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.

AI’s been reshaping financial services for several years now. But as its digital adoption accelerates, one factor determines whether AI extracts value or adds complexity: choosing the right partners for specialised applications. According to McKinsey, while AI tools are now widespread, most organisations have not embedded them deeply into their workflows, limiting their ability to generate impact at the enterprise level. The right AI fit has the capability to unlock something powerful, like transforming financial systems into agile, high-performance engines that respond as instantly as a digital-native platform. On the flip side, AI trained on flawed data and assumptions festers old problems, snowballing inefficiencies into systemic risk rather than eliminating them. The real challenge, therefore, lies in the incentives behind AI, and the partnerships that shape how AI is designed, trained, and deployed across financial systems. It is at this intersection that Huawei created the Huawei RONGHAI Financial Partner Program. Designed to bridge foundational infrastructure with specialised financial applications, the program has grown to more than 150 partners worldwide. Roger Wang, the Director of the Partner Development Department at Huawei Digital Finance BU, and Wizard He, the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Netis Technologies, sat down with Fintech News Network’s Chief Editor, Vincent Fong, to unravel how the Huawei RONGHAI Financial Partner Program is enabling AI-infused finance applications that are innovative, stable, and scalable in production. Cultivating the Power of Chemistry Through Partnerships The traditional vendor-client relationship is evolving. Huawei is cultivating what Roger Wang, Director of Partner Development at Huawei’s Digital Finance BU, refers to as an ecosystem where value is created by the “chemistry” between its partners. @fintechnewsnetwork Huawei’s RongHai is a game changer for digital finance and AI @Huawei #fintech #AI #digitalfinance #fyp #Banking ♬ original sound – Fintech News Network – Fintech News Network The idea of the RONGHAI program spawned from a hard reality check. Despite being a large company with substantial experience accumulated over the past decade, Roger shares that it was not enough to deliver digital transformation in its entirety. He explained, Roger Wang “We came to realise that we need to build an ecosystem with a lot of excellent technology partners, so we can build end-to-end capabilities throughout the digital transformation journey that shortens the time and effort that our customers need to spend.” That urgency is driven by how quickly financial services are changing. Traditionally, banks could afford to spend years modernising core systems. That timeline no longer matches how fast customer behaviour, competition, and business models are evolving. From a CEO’s perspective, waiting for years is no longer acceptable nor feasible today. Source: Huawei Through close collaboration between Huawei and its technology partners, those timelines have been dramatically compressed. Roger shares, “In the Philippines, we did a whole banking transformation in less than 10 months. This gave us the inspiration that core banking is just a corner of digital transformation, and we needed to build all of these capabilities. It gave us the idea to launch a new program (RONGHAI), attracting competent partners to work with us, and then supporting our customers in a different way.” Why Specialised Partnerships Will Define the Future of Banking For Wizard He, an AI expert with over two decades of experience under his belt, the value of the RONGHAI program lies in its ability to provide end-to-end solutions to banking customers. Netis, as a partner, does comprehensive AI visibility for banks. Having worked with Huawei across multiple markets, Wizard describes RONGHAI as an operating model that allows banks to move faster without sacrificing stability. One of Netis’ earliest engagements under this model began in Singapore. A leading bank embarked on a digital transformation initiative, codenamed “Gandalf”. The objective was to learn from digital-native technology leaders (think Google, Amazon, Netflix and the like) and translate that agility into a regulated banking environment. In that journey, Wizard explained, Netis and Huawei collaborated closely to ensure there were no surprises. Huawei anchored the transformation with a stable technology foundation, while Netis focused on delivering agility at the application layer. Wizard He “Huawei also has a huge global expansion network. They connect to different continents and leverage this network as the owner and member of RONGHAI.” Crucially, Wizard emphasised that the strength of the RONGHAI program lies in how specialised partners come together as a system rather than operating in silos. In core banking projects, for example, Huawei works alongside core banking vendors and software partners to deliver transformation, agility and resilience, all at the same time. “It’s like a triangle,” Wizard explained. “Huawei has different product portfolios. They have ICT infrastructures, computing, storage network, Huawei cloud and the GPU. So if you work with Huawei, problems, especially related to technology, can be solved.” Huawei’s dedicated partner management model further accelerates this process, enabling partners to understand the strengths of all the technologies, deploy faster, and scale with confidence. Wizard shares his benefits as a partner to the program: “We collaborated with Huawei and extended to five different continents, and shared our experience from one to many.” How Huawei Curated 150+ High-Performance Partnerships With more than 150 companies already onboard, the RONGHAI ecosystem is intentionally selective. Roger explains that what matters most is how well partners can contribute to a coherent and high-performing ecosystem. As more partners come together, new synergies begin to emerge organically. Maintaining quality and consistency at scale, however, requires discipline. Entry into the program is therefore guided by three core criteria. “We need to see how creative that partner is in terms of technology, applications and real use cases they create. The second (criterion) is about speed, on how quickly you can evolve your product based on a specific customer.” The third criterion is platform readiness. Huawei remains deeply committed to its infrastructure layer, and partners must, in turn, be able to deploy their applications efficiently on that foundation. By ensuring partners can land solutions quickly and scale them across markets, RONGHAI turns collaboration from a loose network into a governed ecosystem capable of delivering enterprise-grade AI adoption at scale. Watch as Roger Wang and Wizard He talk about why scaling AI in finance requires curated partnerships, execution, and ecosystem design. Catch the full conversation on how the Huawei RONGHAI program is shaping the future of AI-infused finance below. Featured image by Fintech News Singapore The post AI in Finance Is Harder Than It Looks, and Huawei Knows How to Crack It appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Emirates NBD Capital, the investment banking arm of Emirates NBD, has received regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a Category I Merchant Banking license. The Category I license allows Emirates NBD Capital to provide a full range of capital markets services in India. These include acting as merchant banker and bookrunner for equity capital market transactions, such as initial public offerings, follow-on offerings and qualified institutional placements. The license also allows the firm to arrange local debt capital market placements. The approval enables Emirates NBD Capital to expand its presence in India and will deliver investment banking services in line with local regulatory requirements. The group incorporated Emirates NBD Capital India Private Limited in Mumbai. It operates as part of the group’s global investment banking platform. A board comprising senior bank executives oversees the entity, supported by local governance. Emirates NBD Capital maintains investor relationships across sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors, family offices and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. These relationships span the Middle East and international markets. The license allows the firm to connect these investors with equity and debt market opportunities in India, where regional participation has remained limited. Hitesh Asarpota, CEO of Emirates NBD Capital, said: Hitesh Asarpota “Securing a merchant banking license in India marks a milestone for Emirates NBD Capital and the wider Group. Our expanded capabilities will complement the Bank’s broader offerings and support cross-border capital flows between the Middle East and India.” The approval comes amid strong activity in India’s capital markets. In 2025, equity capital market volumes reached around US$56 billion, while IPO fundraising totalled approximately US$20 billion. The market is expected to sustain elevated issuance levels into 2026.     Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by natanaelginting via Freepik This article first appeared on Fintech News Middle East The post Emirates NBD Capital Secures Category I Merchant Banking License in India appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Singapore payments platform AXS has rolled out a new rewards programme for users who pay bills through its app. The programme, called AXS Rewards, allows customers to earn AXS Coins on all bill payments made on the mobile app across more than 800 billing organisations. The coins can be redeemed for AXS vouchers, which can be used to offset future bill payments. AXS operates one of Singapore’s largest bill-payment networks, covering government agencies, utilities, financial services and telecommunications providers. Based on a recent internal survey of AXS and non-AXS users, more than 53% of respondents said utilities and telecommunications bills make up the bulk of their regular payments. AXS said user feedback shows a strong preference for rewards, with 53% of respondents favouring cashbacks and 41% preferring loyalty points. It added that many consumers currently use multiple payment platforms each month to manage different incentives. Quah Chun Han Quah Chun Han, Chief Executive Officer of AXS Payments, said, “Paying bills is an essential but uncelebrated part of daily life, and there’s always a desire for more value from services our users already rely on. AXS has always tried to incentivise it through our very popular lucky draws, and AXS Rewards is another further step in the same direction to improve the bill management experience.” To mark the launch, users who complete a single bill payment on the app will, for a limited period, be able to redeem a guaranteed-win Mystery Box, with vouchers of up to S$88 that can be used toward bill payments. AXS said it plans to expand the rewards catalogue by the second quarter of 2026 to include additional vouchers and offers across categories such as food and beverages, travel, routine services and special experiences.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by thanyakij-12 via Freepik The post AXS Introduces Rewards Scheme for Users Paying Bills via Its App appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

YouTrip has launched a global eSIM service, allowing users to access mobile data in more than 140 countries through its app. The eSIM lets users purchase, activate and manage roaming data directly within YouTrip’s platform, with real-time usage tracking and upfront pricing. Data plans start from S$1, and the service is available under the Travel section of the app. The official launch follows an early-access rollout in November 2025, which saw strong uptake during the year-end travel period. According to YouTrip, the most popular destinations during the trial phase were China, Japan and Malaysia. One in six early users purchased an eSIM for travel to Malaysia, including short trips to Johor Bahru, while demand for Asia Pacific and Europe data bundles also increased in December. Kelvin Lam Kelvin Lam, Chief Operating Officer of YouTrip, said, ”At YouTrip, we continuously strive to make travel experiences more seamless and convenient for everyone. After transforming how travellers manage cross-border payments, we are now extending that same value-driven approach to mobile connectivity—giving users a simple and cost-effective way to stay connected wherever their journeys take them.” To mark the launch, YouTrip is offering a 50 percent cashback on first-time eSIM purchases made between 28 January and 10 February 2026. The promotion is capped at S$5 per user, limited to the first 2,500 participants, and requires registration via the Promo banner in the YouTrip app. The company is also running an Instagram giveaway from 29 January to 5 February 2026. Users can win YouTrip credits via an in-app game, with prizes of up to S$500 for top-ranked participants and S$100 for selected users who share their results.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by wahyu_t via Freepik The post YouTrip Launches Global eSIM Across 140 Countries Starting at S$1 appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Sumsub has introduced a public registry to recognise companies with strong fraud prevention and compliance frameworks, rolling out what it calls the Risk Intolerant badge. The verification and fraud prevention firm said businesses across fintech, crypto, gaming, edtech and mobility can have their controls assessed. Eligible companies receive a badge as public proof of their digital safety efforts. Following its assessments, Sumsub has awarded badges across multiple tiers. Dozens of companies received Vanguard badges, while selected firms such as Exness, Kaizen and Moove were awarded Sentinel badges. CoinList, Mercuryo and Wirex received Titan badges, the highest level of recognition under the programme. Vitaly Gribanov “With our Risk Intolerant project, we’re celebrating the resilience our clients build with us in the fight against fraud. We want to shift the narrative around risk and compliance from reactive to aspirational, and the way we see it is to spotlight the companies doing the hard, often invisible work of managing risks proactively before they turn into crisis. To promote industry-leading practices among peers, we’re taking the lead to assess KYC, AML, fraud prevention and compliance systems of willing participants and provide recognition for those whose efforts in risk mitigation are comprehensive, up-to-date and successful.” said Vitaly Gribanov, Senior Brand and Creative Director at Sumsub. Sumsub said the badges reflect a company’s practices at the time of assessment and do not guarantee future performance or risk-free operations.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by thanyakij-12 via Freepik The post Sumsub Introduces Risk Intolerant Badge for Fraud, Compliance Practices appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

SUNRATE has expanded into global acquiring after acquiring a payments team with established acquiring systems and merchant operations. The acquisition adds acquiring as a new business line for the payments and treasury management platform. The team brings more than a decade of industry experience and supports merchants across sectors including cross-border e-commerce, online education, gaming, software and SaaS, travel platforms and new retail brands. SUNRATE said the team operates a production-ready acquiring setup that has been used in live operations across multiple markets. Its capabilities include card scheme connectivity, local payment method integration, fraud prevention and regulatory compliance. The unit will operate as SUNRATE’s Global Acquiring Business Unit and work with the company’s compliance, technology and global network teams. SUNRATE is a principal member of Mastercard, Visa and UPI and said it is progressing towards acquiring memberships with additional international card schemes. Paul Meng “Looking ahead, SUNRATE will continue to invest in product and service innovation, including the application of AI and other advanced technologies. We will also expand our service boundaries through strategic partnerships or acquisitions, further strengthening our global footprint and long-term capabilities,” said Paul Meng, Co-founder of SUNRATE. With the launch of global acquiring, SUNRATE said it now offers a more integrated payments setup that allows enterprises to manage payment acceptance, reconciliation, settlement, cross-border clearing and local payouts through a single platform.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Trend2023 via Freepik The post SUNRATE Adds Global Acquiring to Payments Offering appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Mastercard has launched a new service aimed at helping enterprises adopt agentic AI as software and business workflows become more autonomous. The offering, called Mastercard Agent Suite, combines advisory support with configurable AI agents that businesses can build, test, and deploy for specific operational needs. It draws on Mastercard’s payments infrastructure, data capabilities, proprietary platforms, and a global advisory network of around 4,000 advisors, with structured workshops available to help customers define their agentic AI strategy and roadmap. Mastercard said enterprise demand is rising as agentic AI becomes more embedded in business software. The company cited industry forecasts indicating that about a third of enterprise applications are expected to incorporate agentic AI by 2028, with AI agents supporting a growing share of customer interactions and operational tasks by 2030. Kaushik Gopal “Readiness is the new competitive advantage. It’s no secret that those who lay the groundwork can embrace new commercial opportunities much faster. Mastercard Agent Suite builds on our core strengths and capabilities to ensure our customers can be both nimble and practical as they turn innovation into outcomes.” said Kaushik Gopal, Head of Insights and Intelligence for Mastercard. The suite is expected to be available in the second quarter of the year and will complement Mastercard’s existing AI and agentic AI offerings across payments security, customer experience, and data-driven insights. The company said agents developed through the service will follow its privacy, responsible AI, and security standards. Initial use cases are expected to focus on banks and merchants. Banks may use agents to recommend products such as travel cards or fee-saving accounts, while merchants can configure agents around inventory, pricing, promotions, and brand voice to support conversational shopping. The launch also forms part of Mastercard’s broader agentic commerce push, including a dedicated agentic commerce and services track within its Start Path startup programme.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Mastercard  The post Mastercard Launches Agentic AI Suite for Banking, Retail Automation appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

Saxo has launched AutoInvest in Singapore, offering an automated way for investors to put money into ETFs on a regular basis. The feature allows clients to set a fixed monthly investment amount and allocate it across up to 10 ETFs from a list of more than 100 options. Once activated, investments are executed automatically each month, with users able to adjust, pause or stop the plan at any time. AutoInvest is available to all Saxo account holders and does not require a minimum investment or lock-in period. ETF purchases made through the feature are commission free, and investors can buy fractional units, allowing them to start with smaller amounts. The firm said AutoInvest is intended to simplify long term investing and provide a lower cost alternative to traditional managed funds or mutual funds, which typically charge ongoing fees that can reduce returns over time. Mahesh Sethuraman Mahesh Sethuraman, Singapore CEO said, “To truly serve the broadest population, investing must feel simple – not overwhelming. AutoInvest cuts through decision fatigue, lowers costs, removes the pressure of timing the market, and aligns with real human behaviour. This makes long-term investing both accessible and rewarding. With AutoInvest, Saxo has removed every barrier that stands between people and their journey towards financial independence.”     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by RSplaneta via Freepik The post Saxo Adds Automated ETF Investing Feature for Singapore Users appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

HitPay has launched a new feature called Borderless QR to help merchants accept QR-based payments from international visitors across Asia. The Singapore-based payments platform said the solution allows merchants to generate transaction-specific QR codes that support multiple regional and international wallet standards without requiring separate technical integrations. The feature is available to more than 20,000 MSMEs on HitPay’s network. With Borderless QR, merchants enter a sale amount and select the customer’s home country to generate a QR code that can be scanned using the visitor’s preferred wallet. Customers pay in their home currency, while merchants receive settlement in their local currency, typically by the next day. HitPay said transactions are processed at mid-market exchange rates with no additional fees. The feature supports regional QR schemes such as PayNow in Singapore, PromptPay in Thailand, QRIS in Indonesia, VietQR in Vietnam, and QR Ph in the Philippines, as well as international standards including WeChat Pay in China and India’s Unified Payments Interface. Aditya Haripurkar “As Southeast Asia advances its collective digital payment goals, our focus is on making those connectivity practical for small businesses. Borderless QR is about supporting the region’s spirit of collaboration by providing a streamlined checkout flow. Merchants can simply select a customer’s home country to generate a specific QR with a real-time converted amount, ensuring visitors pay with the wallets they trust while merchants continue to settle in their own currency”. said Aditya Haripurkar, Co-Founder and CEO of HitPay. The rollout is initially focused on Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines, although HitPay said the feature can be scaled to other markets through a software update. The company said consolidating multiple payment standards into a single checkout flow reduces operational complexity, including time spent on staff training and payment reconciliation.     Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by farknot via Freepik The post HitPay Introduces Borderless QR for Merchants to Accept Overseas Wallets appeared first on Fintech Singapore.