Author: Annette Rowena

We often group the Southeast Asian region under one label when talking about the countries casually: SEAblings. But each country has its own unique identity, which transcends to how each market uses its respective payment methods, shaped by factors like dominant payment methods, relationship with cash, homegrown champions, and regulatory philosophy. Understanding those differences across markets is the best way to see how payments work in Southeast Asia. Right now, Asia Pacific, and by that extension, Southeast Asia, is where the most interesting payment method developments are taking place. From the warungs in Indonesia to street vendors in Bangkok and…

We’re living in a time when convenience is moving as quickly as you can blink, including all things payments, thanks to the gift of AI. Yet the very same technology is fuelling something far more sinister and constantly proving harder to tackle: fraud. Fraud numbers are growing exponentially. According to Juniper Research, eCommerce fraud could rise from $56 billion in 2025 to hit highs of $131 billion in 2030, with factors like friendly fraud carving deeply into merchant margins. Visa paints an equally alarming picture. Today’s cyber criminals are arriving armed with AI-powered deepfakes, synthetic identities, and agentic scams that…

For decades, accepting card payments meant investing in dedicated hardware, like a separate terminal for every checkout point. Each tech evolution, from early card terminals to modern POS systems, often came with its own set of requirements and processes. Today, the landscape of in-person commerce is spinning on its axis. Businesses are moving away from traditional and stationary checkout counters, driven by the need for greater agility and the flexibility to meet evolving customer expectations. Mobile POS solutions are a strategic response to this, bringing payments closer to the customer, shortening the sales cycle, and delivering a faster and seamless…

FIs (financial institutions) are typically considered to be accountable for the behaviour of AI that they use, irrespective of whether it was built or procured. -Mindforge AI Risk Management: Operationalisation Handbook Somewhere in an institution’s software stack, there might just be an AI model running on an update they did not approve. Think about the patch to your AI product that was rolled out automatically last quarter. Without you knowing, it may be posing cybersecurity, technology and possibly even reputational risks. Yet the contract with your vendor says nothing specific about it. This challenge is one of the core things…

The fintech sector continues to be one of the most dynamic forces reshaping financial services across Asia-Pacific. This ranking, drawn from the FT-Statista High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2026 list, spotlights the region’s fastest-growing fintech companies based on revenue growth between 2021 and 2024. From digital banks and payment infrastructure to insurtech and wealth management platforms, these companies reflect the breadth and ambition of Asian fintech innovation. Singapore leads the fintech pack with 12 entrants, followed by India with 11, underscoring both markets’ reputations as regional fintech powerhouses. Standout performers include Singapore’s Aspire (1772%) and Storepay (1722%), Indonesia’s DurianPay (1626%), and Malaysia’s…

More than 3.4 billion digital wallets are already in use worldwide, powering close to $9 trillion in annual payments. By 2026, digital wallet adoption is expected to rise to 5.4 billion users, cementing e-wallets as one of the most dominant financial tools on the planet. Yet, despite these transaction volume surges, margins remain as thin as ever. Payment processing has become a scale game, with high-volume, low-yield written all over it. How do banks, fintechs, and payment providers turn these high-volume, low-margin transactions into sustainable profit? Is there a way to effectively move beyond transactions and build ecosystems that drive…

Finance has long been one of the world’s most influential industries, and historically, one of its most male-dominated. The numbers still show a hole. Women account for 41% of fintech customers globally, according to the World Economic Forum. But across Asia’s halls, fintech startups and payment networks, the balance is shifting. Across Asia’s financial ecosystem, more women are stepping into positions where decisions about capital, technology, and financial access are made. Women today are leading digital banks, scaling payment infrastructure, shaping regulatory frameworks and building the technologies that millions rely on to move money every day. The change is becoming…

Leadership in Asian banking has never been a path of least resistance, especially for women. It has required navigating cultural expectations that weren’t designed with them in mind, systems that were, and the relentless pressure of competing in some of the world’s most demanding financial markets. And yet, the most consequential decisions in Asian banking today, like steering digital transformation, managing the region’s historic wealth transfer, and building the infrastructure that will define the next decade of finance, are being made by women. Women who have earned their seats through decades of expertise. From the CEOs of multinational giants to…

“People have been hearing all sorts of things about computers during the past ten years through the media. Supposedly, computers have been controlling various aspects of their lives. Yet in spite of that, most adults have no idea of what a computer really is, of what it can or can’t do.” Steve Jobs said this decades ago, captured in Make Something Wonderful, a book of his own words. Sure, he was talking about computers back then. But read it again today, and the misunderstanding he described hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s just wearing a different name. Swap out the word computers…

Everyone’s been jumping on the stablecoins’ wagon over the past couple of months (myself included), but one of the more fascinating discoveries for me was that stablecoins have actually been around for a little over a decade now. To top it off, McKinsey also predicted that the value of issued stablecoins could reach as high as $2 trillion by 2028. Yet according to dtcpay’s Chief Operating Officer, Sam Lin, the reality may dwarf even that figure. In an interview with Vincent Fong, Chief Editor of Fintech News Network captured during Singapore Fintech Week 2025, Sam dug into the key factors…

If you’re looking at your bitcoin portfolio and seeing red, chances are you’re witnessing one of the fastest unravellings in crypto history. Bitcoin’s slide has been brutal. After peaking at a euphoric US$126,000 in October 2025, Bitcoin has entered a relentless free fall, touching lows of US$63,000 as of the final days of February 2026. But why is Bitcoin falling? Investors are panic-searching for answers, seeking far and wide. Is this a buy-the-dip moment or the start of a multi-year crypto winter? In this breakdown of the great Bitcoin Freefall from 2025 to early 2026, we cover key events leading…

The Asia-Pacific payment landscape is a paradox of opportunity and complexity. It is arguably the most dynamic financial frontier in the world. Yet, it remains a daunting patchwork of fragmented regulations, hyper-local payment habits, and entrenched local champions fiercely defending their home turf. For any new entrant, the barriers to entry are high. While many fintechs attempt to enter the region by solving a single piece of the puzzle, DECTA, a UK-based powerhouse, touches down with a different philosophy. Positioning itself as a “full-stack” payment infrastructure provider, DECTA offers issuing, acquiring, and processing, all housed under one roof. Gabriel Stefanak,…

Grab Holdings Limited (Grab) announced its unaudited financial results for Q4 2025 and shared that it delivered its first full year of net profit. For Q4 2025, Grab’s revenue grew by 19% YoY to $906 million. Anthony Tan, Group CEO and the Co-Founder of Grab, shared, “We exited 2025 with a record fourth quarter, delivering our first full year of net profit and crossing 50 million Monthly Transacting Users.” He added on, saying that Grab intends to elevate itself based on this momentum via a multi-year strategy. The said strategy would “focus on further expanding its addressable market through greater…

Four of Singapore’s primary telco operators: M1, Starhub, Singtel and Simba were targeted in a cyberattack carried out by UNC3886, described as a “China-nexus espionage group”, according to CNA. On 9 February 2026, the Minister for Digital Development and Information, Josephine Teo, confirmed that while the attackers breached a few critical systems in one occurrence, the attack was contained before it could disrupt services. There is currently no evidence of sensitive customer data being stolen. Operation Cyber Guardian Mobilised 100+ Specialists The discovery of the breach triggered Operation Cyber Guardian, the largest coordinated cybersecurity operation in Singapore’s history. The response…

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…

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.…

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…

The digital banking landscape in Singapore has undergone a rapid transformation, with four players gaining approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). These digital banks are revolutionising how financial services are delivered to consumers and businesses alike, leveraging technology for convenience, innovation, and accessibility. In this article, we’ll explore the offerings of these players, highlighting their key features and what makes them unique. Last Updated: 22 January 2026 What Are Digital Banks? Digital banks are financial institutions that operate exclusively through digital platforms such as mobile apps and websites. They do not have traditional physical branches, which allows them…

Bill Deng, Founder and CEO of XTransfer, watched multinational corporations move billions across borders with relative ease, while SMEs were left navigating a maze of fragmented ledgers, opaque fees, and the ever-present risk of having accounts frozen without warning. That imbalance, Deng argues, was reinforced by the industry’s growing reliance on de-risking. This was a compliance-driven retreat that pushed smaller businesses to the fringes of the formal financial system, as they were deemed not very profitable yet high in risk exposure. And for many SMEs, a single flagged transaction could mean days without access to working capital, payroll disruptions, or…

For much of the past decade, the Asia Pacific was treated as crypto’s permissive frontier. A region where innovation could move faster than policy, where scale often came before supervision, and where enforcement lagged ambition. That era is ending. As the region heads into 2026, crypto is no longer being tested on its ability to grow. It is being tested on its ability to comply. What is emerging across the Asia Pacific is a coordinated tightening of standards that increasingly resemble those applied to systemically important financial institutions. In effect, the region is running a stress test on its crypto…