EBANX has appointed Eduardo de Abreu as its new Chief Product Officer (CPO) to lead its global product roadmap from Singapore. Abreu, who previously served as the Vice President of Product in Brazil, will relocate to the city-state to strengthen the company’s presence in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Abreu joined EBANX in 2015 and has held leadership roles across various departments, including Operations, Treasury, and Sales Engineering. He was also a key figure in the company’s recent expansions into Africa, India, and the Philippines. In his new capacity, he will also serve as the CEO of EBANX Singapore, focusing on regulatory engagement and merchant relationships within the region. The decision to move product leadership to Singapore follows a 20% growth in merchant Total Payment Volume (TPV) within the APAC region last year. The company currently serves over 100 APAC merchants, connecting global brands with consumers across Asia, Latin America, and Africa. João Del Valle “Eduardo’s trajectory at EBANX reflects his deep understanding of global payments, execution excellence, and total commitment to our merchants,” said João Del Valle, CEO and Co-founder of EBANX. As the payments industry evolves, the role will focus on adapting to the specific technological needs of emerging markets. Abreu stated that his primary mission is to remain connected to merchant needs while keeping pace with new technologies. Del Valle added that positioning leadership in Singapore brings the firm closer to the world’s fastest-growing consumer markets and one of the most innovative payment ecosystems. This relocation underscores EBANX’s continued investment in the APAC market as it seeks to provide better technology to its global merchant base. Featured image by EBANX. The post Eduardo de Abreu Assumes Dual Leadership as EBANX CPO and Singapore CEO appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

At first glance, gaming and payments do not always feel like natural companions. One is driven by storytelling, competition and immersion. The other is supposed to be invisible, something users only notice when it fails. Yet at Singapore Fintech Festival, the conversation between Juan Pablo Ortega, CEO and Co-Founder of Yuno, and Livia Ang, Global Business Development Director at NetEase Games, made one thing clear. Few industries expose the strengths and weaknesses of payment infrastructure as quickly, or as brutally, as gaming. For global game publishers, payments are no longer a back-office function. They sit directly on the front line of user experience, revenue performance and international expansion. When a transaction fails, a player does not calmly retry later. They complain, abandon the purchase, or walk away altogether. In a market where digital friction is rarely tolerated, payments can quietly decide whether growth accelerates or stalls. Gamers, as Juan Pablo observed during the discussion, tend to hold far higher expectations than the average consumer, leaving little room for error when it comes to checkout experiences. Gaming Raising the Bar for Payments Gaming audiences are not only global, they are deeply accustomed to seamless digital experiences. Whether it is matchmaking, content downloads or in-game purchases, everything is expected to work instantly. Payments are no exception. From NetEase Games’ perspective, the challenge is not about enabling payments in general, but enabling the right payments, in the right way, across dozens of markets. “We serve our gamers globally, across many geographies, and in each country or region that we are in, there are so much diverse payment method preferences,” Livia explained. “When you are unable to provide that, it causes a lot of friction [which will affect the overall gaming experience].” @fintechnewsnetwork 1.8 Billion Gamers. 1 Major Problem Payments are just not built for today’s modern gamers, here’s how Yuno and Netease Games is trying to fix it. #fintech #AI #gaming #BNPL #payments ♬ original sound – Fintech News Network – Fintech News Network That friction has a direct commercial impact. In gaming, purchases are often impulsive, with players buying a new skin, character upgrade or seasonal pass in the moment. If the checkout fails or feels clunky, that moment passes, and the revenue opportunity often disappears with it. This is why payments in gaming tend to surface problems that other industries can afford to tolerate for longer. A failed airline booking is frustrating, but users may try again later. A failed in-game purchase rarely gets a second chance. Global Expansion and the Myth of a Single Payment Solution As gaming companies expand internationally, the complexity of payments scales far faster than most teams expect. The fragmentation of payment methods is not unique to Southeast Asia or Latin America. It is global. Juan Pablo Ortega “Each consumer in each different geography has their own expectation and their own preferred method,” Juan Pablo said. “This is [not] only [happening] in Asia or Latin America. This is [happening] worldwide.” Even within Europe, payment preferences vary significantly. Wallets dominate in some markets, bank transfers in others, and cards are not always the default. Yet many global companies still approach payments with a card-first mindset, assuming that credit and debit cards will cover most use cases. “Because you accept credit cards and debit cards, you’re basically under coding [under-serving] and you’re only going to a part of the operation.” For gaming companies, this gap is especially visible because their audiences skew younger, more mobile-first and more comfortable with alternative payment methods. In some markets, players may not have access to traditional banking at all. “Our gamers are everywhere in the world, and they are very diverse,” Livia said. “There are unbanked gamers among them as well.” Despite their financial status, these users still want to play, and they still want to spend. But they do so through different rails, whether that is wallets, cash-based top-ups, gift cards or buy now, pay later options. The Operational Reality Behind the Scenes Supporting this level of diversity is easier said than done. Regulatory constraints, local licensing requirements and technical differences mean that no single payment provider can realistically offer full global coverage. Livia Ang “There isn’t a single provider who can provide you with every single method in the world,” Livia said. As a result, large merchants often end up working with multiple providers across regions, adding complexity on the commercial side and creating a growing integration burden on the technical side. For game publishers, that core business is content, community and live operations. Payments are critical, but they are not where companies want to spend disproportionate engineering resources. This is where orchestration and abstraction layers have become increasingly important, even if they are rarely discussed outside fintech circles, not just for access to more payment methods, but for managing them without constant reintegration. From Yuno’s perspective, this is less about adding logos and more about simplifying experience. Juan Pablo pointed out that their focus has shifted beyond the number of integrations to what happens inside the checkout flow. “We have been focusing more than [just] growing the number of integrations. We [try to] improve the experience,” he said, pointing to ongoing efforts to streamline checkout journeys so users can complete payments with fewer steps and less friction. Conversion Rate Beats Cost Savings One of the most revealing moments in the conversation came when the discussion turned to direct-to-consumer gaming models. Sparked by high-profile platform disputes and rising commission costs, many publishers are exploring ways to sell directly to players. On paper, the economics look attractive. Avoiding platform fees can mean significant savings. In practice, the equation is far more delicate. “[If] you’re saving 30% but your conversion rate drops 40%, [then], you’re actually not doing anything,” Juan Pablo said. This cuts to the heart of the D2C debate. App stores, for all their costs, offer highly optimised checkout experiences. Payments are trusted, familiar and frictionless. Replicating that experience independently is far harder than many publishers anticipate. Checkout abandonment remains a major risk. Studies consistently show that more than half of users will abandon a transaction if the process feels complicated or unfamiliar, a risk that is amplified in gaming, where purchases are often emotional and impulse-driven. For D2C strategies to work, payment experiences must not just match app stores. In many cases, they need to be better. That means supporting local payment methods, optimising mobile flows and building trust quickly with users. Inclusion, Not Just Optimisation Beyond conversion and cost, the shift toward direct engagement also highlights a quieter issue: access. Not all gamers can pay through app stores or traditional in-app mechanisms. “There are unbanked gamers that cannot [simply] top up,” Livia noted. “They have to go to a convenience store, get a gift card, and try ways and means in order to continue playing the game.” Direct channels give publishers more flexibility to serve these users, but only if payments are designed with inclusion in mind. This is not about charity or corporate messaging. It is about recognising that a global audience does not fit into a single financial profile. In emerging markets especially, alternative payment methods are not edge cases. They are often the primary way users transact, making participation, not expansion, the real goal. BNPL and Evolving Player Expectations Buy now, pay later has also started to find its place within gaming payments, particularly in markets where instalment-based spending is already familiar. “We do have that enabled in some of the markets, and they’ve proved to be very popular with the gamers,” Livia said. BNPL in gaming remains a nuanced topic. While it can increase accessibility and basket size, it also raises questions around responsible spending, especially for younger audiences. Most publishers are approaching it cautiously, enabling it selectively rather than universally. What is clear is that players increasingly expect payment flexibility to mirror what they experience in other digital services. Gaming does not exist in isolation. It competes for attention and spending alongside streaming, e-commerce and social platforms, all of which are raising the bar for checkout experience. Payments as Invisible Infrastructure By the end of the conversation, one theme kept resurfacing. Payments work best when players barely notice them. “They focus on the gaming and payment,” Livia said. “It’s seamless and working in the background.” For global game publishers, achieving that invisibility is becoming harder, not easier. Fragmentation, regulation and evolving consumer expectations continue to add layers of complexity. Yet the stakes are rising alongside the size of the gaming market, which now counts close to two billion players worldwide. As gaming continues to expand across borders, payments are quietly shifting from a technical necessity to a strategic capability. They influence who can play, how easily players can spend, and whether new business models can succeed. Most players will never think about payment orchestration, conversion rates or authentication protocols. They will simply expect things to work. For companies operating at global scale, meeting that expectation has become one of the most important challenges in the business. In gaming, payments may be invisible to players, but they are increasingly impossible for publishers to ignore. Juan Pablo and Livia expand more on all of this in our full conversation, which you can watch right down below. The post Gaming’s Growth Story Is Increasingly Written in Payments appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Grab Finance has deployed the FICO Platform across six countries as it expands credit eligibility across its ecosystem. The financial services arm of Grab has implemented more than 22 credit decision workflows covering drivers, merchants and consumers. The rollout has increased credit offer eligibility rates by nearly 50 percent and supports lending across its ecosystem of more than 46 million consumers as well as millions of merchants and drivers. Grab Finance said the platform assesses borrowers using behavioural data generated within the Grab app, including ride activity, merchant revenues and payment history. These signals support automated pre-approved credit offers while operating within local regulatory requirements and data protection rules. Nikhil Behl “What Grab Finance has accomplished here is remarkable. They’ve essentially turned everyday digital behavior into a credit passport for millions of people who were previously invisible to traditional banking. When a taxi driver in Jakarta can get credit based on their ride patterns, or a food merchant in Bangkok can access working capital through their delivery history, that’s not just innovation, it’s economic transformation at scale.” said Nikhil Behl, President, Software at FICO. “Grab saw a strategic opportunity to make financing in Southeast Asia more accessible by leveraging our superapp ecosystem and behavioral data. Using FICO Platform, we can deliver contextual, real-time credit offers across multiple verticals within the Grab super app. This enables us to expand financial inclusion by providing credit access for underserved users who are economically active but often overlooked by traditional lenders.” said Andre Tan, Regional Head, Lending Risk Platforms at Grab Finance. Southeast Asia has a large underbanked population, with many individuals and small businesses unable to access credit due to limited bureau records. Grab Finance said it developed alternative risk models to address this gap using in-app activity as a basis for credit assessment. The first phase of the rollout was completed in under eight months and covered six markets where Grab operates. The deployment automated key credit eligibility processes while accommodating differences in regulatory and data governance requirements across jurisdictions. Grab provides financial services across Southeast Asia, including digital banking through GXS Bank in Singapore and GXBank in Malaysia.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Freepik The post Grab Taps FICO to Widen Loan Access Across Southeast Asia appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

South African digital lender TymeBank has officially rebranded as GoTyme Bank, aligning its local operations with the branding used across the wider Tyme Group. The transition includes the launch of a new GoTyme Bank mobile app, which went live on 22 January and is being rolled out in phases. The bank said the migration is designed to prioritise system stability, security and customer experience. Existing customers are not required to open new accounts. Account details, balances and transaction histories have already been migrated, and customers can access their accounts by downloading the new app and logging in with their current credentials. Cheslyn Jacobs “GoTyme Bank reflects who we are today and where we’re going next as part of a global banking group with a strong South African foundation. This is not a change to our fundamentals. It’s the same bank, built on the same licence and principles, now expressed through a brand and platform that better reflects our scale, technology, and ambition.” said Cheslyn Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer of GoTyme Bank South Africa. The digital banking group operates across markets including the Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore, serving around 20 million customers globally. The new app features an updated interface alongside performance and security enhancements. Additional features are expected to be introduced progressively as part of the phased rollout. Launched in February 2019, GoTyme Bank has grown to serve more than 12 million customers in South Africa. The bank said there are no changes to customer products, balances, ownership structure or regulatory oversight following the rebrand.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by smth.design via Freepik The post South Africa’s TymeBank Rebrands as GoTyme Bank appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

TRM Labs raised US$70 million in Series C funding, valuing the company at US$1 billion as demand grows for blockchain analytics used in financial crime detection. The round was led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from returning investors including Goldman Sachs, Bessemer Venture Partners, Citi Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Y Combinator, Thoma Bravo, Alumni Ventures, Brevan Howard Digital, and CMT Digital. Galaxy Ventures joined as a new strategic investor. TRM said the funding follows average annual revenue growth of more than 150 percent over the past five years. Its tools are used by law enforcement and national security agencies in more than 50 countries, as well as financial institutions and cryptocurrency firms such as Circle, Coinbase, Cross River Bank, PayPal, Robinhood, Stripe, and Visa. As more financial activity shifts onto blockchain networks, TRM’s platform is used to trace transactions and identify illicit activity linked to fraud, ransomware, terrorism financing, scam operations, and programmatic money laundering. The company said criminal groups are increasingly using automation and artificial intelligence to scale these activities. The funding will be used to expand TRM’s workforce, including AI researchers, data scientists, engineers, and investigative specialists, and to further develop AI-enabled compliance and investigation tools. Esteban Castaño “At TRM, we’re building AI for problems that have real consequences for public safety, financial integrity, and national security. This funding allows our world-class team — and the people who will join us next — to innovate alongside institutions on the front lines of the most consequential threats, and expand the potential of AI to meaningfully improve how our critical systems are protected.” said Esteban Castaño, co-founder and CEO of TRM Labs. TRM is headquartered in San Francisco and operates as a distributed-first company, with teams based in New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, London, and Singapore.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by mangpor2004 via Freepik The post TRM Labs Earns Unicorn Badge With US$70 Million Series C Funding appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Mention Euronet, and you’re likely to picture its iconic blue and yellow ATMs. They’re a global staple, found anywhere, from transport hubs to high-traffic retail locations. But in the high-stakes world of modern finance, these machines are the tip of a much larger spear. ATMs actually account for less than a fifth of Euronet’s revenues. The bulk of the business runs in the background, powering the infrastructure that moves money at scale. Euronet provides the connective tissue of modern finance. It powers modern payments and money movement, from national payment switches and point of sale services to cross-border transfers, currency exchange, and branded payment solutions. In 2025, Euronet processed 16 billion transactions and moved more than US$200 billion through its network, operating across 200 countries. And as payments have become increasingly fluid across borders, this kind of infrastructure has become a necessity. To explore how Euronet’s infrastructure is evolving across the Asia Pacific, Fintech News Network’s Chief Editor, Vincent Fong, spoke with Himanshu Pujara, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Euronet. The discussion examined how the company is modernising payments, expanding into issuing and unsecured lending, and positioning itself for the next phase of financial inclusion in the region. Why Euronet Spent US$248M on Its CoreCard Acquisition Deal “The acquisition of the CoreCard platform is aligned with the firm’s ambition of becoming a global leader in integrated issuing and processing solutions.” According to Himanshu, its CoreCard acquisition serves as a prime opportunity to disrupt the legacy lending and credit card tech used by traditional banks and fintechs. By integrating CoreCard, Euronet gains a strong referential footprint in the lucrative US market, backed by high-profile clients like Goldman Sachs and Apple. For context, CoreCard is a “modern card issuer processor with end-to-end solutions across credit, prepaid, and debit that are digital-first and API-centric”. It has been the engine under the hood for the Apple Card, as it provides the software architecture that makes the card itself function. @fintechnewsnetwork Euronet is leveraging CoreCard for its tech behind the Apple Card. The aim? To allow banks to offer instant, unsecured credit lines via QR codes. #fintech #Euronet #Applecard #payment #digitalbanking ♬ original sound – Fintech News Network – Fintech News Network Himanshu dives in, sharing that this technological edge is relevant closer to home in the Asia Pacific region, where many emerging Southeast Asian markets still grapple with no credit card penetration. Moreover, as regional GDPs grow and a “new-to-credit” demographic emerges, the platform enables banks and financial institutions to move beyond traditional credit cards and into a broader range of unsecured lending models. The hurdle in these markets is often the “clunky” user experience, which hinders adoption from the consumer as it tends to be dictated by older back-end stacks. The CoreCard acquisition addresses this by replacing legacy technology with a modern architectural core, removing the friction and allowing a truly digital-first experience. “This modernisation also opens the door for fintechs to play a more significant role in the lending ecosystem.  While many currently participate by providing lending stacks to banks, there is a growing opportunity for these players to become direct issuers as regional regulations evolve.” Whether these fintechs continue to partner with established banks or eventually transition into independent issuers, the platform provides the agility needed to deliver a superior, seamless experience that meets the demands of the modern consumer. Euronet’s Dandelion Powers 4 Billion Bank Accounts Before Euronet ever turned Dandelion into a product, Euronet was already internally, or as Himanshu put it, Euronet was “eating its own dog food”. Yet over time, the team realised that they had effectively built a global payments highway where money could move quickly, reliably, and directly into bank accounts across borders. The only kicker was that Euronet was the only one using it. The obvious question followed. If this worked so well internally, why not open it up to others? Source: Dandelion The idea came to launch cross-border payments as a service proposition with clean APIs, offered to banks and licensed financial institutions to solve their consumer and business payment needs. The goal? To send money into a bank account on a real-time basis. @fintechnewsnetwork Most people never see it, but Euronet is the infrastructure that’s powering national payment switches to traditional and digital banks. #fintech #Euronet #payment #digitalbanking ♬ original sound – Fintech News Network – Fintech News Network Today, Dandelion connects to around four billion bank accounts globally. To extend its reach even further, especially in emerging markets, it also connects directly to digital wallets. Himanshu closes in, saying, “We believe we are the largest cross-border payments network in the world that is able to land monies both into a bank account and a wallet. “ The Hard Truth About Modernising National Payment Rails Beyond issuing and lending, Euronet is also positioning itself as a long-term partner to national payment infrastructures seeking to modernise their core systems and expand financial inclusion. Himanshu points out that across emerging markets, from Southeast Asia to Africa and Latin America, the challenge is all about enabling central payment systems to launch new use cases, reach underserved populations, and do so at a cost structure that makes mass adoption viable. “The real goal of a lot of these central infrastructures is the ability to launch newer use cases, to bring their populations into the formal banking economy. If you run on legacy tech with very expensive databases, hardware, and mainframe systems, it’s not possible to lower your costs and drive adoption into the remotest corners of the country.” While that sounds like a tall order, in markets like Malaysia and Indonesia, this approach is already taking shape. Central to this is Ren, Euronet’s modern end-to-end payments platform that’s built to address the structural limitations of aging national infrastructure. Rather than forcing central switches and financial institutions to adapt to rigid, vendor locked systems, Ren enables a move toward a cloud-native, modular environment designed for growth and agility. Source: Ren This transition allows national payment systems to rapidly deploy real time payment rails and expand cross-border connectivity efficiently, without the prohibitive overhead that has traditionally slowed national-scale upgrades. In Indonesia, Euronet works closely with PT Jalin Pembayaran Nusantara (Jalin) to support the national switching infrastructure with Ren. Partnerships like these extend to markets like Mozambique, too, where a five-year collaboration has evolved from basic interbank ATM switching to launching sophisticated local use cases. Himanshu elaborates, “We’ve launched very innovative use cases that are relevant for that particular economy, and that’s possible because of the flexibility of the platform and just the fact that it’s not really dependent on these proprietary systems, and it’s fully open-source.” Aside from these developments, Euronet has acquired PayNet’s ATM network, making it the largest non-bank ATM operator in Malaysia. Payments Infrastructures Cannot Ignore Stablecoins Anymore Looking ahead, the company is exploring how stablecoins could fit into the next phase of the Euronet digital payment infrastructure. Himanshu shares that the company is currently running internal proof of concepts and pilots, as it evaluates where stablecoins can add value. One of the most immediate opportunities lies in cross-border payments. Given stablecoins’ growing role in this space, Euronet is assessing whether they can be integrated into its existing cross-border services through a multi-rail approach. With a large global ATM network and an extensive base of physical agents supporting cash payouts and remittances, Euronet sees potential to enable physical on-ramps and off-ramps for stablecoins, bridging digital assets with real-world access. Euronet has recently announced a partnership with Fireblocks, with several initiatives underway. While still in the experimental phase, Himanshu notes that the company is excited by the potential. “With the emergence of acquiring and mobile wallets and instant payment schemes and now stablecoins, and then potentially the convergence between stablecoin and AI, I think it’s going to get more and more interesting.” For a deeper look at how Euronet is shaping payments infrastructure, issuing, and cross-border money movement at scale, watch the full conversation with Vincent Fong and Himanshu Pujara below. Featured image by Fintech News Singapore The post Why Euronet Spent US$248M on the Technology Powering the Apple Card appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

The Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) and PwC Singapore have launched the Payments’ State of Play 2026 report. This study reaffirms the city-state’s position as a premier hub for digital and cross-border payments in the region. It details how a decade of innovation and regulatory development has transformed the landscape, creating one of the most advanced payment markets in the world. High digital adoption underpins this success, as over 98% of Singapore’s adult population currently holds a bank account. Consequently, digital wallets and real-time platforms like PayNow now dominate everyday transactions. Projections suggest digital wallet transactions will reach S$89 billion by 2027. Funding also serves as a key differentiator for the sector. During the first nine months of 2025, the industry raised over US$319 million, surpassing the combined fintech funding of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Furthermore, Singapore is establishing itself as a significant digital asset centre. It currently represents over 70% of Southeast Asia’s non-USD stablecoin market, specifically pegged to the Singapore Dollar. The country’s influence in global currency markets also continues to rise. Average daily trading volumes for foreign exchange reached US$1.485 trillion in 2025, marking a 60% increase from 2022. Holly Fang “The report highlights how progressive regulation, industry collaboration and technology adoption have positioned Singapore as a leading hub for real-time and cross-border payments,” said Holly Fang, President of the SFA. Fang’s focus on international connectivity extends to her recent appointment as Chief Business Officer at Finmo, where she will oversee the company’s partner ecosystem and regulatory growth as it scales globally. Looking ahead, the report identifies AI-powered solutions, embedded finance, and tokenised deposits as primary drivers for future growth. However, challenges regarding security persist. Singapore recorded S$840.3 million in losses from scams as of November 2025. This development necessitates a more unified and coordinated approach to fraud prevention among industry stakeholders. Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore based on an image by farknot via Freepik. The post Singapore Surpasses ASEAN Peers with US$319 Million In Fintech Funding appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Finmo has appointed Holly Fang as Chief Business Officer (CBO). She will lead the company’s global financial and strategic partnerships as it expands into international markets. In her role, Fang will focus on growing Finmo’s partner ecosystem and supporting regulatory expansion while the company develops its global treasury and payments infrastructure. Fang has more than a decade of experience in financial partnerships. Most recently at Aspire, she led the expansion of its global partner network, working with financial institutions to support cross-border businesses. She previously contributed to Airwallex’s financial partnerships and regional operations. Fang is also President of the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA), where she promotes collaboration within Singapore’s fintech sector. David Hanna, Chief Executive Officer at Finmo, said: David Hanna “Holly’s appointment reflects our focus on disciplined execution as we scale. She has a proven ability to build high-performing teams, develop resilient financial infrastructure, and partner closely with product and compliance in regulated environments.” Holly Fang added: Holly Fang “By connecting fragmented systems into a single layer of financial intelligence and control, we can bring clarity to how finance teams operate. I’m looking forward to growing our partner ecosystem and driving adoption, so Finmo becomes the infrastructure CFOs trust as they scale.”     Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by tehchesiong via Freepik The post Holly Fang Named Chief Business Officer at Finmo to Lead Global Partnerships appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Financial infrastructure firm Tala has partnered with CIMB in a US$100 million programme to roll out digital credit services in Vietnam, marking its latest expansion in Southeast Asia following its growth in the Philippines. The partnership will see Tala and CIMB offer digital lending products to consumers with limited access to traditional credit, as gaps in formal lending persist despite high digital account usage in the country. Eligible customers will be able to apply for a flexible line of credit through Tala’s mobile application, with limits of up to VND 30 million (approximately US$1,150) and tenors of up to 61 days for each drawdown. Users can select repayment dates based on their financial schedules and repay early without penalties. The entire application and approval process will be conducted online. Tala said its technology enables automated credit scoring and decisioning, allowing loans to be approved and disbursed within minutes, while CIMB will provide the banking infrastructure and regulatory support for the product. Shivani Siroya “We’re proud to partner with CIMB, one of the most respected banks in Vietnam, to provide safe, affordable credit to many people who don’t have access. Tala’s state-of-the-art proprietary technology combined with award-winning customer service makes us uniquely qualified to meet the financial needs of underserved Vietnamese,” said Shivani Siroya, CEO and Founder of Tala. Le Hien Trang “We expect to expand customers’ access to digital financial services, enabling them to proactively and easily achieve their personal financial goals with financial leverage from the collaborative product between Tala and CIMB.” said Le Hien Trang – Head of Partnership and Strategic Growth, CIMB Vietnam. Tala is headquartered in the United States and said it has more than 13 million customers globally, with total loan disbursements of around US$7 billion over the past decade. Vietnam is the latest addition to its Asia operations. In Southeast Asia, Tala entered the Philippines in 2017, where it now has about 4.5 million customers and has disbursed 28 million loans worth around PHP 137 billion. The company said it continues to invest in financial literacy and anti-fraud initiatives in that market as part of its focus on responsible lending.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by ganzevayna1 via Freepik The post Tala Enters Vietnam via US$100M Digital Credit Partnership With CIMB appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Checkout.com has signed a global payments partnership with Spotify to manage subscription transactions across more than 180 countries. Under the agreement, Checkout.com will provide global acquiring services for Spotify’s subscription business, supporting payments for more than 700 million monthly active users and over 280 million paying subscribers worldwide. Spotify will use Checkout.com’s Intelligent Acceptance system, which applies real-time data and machine learning to route transactions and reduce payment failures. The integration also includes Network Tokens, which allow recurring payments to continue even when a customer’s physical card is replaced, as well as authentication services to support secure subscription transactions. Sandra Alzetta ‍“Our aim is to deliver a seamless, simple, and safe payment experience so that our users can focus on enjoying the music, podcasts, and audiobooks they find on Spotify. It’s important for us to work with partners who can move quickly and collaborate closely. Partnering with Checkout.com enables us to leverage their global reach, local expertise, and the ability to optimise payment performance at scale.” said Sandra Alzetta, Vice President, Global Head of Payments and Customer Service at Spotify. Guillaume Pousaz “Spotify sets the standard for digital experiences for creators and fans across the world, and payments play a critical role in delivering that. By combining our global acquiring network with Intelligent Acceptance – which performs 87 million real-time optimisations daily – we’re helping maximise acceptance rates, reduce costs, and deliver the best possible payment experience for Spotify’s global audience, today and in the future.” said Guillaume Pousaz, CEO and Founder of Checkout.com.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Freepik The post Checkout.com Powers Spotify’s Subscription Payments in 180 Countries appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Revolut Business has rolled out a new set of merchant payment tools in Singapore, allowing businesses to accept online and in-person payments from a single platform. The launch brings merchant acquiring into the Revolut Business account, combining account-to-account, online and in-store payments. The suite includes Revolut Terminal for in-person payments, alongside Revolut Pay, payment links and a payment gateway for online transactions. Revolut said processing fees start from 0.5 percent plus S$0.02 per transaction, with 99.99 percent uptime for the processing service. Merchants receive 24-hour settlements, including on weekends, and can hold and settle funds in more than 30 currencies. The company said businesses are charged only on successful transactions and can issue refunds at no extra cost. The rollout follows a survey by Revolut and YouGov, which found that more than 80 percent of Singapore businesses consider finance and administrative work the most time-consuming part of their operations. Revolut said the new services aim to consolidate payment processing, reconciliation and foreign exchange within a single system, supported by 24/7 fraud monitoring and AI-driven risk controls. Ashley Thomas Ashley Thomas, Head of Strategy and Operations at Revolut Singapore, said, “For too long, the merchant payment landscape has been fragmented and costly, particularly for small businesses and those who are always on the move. The launch of our full merchant suite in Singapore, directly tackles this complexity. We are providing Singaporean merchants with a single ecosystem to manage all sales — from online one-click checkouts to truly hardware-free in-person transactions. This innovation allows them to focus on running their business, not managing bulky terminals.” Globally, Revolut said its acquiring services and Revolut Pay are used by businesses including Booking.com, Vueling, Kiwi and Wizz Air. In Singapore, the company said Revolut Business customer numbers grew nearly sevenfold from 2024 to 2025, while daily transactions rose tenfold and daily payments increased more than sixfold.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Freepik     The post Revolut Business Enters Singapore’s Merchant Payments Market appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

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.