Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is preparing regulatory changes that would let ESG funds invest in JUMP+ companies with strong governance scores. The SEC is drafting new rules to allow Thai ESG Funds to invest in listed companies participating in the JUMP+ Program run by the Stock Exchange of Thailand, provided they achieve a Corporate Governance Report score of at least 90. The amendments were approved in principle by the Capital Market Supervisory Board in December 2025 and are expected to take effect in March 2026, once the SEC finalises the relevant rules and notifications. If implemented, shares of qualifying JUMP+ companies would become eligible assets for Thai ESG Funds. The move would expand the investment scope of ESG funds while encouraging listed companies to strengthen governance and pursue structured growth plans with ongoing disclosure to investors. As of 26 January 2026, there were 77 Thai ESG Funds, including the Thailand ESG Extra Fund. They are managed by 19 asset management companies with a combined net asset value of about THB 103.1 billion, up 249 percent from the end of 2024. Currently, Thai ESG Funds can invest in shares of listed companies with strong environmental or ESG performance. They can also invest in sustainability related debt instruments and sustainability related investment tokens. Eligible assets also include units of infrastructure funds and real estate investment trusts with ESG credentials. The JUMP+ Program supports listed companies in developing long-term growth strategies. It focuses on improving governance and strengthening transparency through regular communication with investors. Participating companies must submit their JUMP+ plans by 31 March 2026.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by farknot via Freepik   The post Thai SEC Links ESG Fund Access to Corporate Governance Scores appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Artificial intelligence has arrived in payments. Big Tech players are embedding AI into authentication, personalisation, cashierless checkout and conversational commerce. Lately, Amazon attributed its 35% profit surge to its AI investments in payments and checkout. Fintechs are also experimenting aggressively with agentic AI, real-time recommendations, and automated customer service. bunq’s AI assistant “Finn”, part of Europe’s first AI-powered neobank, now handles up to 40% of user support questions independently while assisting with up to 75% of queries daily. Yet for many tier-1 and tier-2 banks, processors, and established fintechs, the question is not whether to use AI, but how to do so without compromising scale, security, or regulatory compliance. What prevents AI adoption in payments Most financial institutions face three fundamental obstacles on their AI journey: a lack of clear AI strategy, a weak core technology and data backbone, and operating models built for a slower era. While strategy and talent matter, AI initiatives consistently stall at the same bottleneck: high-quality data. Payments data is complex, sensitive, and highly transactional. You cannot simply “add AI” to a legacy platform and expect results. AI requires clean, structured, real-time data. Many AI use cases require systems that can interpret AI outputs and execute actions instantly. AI in payments is about acting while a transaction is happening, not generating insights after the fact. An AI agent delivers value only if the system can respond in real time: authorising, routing, updating limits, triggering customer interactions, or adapting the payment flow. Way4 and Way4 DMP: clean data meets AI-ready, real-time core This is where OpenWay’s Way4, a digital payments software platform trusted by leading banks and fintechs worldwide, becomes decisive. Way4 was designed as a real-time financial core, capable of sharing live data and executing actions online. With this foundation, the Way4 Data Management Platform (DMP) enables institutions to treat AI as an API service, embedded directly into payment flows. Successful AI for payments depends on where data is created and how quickly it can drive action. Way4’s real-time payments core authorises and executes transactions at scale, generating clean, structured, and context-rich data when decisions are made. Way4 DMP transforms this real-time data into AI-ready structures, enabling institutions to analyse behavior, experiment rapidly, and deploy AI-driven logic inside live payment flows, not in disconnected systems. Together, Way4 and Way4 DMP allow organisations to move from AI pilots to production quickly and safely, enabling real-time interpretation and action while maintaining enterprise control. Institutions choose between three flexible models: Data as a Service – Real-time, structured payment data for AI use cases Model Training – Using Way4 data to train AI models tailored to business goals Train-and-Deploy Agent Services – Deploying AI agents that operate directly within payment processes AI capabilities shift from theoretical to operational, embedding intelligence into payments and enabling experimentation, scale, and measurable outcomes. Cloud-first by design, enterprise by nature Way4 DMP is built on a cloud-first architecture designed specifically for fintech and digital payments. It delivers elastic scalability, rapid deployment, and continuous innovation without disrupting operations. Container orchestration, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, and advanced observability tools enable fast iteration, automated resilience, and efficient scaling of real-time data pipelines. Crucially, Way4 DMP is not a generic data platform. It is natively aware of Way4’s data models, transaction semantics, and execution logic, and interacts with the Way4 payments core in real time. This tight integration allows data to be captured, analysed, and acted upon within the same transaction lifecycle, supporting live decisioning, experimentation, and AI-driven logic inside payment flows. At the same time, the architecture respects enterprise realities. Data can remain local where sovereignty or regulatory requirements demand it, combining cloud-native agility with the governance and reliability expected of a core payments platform. AI in payments is about experimentation at speed Source: itchaznong via Freepik AI is inherently experimental. For banks and processors, the challenge is enabling this experimentation without disrupting production systems or incurring excessive costs. This is where AI-empowered platforms become essential as technological sandboxes for rapid innovation. When experimentation is built into the platform, AI projects become affordable, measurable, and repeatable. Pay-as-you-go economics further allow organisations to calculate the ROI of each use case precisely, creating confidence to move from pilot to production. From AI vision to commercial reality Institutions that win in the AI era will treat AI as a continuous capability, not a one-off project, embedding intelligence directly into payment flows and scaling what works. With Way4 DMP, OpenWay helps banks, fintechs, and processors move beyond isolated pilots. Through a focused workshop, teams can align on core principles and identify high-impact use cases, then shape and launch an MVP on real payment data, scaling proven AI capabilities safely across the payment business.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by aleksandr_samochernyi via Freepik The post Why Platforms Matter More Than Models in Deploying AI for Payments appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

SAP SE has announced two leadership appointments to support its operations in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Sianto Wongjoyo has been appointed Managing Director for Indonesia. He has more than 25 years of experience in enterprise technology and business leadership, with a focus on cloud transformation and partner-led growth. In his new role, Sianto will oversee strategy, operations and customer engagement for SAP Indonesia, and will lead the company’s data and AI agenda in the market, working closely with its partner ecosystem. Sianto Wongjoyo “Indonesia’s digital economy is one of the fastest-growing in Southeast Asia, and I am excited to lead SAP Indonesia during a pivotal period for AI and cloud adoption,” Sianto said. “I look forward to supporting customers as they use technology to drive meaningful business change.” SAP also appointed Saket Ranjan as Head of Corporate for Southeast Asia. Based in Singapore, Saket brings nearly 20 years of experience in scaling enterprise application portfolios and leading regional teams. He will be responsible for SAP’s Corporate segment across Southeast Asia, which serves upper mid-market and large enterprise customers through a partner-led model. Saket Ranjan “I am thrilled to join SAP, an organisation with the scale and capability to support customers in achieving tangible outcomes in a digital-first environment,” Saket said.     Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by mrsiraphol via Freepik This article first appeared on Fintech News Indonesia The post SAP Names Sianto Wongjoyo for Indonesia and Saket Ranjan for SEA Leadership appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Gaming isn’t just a hobby; it’s a global infrastructure challenge. In this episode Vincent Fong (Chief Editor, Fintech News Network) explores the intersection of gaming and fintech with Livia Ang (Global Business Director, NetEase Games) and Juan Pablo Ortega (CEO & Co-Founder, Yuno). We discuss how NetEase Games, the powerhouse behind global hits like Marvel Rivals, Eggy Party, and LifeAfter navigates the complexities of international expansion where “standard” payment stacks are no longer enough. Key Discussion Points: The Fragmentation Crisis: Managing 450+ providers through a single API. The D2C Economic Trap: Why saving 30% on app store fees is a loss if your conversion rate drops. Serving the Unbanked: Reaching players in markets where credit cards are not the norm. The post How Gaming Giants are Redefining the Experience of Paying appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

AI spending in banking is accelerating, but many institutions still struggle to move from pilots to scaled revenue. Research by Dyna.Ai with GXS Partners and Smartkarma shows that while banks are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, most continue to face difficulties translating AI initiatives into sustained financial impact. The report finds that across Southeast Asia, many AI deployments remain confined to pilot projects that have yet to scale into revenue-generating operations, with operational and organisational challenges slowing adoption. Global spending on AI in the banking, financial services and insurance sector is projected to rise from US$35 billion in 2023 to US$97 billion by 2027 and US$368 billion by 2032. However, the study argues that higher investment alone does not guarantee business results, and that success depends on embedding AI into core workflows and revenue-linked use cases. One of the strongest revenue drivers identified is AI-based personalisation. The report links generative AI personalisation to a 6 percent revenue uplift and a 3 percent improvement in return on equity. In wealth management, AI tools that support relationship managers have also delivered results, with one cited example of an AI coaching tool boosting advisor sales by 20 percent year on year by significantly reducing research time. How Southeast Asian Banks Are Turning AI into Revenue In Southeast Asia, banks are applying AI across digital channels to support lending, payments and customer engagement, while tapping into an estimated US$300 billion financing gap for micro, small and medium enterprises. The report highlights that mobile-first consumers and supportive regulatory frameworks have positioned the region as one of the most active markets for AI-driven financial services. The study notes that more than US$30 billion has been committed to AI-ready data centre infrastructure across Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia by mid-2024, providing the physical foundation for large-scale AI deployment in the region. Singapore leads ASEAN in AI readiness, followed by Malaysia and Thailand, with Indonesia and the Philippines catching up quickly, according to the report. The report also highlights DBS Singapore as the bank generated US$565 million in 2024 from more than 350 AI use cases, and is targeting higher returns as it continues to scale deployments across its operations. Despite these conditions, the transition from pilot to production remains constrained by three main commercial bottlenecks: fragmented data systems, talent shortages, and regulatory fragmentation across ASEAN. The report also highlights an adoption gap, noting that while AI models can be deployed within three months, it often takes up to nine months for frontline staff such as relationship managers to trust and actively use them in day-to-day workflows. It adds that banks are increasingly shifting towards outcome-based commercial models, where AI providers are paid based on measurable business results such as conversion uplift, straight-through processing rates, or time-to-yes, rather than technology delivery alone. Tomas Skoumal “Most banks believe they are progressing with AI, yet research shows only 10% of the organizations using agentic AI are seeing significant, measurable ROI. This report shows where revenue is being created, and why many institutions are still stuck despite years of pilots — a gap that is far wider than most executives expect.” said Tomas Skoumal, Chairman and Co-founder of Dyna.Ai. The full report “From Pilots to Production: How Banks Turn AI into Revenue” is available here.    Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by tamirt via Freepik The post Southeast Asian Banks Struggle to Scale AI from Pilots to Revenue appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Snowflake has signed a US$200 million, multi-year partnership with OpenAI to integrate AI models into its enterprise data platform. Under the agreement, OpenAI’s models will be made natively available within Snowflake Cortex AI, enabling enterprises to build and deploy AI applications and agents directly on their data. The partnership is structured as a first-party integration, positioning OpenAI as one of the primary model providers within Snowflake’s AI services. The integration will be available to Snowflake’s more than 12,600 global customers. Snowflake said models including GPT-5.2 will be accessible within Snowflake Intelligence, its enterprise AI agent platform, allowing employees to analyse enterprise data using natural language within a governed environment. Sridhar Ramaswamy Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO, Snowflake, said, “By bringing OpenAI models to enterprise data, Snowflake enables organizations to build and deploy AI on top of their most valuable asset using the secure, governed platform they already trust. Customers can now harness all their enterprise knowledge in Snowflake together with the world-class intelligence of OpenAI models, enabling them to build AI agents that are powerful, responsible, and trustworthy.” Fidji Simo Fidji Simo, CEO of Applications at OpenAI, said, “Snowflake is a trusted platform that sits at the center of how enterprises manage and activate their most critical data. This partnership brings our advanced models directly into that environment, making it easier to deploy AI agents and apps, so businesses can close the gap between what AI is capable of and the value they can create today,” Snowflake and OpenAI will jointly develop tools that allow enterprises to build custom AI agents across systems using governed data. The partnership builds on existing internal use, with OpenAI using Snowflake for analytics and Snowflake using OpenAI’s enterprise tools. Snowflake said the collaboration is aimed at accelerating adoption of agentic AI across large organisations by combining OpenAI’s models with its data governance, security and reliability framework.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by itzabshubo via Freepik The post Snowflake, OpenAI Sign Multi-Year US$200 Million Enterprise AI Partnership appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

The global rate of identity fraud decreased in 2025 from the previous year’s high, but the threats have become more severe. Fraud isn’t retreating, it’s maturing. The sloppy, low-effort attacks that thrived in 2024’s era of widely available tools are being replaced by fewer but sharper operations: multi-step, coordinated, and built to bypass basic verification. Sumsub, a global verification and fraud prevention firm, have identified this Sophistication Shift, signalling that the next stage of identity fraud won’t be measured by volume alone. Why attackers are leveling up Behind the numbers is a change in criminal behavior. When simple tactics stop working, fraudsters don’t quit — they evolve. The 180% year-over-year increase in sophisticated fraud points to a broader shift toward more effective planning, stronger social engineering, and higher-quality forgeries. The objective is no longer just to slip past a single checkpoint. It involves manipulating entire journeys, exploiting weak links across channels, and blending into legitimate user behavior long enough to cash out. The data backbone of the 2025–2026 view This year, Sumsub analysed more than four million fraud attempts, alongside insights from hundreds of fraud and risk professionals and over a thousand end-users. Three-quarters of respondents believe identity fraud is becoming more sophisticated and AI-driven, a conviction that isn’t fueled by hype alone. In 2025, AI-generated documents accounted for 2% of all detected fakes, with mainstream tools now integral to the fraud production process. ID cards stand out as the most vulnerable document type, a reflection of how widely they are used, how frequently they are requested, and how easily well-crafted forgeries can pass superficial checks. Industry pressure and the economics of trust Dating and Online Media sit at the top of industries with the highest fraud rate, highlighting the power of social engineering in environments where identity can be fluid, and trust is often established quickly. Financial Services and Crypto remain under sustained pressure, while Professional Services shows one of the sharpest year-over-year jumps, an indicator that higher-value, higher-trust environments are increasingly in scope. Customer trust metrics add nuance rather than comfort. Financial Services remains the most trusted sector, even while facing chronic attack pressure. Crypto appears on both high-fraud and high-trust lists, signaling that expectations are rising faster than defenses can standardise. The underlying message is simple: trust is becoming conditional, and the organisations that protect it most visibly will shape customer choices in 2026. Regional snapshots: progress, pressure, and deepfake momentum In APAC, synthetic personal data spiked 142% year over year, suggesting a future where constructed identities become as operationally common as stolen ones. Shockingly, 1 in 4 end users in APAC were found to have been personally targeted for money mule activity. Europe’s overall fraud rate decreased between 2024 and 2025, yet deepfakes rose sharply across major markets, including France, Spain, and Germany. LATAM and the Caribbean experienced strong growth in deepfake, alongside widespread consumer exposure to account compromise. The Middle East combined steep rises in synthetic identity abuse with exceptionally high consumer expectations for robust anti-fraud controls. Africa presents a mixed but encouraging picture, where regulatory maturity and crackdowns on cybercrime appear to be tied to declines in some major markets, even as deepfake growth continues to accelerate. The U.S. and Canada experienced a welcome decline in overall fraud rates, but deepfake incidents increased rapidly, another example of the rise of sophisticated attacks. What readiness looks like in 2026 The most resilient strategies for 2026 will likely be those that unify document and biometric signals with device and behavioral intelligence, integrate network detection into the core stack, and treat risk scoring as a continuous process rather than a one-time decision. If 2024 was defined by accessibility, 2025 is defined by intent. The attacks are fewer, but the planning is deeper. The tools are more common, but the outcomes are more consequential. The Sophistication Shift isn’t a trend to observe from a safe distance. It represents a structural shift that will reshape what security, trust, and growth will demand in the year ahead. Sumsub’s Identity Fraud Report 2025-2026 is available here.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Freepik The post Identity Fraud Enters a More Sophisticated Phase, Sumsub Report Finds appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Finastra has launched LaserPro Evaluate, a cloud-native solution aimed at streamlining commercial loan workflows for banks and credit unions. The new platform is targeted at institutions that still rely on manual tools such as spreadsheets or non-banking systems, as lenders face increasing pressure to meet digital-first expectations around speed, transparency and efficiency in commercial lending. Mitch Lucas “LaserPro Evaluate is a major step forward for institutions looking to modernise their lending operations. It’s designed to meet customers where they are, offering flexibility, efficiency, and future-ready capabilities,” said Mitch Lucas, Vice President of Product Management for Retail Lending at Finastra. LaserPro Evaluate is hosted on Finastra’s Total Lending platform and supports secure and scalable operations with automatic updates. It is intended to reduce manual work in loan processing and shorten the time needed to close loans, while offering a more intuitive user experience for both staff and customers. The solution uses modular deployment and licensing, allowing it to be deployed on its own or alongside other components within the LaserPro Lending Platform. It enables financial institutions to analyse financial data and exchange documents securely, with the option to scale and extend its capabilities over time, including support for analytics, AI and third-party integrations. LaserPro Evaluate forms part of Finastra’s broader LaserPro Lending Platform, which supports loan documentation, regulatory compliance, end-to-end lending processes and borrower relationship management for financial institutions.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by user17636940 via Freepik   The post Finastra Launches Cloud-Native Tool for Commercial Lending appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Indian travellers may soon be able to use UPI at foreign merchants as authorities study a possible tie-up with the Alipay+ network, according to a Reuters report. The move is part of India’s efforts to expand the global reach of its real-time payments system, which dominates retail transactions at home. The discussions involve the Indian government, the central bank and Singapore-based Ant International, which operates Alipay+ independently from Ant Group. If approved, the arrangement would allow UPI users to make payments at overseas merchants already connected to the Alipay+ network. Any decision will depend on security reviews and regulatory clearance, with officials expected to examine issues around data protection, digital infrastructure and geopolitical sensitivities linked to Alipay’s Chinese origins. Alipay+ connects digital wallets and payment platforms across more than 100 markets, linking about 1.8 billion user accounts with over 150 million merchants worldwide. The network has a strong presence in Asia and is expanding into Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. UPI has become the backbone of India’s retail payments system, processing close to 19 billion transactions a month as of early 2026, according to data from the National Payments Corporation of India. Policymakers have been seeking to extend its use beyond domestic borders to support outbound travel and the Indian diaspora, while reducing friction in cross-border payments.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on images by anish kumar kashyap and AI-generated content via Freepik The post India Weighs Alipay+ Tie-Up to Enable Overseas UPI Payments appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Sumsub has entered a partnership with Fireblocks to offer built-in Travel Rule compliance for digital asset transactions. Under the partnership, Sumsub’s Travel Rule solution is embedded directly into the Fireblocks platform. This enables financial institutions and virtual asset service providers to manage regulatory requirements within existing workflows. The integration supports real-time and encrypted data exchange between counterparties in virtual asset transfers. It also enables automated and dynamic verification, while allowing users to tailor compliance workflows based on their risk profiles. Through the integration, Fireblocks serves as the hub for transaction processing. Sumsub provides secure Travel Rule data exchange across a network of more than 1,800 virtual asset service providers connected through protocols such as GTR, CODE, Sygna and its own protocol. This enables counterparties in virtual asset and stablecoin transfers to exchange compliance data automatically within the same environment. Adam Levine Adam Levine, SVP, Corporate Development & Partnerships at Fireblocks, said, “As digital asset payments and stablecoin adoption accelerate, our customers need compliance solutions that are robust and operationally seamless. By integrating Sumsub’s Travel Rule solution directly into the Fireblocks platform, we’re providing financial institutions and VASPs the required flexibility to meet global regulatory requirements while maintaining efficient, streamlined transaction workflows.” Ilya Brovin Ilya Brovin, Chief Growth Officer at Sumsub said, “This partnership demonstrates the capabilities of Sumsub’s Travel Rule solution—enabling not only seamless aggregation and orchestration of multiple Travel Protocols, but also providing the full-functionality SaaS platform for managing the entire scope of Travel Rule compliance requirements, so that VASPs don’t need to build it in-house . With seamless, automated compliance now embedded in the Fireblocks platform, institutions benefit from real-time, frictionless workflows and expanded reach as they scale globally.”     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by mrsiraphol via Freepik The post Sumsub Brings Travel Rule Compliance to Fireblocks Platform appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

TradeTogether has been granted its full Capital Markets Services (CMS) licence by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Thsi enables the company to operate as a fully regulated fund manager in Singapore with a focus on tokenised asset investment strategies. The approval follows TradeTogether’s in-principle approval (IPA) granted in early 2025 and confirms the firm’s successful completion of all regulatory conditions set by MAS. With the full CMS licence, TradeTogether is authorised to expand its regulated fund management activities, supporting discretionary mandates and structured investment strategies for accredited, corporate and institutional investors seeking compliant access to tokenised assets. The licence strengthens TradeTogether’s positioning at the intersection of regulated capital markets and tokenisation technology, as institutional demand for regulated tokenised investment products continues to grow in Singapore and across the region. Geoff Ira “This milestone reflects years of disciplined work to build TradeTogether within Singapore’s regulatory framework. The CMS licence allows us to continue serving clients and to expand our regulated tokenised fund management activities, while strengthening Singapore as our Asia Pacific hub, consistent with our focus on governance, risk management, and fiduciary responsibility,” said Geoff Ira, CEO and Co-Founder of TradeTogether.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by zendaIA via Freepik The post MAS Grants TradeTogether Full CMS Licence for Tokenised Asset Fund Management appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

FICO has been recognised in the 2026 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Decision Intelligence Platforms report, which assesses vendors across key use cases in the decision intelligence market. The report evaluated FICO across four use cases: Decision Analysis, Decision Engineering, Decision Science and Decision Stewardship. FICO ranked second overall across all use cases. According to Gartner, decision intelligence platforms are designed to support and automate decision-making by combining data, analytics, knowledge and AI. The firm said these platforms help organisations build and manage decision services across the full decision lifecycle. Nikhil Behl “We believe this recognition validates our vision for FICO Platform as we continue to shape the future of the intelligent enterprise and underscores why our customers place their trust in FICO. FICO Platform excels at decision engineering by enabling our customers to compose and operationalise scalable decision services through a business-centric approach with world class AI and data streaming capabilities.” said Nikhil Behl, President of Software at FICO. The Critical Capabilities assessment follows FICO’s inclusion as a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Decision Intelligence Platforms. Gartner Critical Capabilities reports provide a deeper evaluation of vendors based on specific product capabilities and use cases, complementing the broader market positioning outlined in Magic Quadrant reports.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by user23413193 via Freepik   The post FICO Among Top Vendors in Gartner Review of Decision Intelligence Platforms appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Singapore banks are moving to phase out the use of NRIC numbers for authentication, following advisories from the Personal Data Protection Commission and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Ong-Ang Ai Boon Ong-Ang Ai Boon, Director of the Association of Banks in Singapore, said NRIC numbers cannot be used on their own to carry out financial transactions such as payments and fund transfers, as these activities already require multi-factor authentication. She added that most banks no longer rely on NRIC numbers for non-transactional purposes, including accessing encrypted email attachments. Banks that still use NRIC numbers in such cases will shift to alternative authentication methods over the coming months. The update follows a media release by the Personal Data Protection Commission on 2 February, which said organisations are required to cease using NRIC numbers for authentication by 1 January 2027.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on images by mrsiraphol and muravev via Freepik The post Singapore Banks to End Use of NRIC Numbers for Authentication by 2027 appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Imagine losing more money than Thailand’s entire economy produces in a year. That’s the depth of Asia’s fraud crisis in 2024, where fraud losses hit a staggering $688 billion according to recent reports. What’s even more alarming? The United Nations crowned Southeast Asia as “the ground zero for multi-billion-dollar global internet scamming“, a dubious honour that should have every business leader, compliance officer, and financial professional sitting up and paying attention. In spite of high-profile enforcement actions, like the seizure of US$15 billion in Bitcoin from a Cambodian tycoon and increasingly aggressive regulatory crackdowns across the region, fraudsters are thriving. The old playbooks aren’t working anymore, because the criminals have evolved faster than defences. They’re using sophisticated technology, exploiting regulatory gaps, and finding creative new ways to separate businesses and consumers from their money at an unprecedented scale. This critical challenge on fraud trends in Asia Pacific took centre stage at a recent webinar, “Inside Asia Pacific’s Fraud Crisis and the Battle to Stop It”. Fintech News Network’s Chief Editor, Vincent Fong, led a compelling discussion with four leading fraud prevention experts. The panel brought together Troy, Htwe Nyi Nyi, Senior Vice President and GM for APAC at SEON; Vincent Mok, Group Chief Risk Officer at GXS Bank; Arun Muraleedharan, Senior Vice President for Fraud Program Management at UOB; and Sateesh Reddy, Group CTO at Tonik. The Never-Ending Cat and Mouse Game Now, while the tactics for fraud haven’t fundamentally changed, the execution has become devastatingly more sophisticated. “The majority of these scams remain intact. However, I think the way they manipulate and go around really depends on how banks have stepped up their safeguards.” Vincent Mok, Group Chief Risk Officer at GXS Bank, points out that while government impersonation scams, love scams, and investment schemes remain the primary choices, fraudsters have become remarkably adaptive. Fraudsters still prey on the same human vulnerabilities: greed, fear, and urgency, but the moment financial institutions update their controls, criminals pivot with alarming speed to find new workarounds. It’s an exhausting cat-and-mouse game, and the mice seem to be racing faster to the finish line. Another particular concern here is how fraud has now transformed from isolated incidents into coordinated, industrial-scale operations. Troy, Htwe Nyi Nyi “The criminals don’t wait for the onboarding anymore. They try to probe the parameter through device bombs, or maybe mule accounts, and also multiple account creation. “ He elaborates, saying that just like legitimate businesses, fraud rings now share resources, intelligence and attack strategies, creating coordinated networks that are far more dangerous than individual bad actors ever were. According to SEON’s research, a staggering 85% of companies increased their fraud prevention budgets last year, yet 43% admit that fraud is growing faster than their ability to stop it. The problem could be how the money is being deployed. Troy explains that while many organisations are adding more verification layers and rules at the earlier stage, these are essentially stacking more guards at the door after the intruders have cased the building. What’s needed is a strategy shift, catching fraudulent intent before criminals even reach the authentication stage. This approach has dual benefits: it blocks threats earlier while creating a smoother experience for legitimate users, reducing friction and operational costs in the process. From Mule Accounts For Hourly Hire to Fraud-as-a-Service Arun Muraleedharan, Senior Vice President for Fraud Program Management at UOB, observes that while the playbook for fraud hasn’t shifted much between 2024 and 2025, the scale of personalisation in these attacks has reached newfound levels. Arun shared first how fraudsters now use AI to craft customised messages and generate real-time scripts tailored to individual victims during job scams, investment fraud, and the like. In markets like India, for example, deepfake technology has become a common tool for impersonation schemes. It allows criminals to convincingly pose as trusted figures via fabricated audio and videos. He elaborates on the second emerging fraud trend: Scammers are investing far more time in the grooming stage, up to weeks and even months to build trust with their victims before making a move. This extended cultivation period has two purposes: building deeper psychological manipulation while helping fraudulent transactions appear more legitimate to detection systems. Think about it: when someone’s been in regular contact with a “romantic partner” or “investment advisor” for months, their eventual large transfer looks less like a scam and more like a normal relationship-based transaction. Another trend he’s noticed is that the infrastructure supporting these scams has been equally sophisticated and commercialised. In SEA markets, particularly, mule accounts, legitimate-looking bank accounts used to launder fraud proceeds, are no longer being sold as one-time assets. “Mule accounts are rented by the hour. There is a pre-warming effort sometimes done to make it look like a legitimate account, and then it’s sold. The final trend we see is that more and more proceedings are moving out through crypto, which evades detection and even freeze attempts.” Interestingly, this AI-enabled scaling has created a bifurcated fraud landscape. While scammers invest months grooming high-value targets for massive losses, they’re simultaneously using automation to cast wider nets for smaller accounts. The result is this: the average losses per victim may actually be declining as criminals pursue volume over individual payout size. But the total fraud problem continues to explode as they’re successfully targeting more people. It’s now fraud-as-a-service, operating with the efficiency and scalability of a legitimate tech startup. Now Anyone Can Commit Fraud Sateesh Reddy, Group CTO at Tonik, pointed out one sobering reality. While banks have spent the last five years mitigating transactional fraud successfully, they’ve inadvertently created a new vulnerability at the onboarding stage. Identity fraud has exploded as AI-powered tools have become so sophisticated and accessible. Pretty much anyone can turn a tiny video snippet into a convincing liveliness check that passes verification. Sateesh divulges, “Anyone can create a ghost profile today, go into one of the LLMs and prompt a ghost profile, and it is there, and use that.” The infrastructure to create these ghost profiles, complete with Optical Character Recognition-ready documents and fabricated biometrics, is now so cheap and-user friendly. It’s made fraud a low-barrier startup business. The problem goes beyond the fact that these fake identities can fraud actors through the door. They look perfect on paper, too. These fraud accounts undergo a “warming” period with small, normal-looking transactions that don’t trigger AML or fraud alerts. By the time the behaviour shifts and the real fraud begins, the account has established enough legitimacy that it’s harder to detect and stop. Sateesh shares that recent cases have demonstrated the terrifying effectiveness of the approach, with deepfake videos of CEOs being used to authorise fraudulent fund transfers, bypassing multiple layers of verification. To that end, Troy, Htwe Nyi Nyi, the Senior Vice President and GM for APAC at SEON, emphasises that deepfakes and synthetic identities exploit the same fundamental weakness: an over-reliance on static identity checks. “What we are trying to do is decouple the fraud retention from document verification. So, instead of asking if the document is real or authentic, we try to assess the intent before the identity is even asserted, like using digital footprint maturity, device intelligence and behaviour signals at the signer stage.” The question shouldn’t be “Is this document real?”, but rather “Does this pattern of behaviour leading up to this application suggest legitimate intent?” This interchange, Troy says, applies more friction towards a high-risk users, while customers can go through without friction, both at the same time. Watch the full discussion and discover fraud trends in Asia Pacific and how leading financial institutions are using AI and behavioural signals to block sophisticated scams, while also getting a glimpse into how regulators are reshaping financial crime controls. Featured image by Fintech News Singapore  The post The $688 Billion Fraud Problem in Asia Nobody’s Talking About Enough About appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Nexus Global Payments has named José Beltrán as its first independent Board Chair and confirmed Bank Indonesia’s entry into its cross-border instant payments network. Beltrán brings experience from the European payments sector, where he was involved in the development of EBA Clearing’s STEP2 system and the European Payments Council’s SEPA rulebooks. He has also served as President of the European Automated Clearing House Association and as a board member of the European Card Stakeholder Group. Andrew McCormack “We are pleased to welcome José Beltrán as our inaugural Board Chair, whose experience and leadership will be instrumental as we move into our next phase of growth. The addition of Indonesia in our network, alongside ECB’s continued feasibility work and FLAR’s decision to formalise cooperation, reflects the growing momentum and confidence in Nexus,” said Andrew McCormack, Chief Executive Officer of Nexus Global Payments. Indonesia has formally joined Nexus after previously participating as a Special Observer. Bank Indonesia will now proceed with work to connect its national instant payment system to the Nexus platform. The network’s founding central banks are the Reserve Bank of India, Bank Negara Malaysia, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Bank of Thailand and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Indonesia’s inclusion is significant given its position as one of the world’s largest remittance markets, both as a major source of outbound remittances and a recipient of inflows from overseas workers. Separately, the European Central Bank said it will continue work on the feasibility of a potential connection to Nexus while completing the necessary legal arrangements and agreements. Nexus Global Payments has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Latin American Reserve Fund to explore future connectivity with its member countries.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by PR Newswire The post Indonesia Joins Nexus Global Payments as José Beltrán Takes Board Chair Role appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

EDBI has made a strategic investment in Revolut Singapore, backing the US$75 billion-valued fintech’s push to scale its operations from Singapore into Asia. Financial details of the investment were not disclosed. The expansion is supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board, alongside the investment from EDBI. Revolut will develop and scale its products and services from Singapore while building teams across engineering, product, data and artificial intelligence as part of its regional growth strategy. Raymond Ng Raymond Ng, CEO, Singapore & Southeast Asia at Revolut said, “EDB’s longstanding commitment to building Singapore into a global innovation and fintech hub – along with its expertise, guidance, and extensive network – has been invaluable to our growth journey. EDBI’s investment in Revolut Singapore will further enable us to accelerate innovation, scale our regional footprint from Singapore, and deliver inclusive, accessible, and trusted financial services to customers across the region.” Revolut said it has doubled its headcount in Singapore in 2025 and plans to triple its workforce over the next three years to support product development and expansion across Asia. The company has rolled out internship and graduate programmes in Singapore, with selected candidates able to relocate to offices in the UK, Poland and the UAE, with Spain offered as an additional location for graduates. The programmes aim to attract global talent while supporting skills development and knowledge transfer within Singapore’s tech ecosystem. From its Singapore base, Revolut will oversee expansion across multiple Asian markets, including through the recent launch of a global technology hub in Manila, described as a strategic extension of its global network. The company said it is also evaluating entry into additional markets in the region. EDBI operates under SG Growth Capital, the investment platform of the Singapore Economic Development Board and Enterprise Singapore, and focuses on investing in high-growth technology companies expanding in Asia. Revolut serves more than 70 million retail customers globally and has hundreds of thousands of business customers. Chan Ih-Ming EDB’s Executive Vice President, Chan Ih-Ming said, “With its innovation hub and AI product teams in Singapore, Revolut will accelerate the development of cutting-edge fintech solutions for the region and beyond. Its commitment to talent development through internship, graduate and leadership programmes will also create new opportunities for local talent to grow in the fintech sector.”     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Frolopiaton Palm via Freepik   The post EDBI Invests in Revolut Singapore as It Plans to Triple Workforce in Asia Expansion appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

NUS’ Asian Institute of Digital Finance is working with Standard Chartered to help address the gap between AI strategy and execution in Asia. The bank will serve as a knowledge partner for AIDF’s Executive Master in AI and Digital Transformation, an executive programme focused on senior leaders navigating AI and digital change. The collaboration will centre on knowledge sharing and industry engagement. Participants in the programme will gain exposure to Standard Chartered’s banking and innovation activities, including digital banking, sustainability, wealth management and fintech. Standard Chartered employees will also receive greater access to AIDF’s executive programmes, including tuition rebates for the AI programme and invitations to selected industry forums. Huang Ke-Wei “This partnership underscores our mission to empower leaders with the capabilities to thrive in the age of AI and digital transformation. By connecting NUS’ global research and education platform with Standard Chartered’s innovation leadership, we are creating pathways for executives to lead with confidence and impact.” said Associate Professor Huang Ke-Wei, Executive Director of NUS AIDF. David Hardoon “We are delighted to partner with NUS AIDF in advancing talent development and knowledge exchange in AI – one that aims to address the anticipated shortage of leaders capable of turning AI potential into economic reality across the financial services sector. This collaboration reflects our commitment towards equipping our colleagues and uplifting the wider ecosystem with critical AI skills and insights. As emerging technologies evolve, we believe such extensive conversation and a people-focused approach are essential for accelerating innovation across the wider industry.” said David Hardoon, Global Head of AI Enablement, Standard Chartered.     Featured image: The MOU was signed by Assoc Prof Huang Ke-Wei (seated, left), Executive Director of AIDF, and Dr David Hardoon (seated, right), Global Head of AI Enablement at Standard Chartered. The post NUS Partners StanChart on Executive Master’s Programme in AI appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Tech Mahindra has partnered with FICO to help banks and insurers deploy AI-driven decisioning and modernise core systems. As part of the partnership, Tech Mahindra will set up a dedicated Centre of Excellence for the FICO Platform. The centre will provide consulting, implementation and managed services for financial institutions using FICO’s analytics and decisioning tools. The collaboration aims to support large-scale core system modernisation. It will focus on the seamless integration of the FICO Platform into complex and legacy banking and insurance environments, with the goal of improving decisioning and operational efficiency. Tech Mahindra said it will apply its experience in cloud-native architectures, data engineering and AI-led digital transformation. It will also use its global delivery capabilities, industry frameworks and reusable accelerators to support deployments. Harshul Asnani Harshul Asnani, President and Head – Europe Business, Tech Mahindra, said, “Enterprises are struggling to derive meaningful returns from their digital transformation investments. This challenge is amplified by a global shortage of data scientists and system architects, resulting in delayed implementations and fragmented decision-making. The partnership addresses this gap, bringing together FICO’s proven analytics platform with Tech Mahindra’s deep implementation expertise. Under this partnership, our skilled workforce will enable customers to drive innovation at scale and unlock measurable business outcomes.” The two companies will also work on consolidating fragmented decisioning systems into a single AI-driven decisioning layer within core banking and insurance environments. Tech Mahindra plans to roll out training and enablement programmes to build internal expertise around FICO’s tools. The aim is to help clients move AI use cases from experimentation into production-ready deployments. Alexandre Graff Alexandre Graff, Vice President for Global Partners & Alliances at FICO, said, “Businesses are looking for the fastest way to get value from FICO Platform. By leveraging Tech Mahindra’s FICO-trained experts, proprietary accelerators, and ready-to-deploy integrations, businesses can significantly reduce implementation risk and fast-track their digital transformation journeys.” While the initial focus is on banking, financial services and insurance, the Centre of Excellence will later support use cases in other industries, including healthcare, life sciences, the public sector, manufacturing, retail and energy.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Achmad Khoeron via Freepik The post Tech Mahindra Partners FICO on AI-Driven Decisioning for Banks, Insurers appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

You may be most familiar with their ATMs across international airports but Euronet is much more. They move US$ 200 Billion anually and provide connectivity for over 4 billion bank accounts around the world. In this episode, Fintech News Network Chief Editor Vincent Fong sits down with Himanshu, MD of APAC at Euronet, to uncover the massive infrastructure powering the region’s fintech revolution. From national payment switches to traditional and digital banks, Euronet provides the plumbing that enables seamless transfers both domestically and cross-border. We dive deep into Euronet’s US$249M acquisition of CoreCard the engine behind the Apple Card’s seamless user experience. Himanshu reveals how this exact tech stack is now being deployed to unlock “Credit on UPI” in Southeast Asia, allowing banks to offer instant, unsecured credit lines via QR codes instead of plastic cards. The post Euronet: The Hidden US$4B Giant Rewiring Asia’s Money Movement (ft. Himanshu, APAC MD) appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Singapore regulators have directed Meta to step up anti-scam measures, including facial recognition tools, to tackle impersonation on Facebook. The Competent Authority under the Online Criminal Harms Act within the Singapore Police Force issued a second Implementation Directive to Meta. Police said the first directive, issued in September 2025, led to fewer scams involving impersonation of the listed key government office holders, but scammers have since shifted to targeting individuals not covered under the earlier order. Under the new directive, Meta must implement enhanced facial recognition measures in Singapore and prioritise the review of user reports from Singapore. The measures target scam advertisements, accounts, profiles and business pages impersonating government office holders not covered previously, as well as individuals assessed by police to be at high risk of impersonation, including those who have filed police reports. Meta must comply with these requirements by 31 January 2026 for additional government office holders, and by 28 February 2026 for high-risk individuals. The directive also requires Meta to introduce facial recognition measures for notable Facebook users in Singapore, with a phased rollout and full implementation by 30 June 2026. Failure to comply without reasonable excuse could result in a fine of up to S$1 million, with an additional fine of up to S$100,000 for each day or part of a day the offence continues after conviction.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by thannaree via Freepik The post Singapore Orders Meta to Deploy Facial Recognition to Tackle Scams appeared first on Fintech Singapore.