing, drop copies and market data handling through the FIX protocol. It added that the integration combines its market access and connectivity with Crypto.com’s liquidity and low-latency trading capabilities. For Crypto.com, the connection also expands its access to Broadridge’s global network of more than 2,200 buy-side and sell-side participants, supporting its reach among professional trading firms. Broadridge also said the partnership could allow Crypto.com to explore additional capital markets capabilities on the platform as its business grows. George Rosenberger George Rosenberger, Senior Vice President of Trading and Connectivity Solutions at Broadridge, said, “As interest in digital assets continues to accelerate, this relationship reflects Broadridge’s commitment to expanding access to emerging asset classes while maintaining compliance and operational resilience. With Crypto.com we are extending NYFIX’s robust connectivity into the digital asset space, enabling our clients to route orders with the same reliability and transparency they expect from all their trading activity.” Eric Anziani Eric Anziani, President and Chief Operating Officer of Crypto.com, said, “Working with Broadridge allows us to connect with a trusted global network that has long served the world’s leading financial institutions. This collaboration strengthens our ability to serve professional trading firms with robust FIX connectivity solutions and supports our ongoing mission to expand Crypto.com’s presence across key global markets.”     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by vykhopentaras via Freepik The post Broadridge Adds Crypto.com to NYFIX in First Asia Crypto Trading Link appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Thailand is leading the transition towards cashless and digital payments both domestically and across borders, driven by real-time payment infrastructure, e-money growth, and cross-border payment linkages, a new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says. However, this shift is also introducing new risks and challenges. Between 2019 and 2024, the use of non-physical payments increased annually by more than 75% on average. This surge has been fueled largely by PromptPay, Thailand’s real-time digital payment system. Launched in 2016, PromptPay links bank accounts to national identification (ID) or mobile phone numbers, offering a universal, low-cost platform for multiple use cases, including request to pay, merchant payments, cross-bank bill payments, bulk/batch payments, and e-donations. During 2019 to 2024, the average number of fast payment transactions through PromptPay rose more than eight-fold from below 40 per person per year to almost 350. Today, registration to PromptPay exceeds over 90 million against a population of about 71 million, and the system processes more than 74 million every day, according to The Nation. Thailand is also seeing high penetration of e-money account. Today, nearly half of the adult population owns an e-money account, outperforming its regional peers where only about 20% of ASEAN consumers have an e-money account. This significant progress in digital payments has been a catalyst for financial inclusion. In 2024, about 80% of adults in Thailand owned financial accounts, 55% owned a debit card, and 50% had made digital payments. The country now has more registered mobile banking accounts at 107.24 million than people, according to The Nation. ASEAN: Payment digitalization and financial inclusion, Source: ASEAN’s Digital Payment Revolution: A New Frontier for Regional Integration, International Monetary Fund, Feb 2026 In response to the shift to cashless payments, Thai merchants are embracing digital payments at a fast pace. A 2022 survey by the Bank of Thailand (BOT) found that 96% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) had adopted digital payments, which accounted for over two-thirds of their payment value. Thai SMEs adoption of e-payment, Source: Survey on SMEs Payment Behavior, Bank of Thailand, 2023 Cross-border payment linkages Across ASEAN, Thailand is also leading progress in establishing bilateral and multilateral cross-border fast payment linkages with its regional counterparts. Thailand was one of the first movers in linking digital payments across borders, establishing in 2018 its first QR payment linkage with Japan, and later with eight other economies. This type of linkage is the most common in Southeast Asia, and allows travelers to make real-time payments to merchants in other countries by scanning a QR code. In April 2021, Thailand established the first cross-border fund transfer connectivity with Singapore. This type of linkage aims to facilitate instant remittances and fund transfers across borders between individuals by using simple identifiers like a mobile phone number or a national identification. ASEAN: Bilateral cross-border payment linkages, Source: ASEAN’s Digital Payment Revolution: A New Frontier for Regional Integration, International Monetary Fund, Feb 2026 The IMF report notes that while QR cross-border payments in Southeast Asia are still small in value and volume, they have shown a significant surge in growth. In Thailand, inbound payments through all bilateral QR linkages stood at approximately THB 2.5 billion (US$79 million) in 2024. This represents a fivefold increase from THB 500 million (US$15.8 million) in 2023. Cross-border payments in Thailand, Source: ASEAN’s Digital Payment Revolution: A New Frontier for Regional Integration, International Monetary Fund, Feb 2026 Growth potential remains nevertheless substantial, particularly given rising intra-ASEAN tourism. In 2023, intra-ASEAN tourists accounted for 42% of total visitors, up from 36% in 2019. Fragmentation issues However, multiple linkages in current bilateral cross-border payment arrangements are leading in a highly fragmented landscape, making interoperability between systems and jurisdictions difficult to achieve. Project Nexus, a collaboration between the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub and central banks from Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and India, aims to address that through a multilateral approach. Project Nexus employs a standardized blueprint to connect multiple domestic fast payment systems through a single, central hub. This significantly simplifies the infrastructure required for regional and global payment connections. The initiative completed a successful proof of concept in 2022 and a comprehensive blueprint in July 2024. Nexus is already being incorporated in Singapore, marking a key step towards operationalization. The scheme is expected to go-live in the city state by 2027. Financial crime on the rise In addition to technological challenges, increased reliance on digital platforms is also heightening risks of financial crime and money laundering. Just this week, the Thai Digital Asset Operators Trade Association (TDO) said that more the 10,000 suspicious accounts had been frozen as the industry intensified efforts to combat money laundering through mule accounts. This initiative follows a series of arrests conducted in late-2025 involving hundreds of suspects, recruiters, and ringleaders linked to mule-account networks. These actions are part of a nationwide effort to curb financial crime amid surging online scam activity. Between November 01, 2023, and June 27, 2025, Thailand’s Anti Online Scam Operation Centre (AOC) received more than 1.18 million cases of online scams. This trend is accelerating in 2026. According to police, authorities logged 7,682 complaints of online scams from March 01 to 07, 2026 alone, up 4% from the 7,344 complaints the prior week. These scams caused THB 433.86 million (US$14 million) in damages.   Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by coffeemill and via user21016237 Freepik The post Thailand Leads ASEAN in Digital Payment Transformation appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

KAST, a global financial platform built on stablecoin rails and founded by former Circle executive Raagulan Pathy, has raised US$80 million in a Series A funding round. QED Investors and Left Lane Capital co-led the round, with returning investors Peak XV Partners, HSG and DST Global Partners also participating. The funding comes amid growing global adoption of stablecoins, particularly in emerging markets and among internationally mobile workforces, where demand for fast, dollar-denominated payments is outpacing traditional banking infrastructure. KAST plans to use the capital to expand in Latin America, North America and the Middle East, while accelerating licensing, compliance, product development and recruitment. Launched in July 2024, KAST provides USD-denominated accounts and global pay-ins and payouts to over 190 countries. Since launch, it has reached more than one million users and is processing nearly US$5 billion in annualised transaction volume. Revenue is projected to reach US$100 million annual run rate in 2026, with month-on-month growth of 15-20%, and has doubled since September 2025. Raagulan Pathy, Founder and CEO, said: Raagulan Pathy “The latest funding, raised less than 18 months from launch, reflects the confidence of leading investors in the stablecoin neobank thesis, and in KAST’s ability to execute it at global scale. Our end game is clear: to be the leading neobank for the stablecoin world, both for consumers and businesses.” KAST has hired over 250 staff across engineering, compliance and operations, including from Stripe, Revolut, Binance, Circle and Airwallex, to support its growth.     Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by smth.design via Freepik The post KAST Raises US$80 Million Series A to Expand Stablecoin Banking Globally appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

More than 3.4 billion digital wallets are already in use worldwide, powering close to $9 trillion in annual payments. By 2026, digital wallet adoption is expected to rise to 5.4 billion users, cementing e-wallets as one of the most dominant financial tools on the planet. Yet, despite these transaction volume surges, margins remain as thin as ever. Payment processing has become a scale game, with high-volume, low-yield written all over it. How do banks, fintechs, and payment providers turn these high-volume, low-margin transactions into sustainable profit? Is there a way to effectively move beyond transactions and build ecosystems that drive loyalty, data, and new revenue streams? The answer lies in how wallet ecosystems are designed. Closed vs Open-Loop Wallet Ecosystems Closed-loop and open-loop wallets represent two distinct approaches to digital payments, each shaped by different priorities around control, scale, cost, and even customer experience. Closed-loop wallets operate within a defined and controlled network. Transactions are restricted to the issuer’s own environment or selected partner merchants. This structure offers tighter control over the payment experience and allows organisations to bypass traditional card networks, reducing transaction costs. Closed-loop models are especially effective for loyalty-driven use cases like retail chains, transit systems and internal enterprise ecosystems. As the issuer manages the entire infrastructure, fraud prevention and security controls can be both centralised and monitored closely. Source: Your Essential Guide on How to Build Closed and Open-loop Wallet Ecosystems, BPC Open-loop systems take a different approach. Instead of restricting transactions to a proprietary network, they connect to global payment schemes, e.g. Visa, Mastercard or UnionPay. This enables its users to transact across multiple merchants, industries and geographies, as open-loop wallets are built for interoperability and scale. Open-loop wallet use cases range from P2P transfers and cross-border payments to e-commerce transactions and multi-merchant ecosystems. Their global acceptance makes them highly attractive for banks and fintechs that want to expand beyond a single brand or network. Due to this reason, its transaction fees tend to be on the higher side, and fraud prevention is a more complex affair in a decentralised environment with multiple partners and jurisdictions. The key difference between these two models can be boiled down to a trade-off between efficiency and expansion. Source: Your Essential Guide on How to Build Closed and Open-loop Wallet Ecosystems, BPC The future of wallet ecosystems is not purely open or closed. More institutions are adopting hybrid approaches. Many begin with a closed-loop model to refine operations, build engagement and test value propositions in a controlled environment. Over time, they extend into semi-open or fully open-loop structures to unlock new revenue streams and geographic expansion. Technological advances, open API frameworks, embedded finance capabilities, and evolving consumer expectations are accelerating this change. Understanding how and when to transition between these models is ultimately what determines whether a wallet becomes a cost centre or sustainable revenue engine. Strategic Middle Ground with Semi-Closed Wallet Models Semi-closed wallets extend usability beyond a single proprietary network while still maintaining structured partnerships and defined boundaries. It’s a strategically important phase, as it allows institutions to test elements of interoperability and broader merchant acceptance, minus the full complexity of a global scheme integration. Source: Your Essential Guide on How to Build Closed and Open-loop Wallet Ecosystems, BPC By collaborating with select external merchants, transit operators or service providers, organisations can expand customer utility while preserving the many advantages they already have in a controlled ecosystem, including factors like lower transaction costs and strong loyalty mechanisms. This requires careful execution. Your business must establish commercial partnerships with external merchants and integrate their wallet with multiple payment gateways. The infrastructure under the hood needs to support seamless interoperability across different systems, allowing multi-merchant transactions without letting the user experience dip. Loyalty programs have to remain unified across the ecosystem, and real-fraud detection capabilities must match transaction growth. If all of these boxes are ticked, a semi-closed model serves as a strategic middle ground where ecosystem control begins to evolve into a scalable opportunity. Building an Open-Loop Ecosystem for Issuers and Acquirers Moving into an open-loop ecosystem next requires deeper alignment across strategy, operations and technology. For issuers, launching an open-loop wallet begins with building a robust, future-ready platform. This means integrating global payment networks, enabling digital and virtual card assistance, and ensuring that the wallet interacts with no hiccups with diverse financial systems across regions. The wallet must support multi-currency transactions, cross-border capabilities, and real-time processing while maintaining a consistent user experience. Its infrastructure has to be able to support advanced fraud detection, secure tokenisation, and regulatory alignment across jurisdictions. Without these implementation steps in place, expansion can introduce operational strain. Steps for Implementation for Issuers Issues should pay attention to integrating global payment networks, providing digital card issuance and ensuring interoperability across diverse financial systems. These factors will ensure that issuers successfully launch an open-loop wallet. Step 1: Start with Closed-Loop Wallets Many issuers begin by launching closed-loop wallets within their ecosystems, allowing them to test features such as wallet funding, QR/NFC payments, and loyalty program integrations. For example, retail chains can introduce wallets for in-store use while offering rewards for frequent usage. Step 2: Introduce Virtual Card Issuance Issuers should enable real-time virtual card issuance linked to the wallet for online and in-store payments. BPC’s SmartVista card management solution, for instance, provides instant card issuance capabilities, allowing customers to begin transactions immediately upon onboarding. This feature is critical for attracting tech-savvy users who demand instant access. For example, leveraging the BPC platform, GoTyme was able to start issuing cards within a few minutes of customers engaging the terminal, which led to a surge in customers over the next few years. Now Tyme possesses over 12 million customers and continues to expand. Step 3: Expand to Global Networks To transition from closed-loop to open-loop ecosystems, issuers must integrate their wallets with global payment networks like Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, Diners, or UnionPay. This integration ensures widespread acceptance across regions and industries, enabling cross-border payments and enhancing customer convenience. For example, Nubank’s integration with Brazil’s PIX and international networks allowed it to offer multi-currency wallet features, boosting user adoption. Step 4: Features and Customer Engagement Offer value-added services such as P2P payments, budgeting tools, PFM and personalised offers. Revolut’s wallet is an example of how issuers can enhance customer retention through such features, reaching 45 million users in 2024. Step 5: Security is the Key Implement AI and ML-driven fraud detection tools, tokenization, and biometric authentication to ensure secure transactions of your service and ecosystem. Security is a critical factor in building trust, particularly when expanding into global markets. Steps for Implementation for Acquirers For acquirers, the transition to open-loop ecosystems centres on one core objective: merchant enablement. A wallet may be interoperable, but without widespread acceptance, its value is still cut short. The acquirer’s role is to ensure merchants can accept open-loop wallet payments across physical stores, online platforms, and emerging digital channels. Step 1: Start with Closed-Loop Merchant Acceptance Acquirers can initially focus on building a network of merchants within their ecosystem who accept closed-loop wallet payments. For example, a shopping mall could implement a wallet for payments across its stores with minimal or no acquiring fees to encourage merchant adoption. Step 2: Enable QR Code Solutions Issuers should enable real-time virtual card issuance linked to the wallet for online and in-store payments. BPC’s SmartVista card management solution, for instance, provides instant card issuance capabilities, allowing customers to begin transactions immediately upon onboarding. This feature is critical for attracting tech-savvy users who demand instant access. For example, leveraging the BPC platform, GoTyme was able to start issuing cards within a few minutes of customers engaging the terminal, which led to a surge in customers over the next few years. Now Tyme possesses over 12 million customers and continues to expand. Step 3: Integrate Open-Loop POS Acceptance Acquirers should enable merchants to accept payments via open-loop POS networks that support various methods, including QRs, NFC, contactless payments, and tokenised card transactions. Step 4: Provide Merchant Analytics and Tools Acquirers must offer tools for real-time transaction monitoring, customer analytics, and loyalty program integration. This ensures merchants can track performance and optimise their strategies to increase footfall and customer engagement. Step 5: Collaborate with Technology Providers Partnerships with technology providers like BPC allow acquirers to access APIs and SDKs that streamline merchant onboarding and payment processing. These integrations make it easier for merchants to accept open-loop payments and expand their offerings. Step 6: Support Cross-Border Transactions Upon successful approval, the specified amount is deducted from the wallet balance or linked payment source. Users receive a confirmation notifying them that the payment has been completed. What Lies in the Future of Wallet Ecosystems? Functionality, intelligence, and global integration will define the next phase of wallet evolution. This is not a surprise, given the fact that wallets are expanding far beyond their original purpose as transaction tools and becoming comprehensive financial platforms. One visible shift is cryptocurrency integration. As of 2024, the global cryptocurrency market was valued at $2.2 trillion, spotlighting consumer interest in digital assets. Wallets are already incorporating crypto storage, trading and payment capabilities. As global commerce hits new highs, consumers and businesses both expect frictionless international transactions. Wallets that support quick and efficient currency conversion and cross-border payments reduce the complexity that is usually associated with global trade. Research from Convera suggests that cross-border payments could reach $290 trillion by 2030, underlining the scale of this opportunity that awaits. Wallet ecosystems that can support multi-currency flows efficiently may be the ones at the centre of this growth. However, scale alone is no longer a guarantee of success. Imran Vilcassim, BPC’s Global Chief Commercial Officer, Digital Banking, shares that wallet growth is no longer the North Star, but rather unit economics are. Imran Vilcassim “For banks and fintechs, the path to profitability lies in moving beyond a ‘land grab’ for users and toward a shared ecosystem of value. Success requires deliberate orchestration: leveraging the trusted infrastructure and capital of banks alongside the agile distribution and user centricity of fintechs.” Imran shares that regardless of operating in a high-engagement closed loop or scaling through open-loop interoperability, the winners will be those who industrialise fraud and compliance. Sustainable revenue goes beyond the transaction, he says, and is about the operational discipline that turns high volume into high margin. Build the Right Wallet Ecosystem Before You Scale Designing a successful wallet is all about choosing the right model, expanding at the right time, and building an ecosystem that can grow profitably across markets and use cases. Institutions that understand when to use closed, semi-closed, and open-loop strategies are the ones turning wallets into long-term platforms for engagement and revenue. For a deeper look at the implementation pathways, infrastructure choices, and real-world case studies shaping this evolution, download BPC’s “Your Essential Guide on How to Build Closed and Open-Loop Wallet Ecosystems.” Featured image edited by Fintech News Singapore based on image by freepik on Freepik The post The War on Cash Is Over. The Real Battle Is Building Profitable Wallet Ecosystems appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

DBS has expanded its SecureFX service to all corporate customers in Singapore, widening access as businesses look for more certainty in volatile currency markets. The foreign exchange service, which launched in March 2025, allows businesses to lock in preferred rates for future-dated foreign currency payments through DBS IDEAL. DBS said the broader rollout will give more companies access to a tool that can help them better manage foreign exchange risk. The bank said around 60 percent of its Singapore SME foreign exchange customers with cross-border payment needs have used SecureFX since launch. It also said its latest Business Pulse Check Survey found that 83 percent of SMEs plan to internationalise in 2026 as they seek growth amid market volatility. DBS said implied volatility in the euro, yen and pound has been rising since the start of 2026 due to ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty. Eileen Chia Eileen Chia, Regional Head of Corporate Advisory, Global Financial Markets at DBS, said, “While global markets are moving through a period of heightened volatility, this also presents opportunities for businesses that are ready to scale beyond their home markets. Companies that take a more strategic approach to managing their foreign exchange exposures are often better positioned to seize regional opportunities, strengthen supplier relationships and plan with greater clarity.” Available within DBS IDEAL, SecureFX covers five currency pairs namely USD/SGD, EUR/SGD, EUR/USD, GBP/SGD and JPY/SGD. Businesses can lock in rates up to one month in advance for local and overseas payments of up to US$1 million at any given time, without credit lines or upfront cash commitments.   The post DBS Expands FX Rate-Locking Tool to All Corporate Customers in Singapore appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

If managing identity risk in Singapore feels harder than it did a few years ago, you’re not imagining it. It doesn’t mean something is broken. It means Singapore is operating closer to the future than almost any other market and the rest of the world is heading in the same direction. Singapore’s digital economy moves at a pace most countries haven’t yet reached. Identity decisions are automated, embedded into user journeys, and largely invisible to customers. That’s the upside of a highly digital economy. The downside is that when something goes wrong, it propagates fast. This is not uniquely Singaporean. It’s a preview for other countries. APAC as the world’s early warning system APAC is the most diverse identity environment globally, but its most advanced markets share a pattern: digital adoption outpaces the governance and operational controls meant to manage it. That gap is where new forms of identity risk emerge first. Singapore is pushing the frontier with national digital identity and services. Australia is accelerating toward a unified digital identity framework. South Korea and Hong Kong run high-velocity financial ecosystems where attackers test new techniques early. India operates identity at a national scale, where small errors can ripple across millions instantly. Across these markets, identity verification is no longer a compliance step. It is part of the product. Decisions that once took minutes or hours now happen in seconds, often without human review. When those decisions fail, they fail loudly. What APAC experiences today, others will face tomorrow. Singapore as a global stress test Source: lifeforstock via Freepik Singapore is often described as a benchmark market. In identity risk, it is better understood as a stress test. Research from Regula indicates that Singaporean organizations are more likely than global peers to treat fraud prevention as a senior leadership issue. Nearly one-third cite strong executive involvement as critical, a higher proportion than in the US, Germany, or the UAE. This does not signal higher fraud volumes. It reflects earlier recognition. As identity decisions scale, errors shift from operational incidents to systemic exposures. That movement pushes identity risk into governance, where accountability resides. Other regions will follow as their digital ecosystems mature. Fraud is moving upstream globally The most important shift Singapore reveals is not the volume of fraud, but its nature. Biometric fraud and deepfake-powered impersonation appear more frequently than traditional document fraud. Attackers target the signals automated systems trust most. This pattern is already emerging across APAC and will not remain regional: Australia is seeing deepfake-enabled attacks against high-value financial services. South Korea faces biometric spoofing targeting mobile-first banking. India is experiencing AI-assisted impersonation layered onto Aadhaar-linked services. Document fraud targets static artifacts. AI-assisted attacks target decision logic. As verification improves, the attack surface moves upstream, the direction global fraud is heading. Automation concentrates risk everywhere Source: Freepik Automation reduces friction and enables scale without proportional staffing increases. But it also concentrates risk. Most organizations did not design identity systems as a unified whole. They assembled them over time: document checks from one provider, biometrics from another, databases and watchlists elsewhere. At low volumes, this fragmentation is manageable. At scale, it becomes opaque. APAC is the first region to feel the full impact of this under high automation. But the same structural weaknesses exist in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East.  As these markets accelerate digital identity strategies, they will encounter similar challenges. When identity decisions function more like launch points than checkpoints, lack of coordination becomes risk. Teams lose visibility into how trust was established, which signals influenced outcomes, and how that trust propagated. Detecting an issue is often easier than containing it. User experience also degrades. Repeated document submissions, failed liveness checks, unnecessary manual reviews, and poorly routed edge cases introduce friction and increase abandonment. Complexity accumulates quietly. What Singapore indicates about what comes next Singapore is already operating in the environment others are moving toward: identity decisions that are fast, automated, and consequential. The challenge is no longer scale, but control — whether decisions can be understood, explained, and contained once made. This is a likely future for every digitally advanced economy. Europe will feel it as digital wallets scale under eIDAS 2.0. The US will feel it as fintechs consolidate fragmented identity stacks. The Middle East will feel it as national digital identity programs expand into private-sector use cases. LATAM will feel it as neobanks push onboarding speed to compete. Singapore is the first to experience automation’s full impact at scale. APAC is the proving ground. The rest of the world is on the same trajectory — just delayed. What Singapore is experiencing now is not a regional anomaly. It’s the global future of identity.   Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by thanyakij-12 via Freepik The post Singapore Is Living the Future of Identity Fraud appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Thredd has made two senior leadership changes as it expands its cloud-native platform and prepares to launch credit capabilities. The issuer processing platform has appointed Marilyn McDonald as Chief Technology Officer and promoted Ryan Dew to Chief Product Officer. Marilyn McDonald McDonald succeeds Edwin Poot, who helped modernise the company’s technology stack. Thredd said its cloud-native global platform is now live in the United States, with end-to-end credit capabilities due to launch in the coming months alongside a new debit platform and unified ledger. The company said McDonald will focus on operational readiness, delivery and resilience as it expands embedded finance programmes with banks and credit unions globally. She previously held senior roles at Citigroup, Mastercard, Expedia Group and StubHub. Ryan Dew Dew’s promotion is aimed at bringing product development more closely in line with Thredd’s broader platform strategy. Over the past two years, Thredd said it has expanded into London, Singapore, Sydney and Austin, while adding products in tokenisation, fraud, risk and reconciliation. It also cited launches tied to Mastercard Wholesale Program, Visa Fleet 2.0, Visa Cloud Connect and Mastercard Cloud Edge. Thredd said its platform supports debit, credit, BNPL, cross-border B2B programmes and payouts through a single API. The company added that it is expanding into areas such as real-time payments, ACH and stablecoin settlement.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by lifeforstock via Freepik The post Thredd Names New CTO, Promotes Product Chief as Credit Launch Nears appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

SUNRATE has changed the name of its China-licensed entity from Transfar Pay to SUNRATE Pay following following regulatory approval. The renamed entity will serve as SUNRATE’s core operating platform in China, supporting local enterprises with cross-border payment needs. The Singapore-based payment and treasury management firm said it will focus on facilitating two-way fund flows, including helping businesses bring in international capital and expand abroad efficiently and compliantly. The change comes after SUNRATE secured a payment business licence in China in August 2025 through its acquisition of Transfar Pay. The company said the renaming reflects its efforts to deepen its presence in China, expand local operations and strengthen its compliance foundation. SUNRATE also said it remains focused on compliance, risk management and governance as it grows its cross-border payments business. The firm has a presence in markets including Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and the United Kingdom. In 2025, SUNRATE acquired a 100 percent stake in Transfar Pay, a unit of Shenzhen-listed Transfar Group, for RMB 315 million, or about US$43.8 million. The deal was first disclosed by Transfar Group in an exchange filing dated 1 April 2025, while the registered capital of the payment entity was increased to RMB 200 million that same month.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by SUNRATE The post SUNRATE Renames China Payment Unit Following Regulatory Approval appeared first on Fintech Singapore.