Author: Annette Rowena

For millions of people, crypto has shifted from a speculative asset to a critical utility. It has become the rail for sending money home, a hedge against fragile local currencies, and a bypass for legacy financial systems that are slow, expensive, or out of reach. This shift in behaviour is showing up clearly in the data: global retail transactions surged by more than 125% in between January to September 2024 and during the same period in 2025, signalling that individuals, not just institutions, are driving the next phase of growth. TRM Labs’ 2025 Crypto Adoption and Stablecoin Usage report indicates…

As 2025 draws to a close, one thing is clear: the world of financial services is compounding. Every shift in financial technology, regulation, and consumer behaviour accelerates the next, creating a landscape where progress feels constant yet uneven. Asia Pacific illustrates this vividly. In the Philippines, the payments race intensified with Manny Pacquiao’s fully integrated Manny Pay app launch and Google Pay’s arrival. Malaysia, on the other hand, advanced ASEAN’s first 24/7 Real-Time Gross Settlement system while preparing for open finance. Hong Kong unveiled its Fintech 2030 strategy as two digital banks reached profitability, while Singapore now has better oversight for…

There’s a fundamental shift slowly taking place in the asset management space. While global money market funds hold close to US$10 trillion in assets, tokenised funds’ AUM sits at a few billion dollars, according to the CFA Institute. But that gap is precisely what makes this moment interesting. The question is less about whether tokenisation will scale, but more about how the infrastructure, legal frameworks, and operational playbooks will need to evolve to make it happen. The Guardian Asset & Wealth Management Industry Group’s recent report, “Operationalising Tokenised Funds”, cuts through to examine what actually needs to work. It shares insights…

10 years ago, Southeast Asia’s digital economy felt like a wave just beginning to crest: a swirl of marketplaces, wallets, and superapps chasing the promise of a connected region. Fast-forward to 2025, and that wave has matured into a tide that moves with purpose. The e-Conomy SEA 2025 report captures this turning point with a milestone: a digital economy now closer to being valued at US$300 billion, more than 1.5 times its 2016 projection. Revenues are also poised to reach US$135 billion as profitability gains momentum across the region. And as the Singapore Fintech Festival celebrates its own ten-year journey,…

For years, funding rounds have been the currency of success in ASEAN’s fintech ecosystem. Pitch decks, valuations, and investor insights often shaped a startup’s momentum more than its underlying fundamentals. But that story is changing. As the ecosystem matures and capital becomes more selective, the Fintech in ASEAN 2025 report by the Singapore Fintech Association, UOB, and PwC Singapore examined a decade of ASEAN fintech exits to reveal what truly drives long-term outcomes. Now, what does the data tell us? A Ten-Year View of ASEAN’s Fintech Exit Trajectory According to the report, 195 ASEAN fintech startups have been acquired since…

The future of finance is unfolding in powerful waves, shaped by the convergence of technology, talent, and imagination. AI and other technologies drive decisions at scale, digital ecosystems blur the lines between industries, and innovation increasingly moves without borders. Yet for all this acceleration, one reality endures: human capability is what turns technology into real impact. Nowhere is this more evident than in Singapore, where talent has long been treated as strategic infrastructure. The nation’s skill-first mindset recognises that human capital fuels everything else: innovation, competitiveness, and the ability to build world-class fintech products that scale. The latest SFA Fintech…

One theme has been persistently dominating most fintech conversations this year, and it involves AI and its growing influence over how finance operates, regulates, and evolves. What began as automation in back offices has become the invisible engine of credit, compliance, and capital flow. Yet as AI accelerates, a new challenge also emerges: how do we govern technology this widespread across borders and different systems? As AI is embedded across almost every layer of finance, regulators worldwide are shifting gears quickly to establish their guardrails. Yet, as the GFTN AI in Finance report shows, what has emerged is a mix…

Across Asia and beyond, privacy-preserving cryptography, AI-driven compliance, and cross-chain infrastructure are converging to solve the industry’s oldest problems: transparency without exposure, oversight without friction, and interoperability without compromise. Technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs, multi-party computation, and self-sovereign identity are now being built into production systems, quickly moving away from being mere digital asset trends. Yet as the GFTN Global Digital Assets Report reveals, progress remains uneven. 40% of its respondents cite infrastructure gaps like liquidity, scalability, and regulatory compliance are the biggest barriers to adoption. 19% point to the technology itself causing the limitation, including matters like complex user…

When it comes to fintech, there’s no doubt that Singapore plays a significant role in the big leagues. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently released its latest annual report, and within its pages are fintech and digital finance initiatives that will shape the country’s (and in certain moves, the region’s) financial future. From testing quantum-grade security to managing crypto exposure, the report outlines developments across every layer of Singapore’s financial and fintech system. Whether you’re a fintech founder, compliance lead, or just a curious observer, here are notable fintech developments from the MAS Annual Report for 2024/2025. #1 Robust…

The Wild West days of crypto were decentralised, unregulated, and outside the boundaries of traditional finance. Although the industry experienced breakneck growth, it also opened the floodgates to scams, volatility, and criminal misuse. Today, it’s a sigh of relief as we see that era coming to a decisive end. Regulatory compliance is swiftly becoming a core requirement, forcing crypto businesses to overhaul their business models and ensure that their models are legitimate and stable. From recent crackdowns in Thailand to swift reforms in Singapore, the message is clear: compliance is the new currency of credibility in crypto. Why Regulators Are…

Just in the first six months of 2025, the crypto industry has lost over US$2.1 billion across at least 75 separate incidents, due to hacks and exploits. What’s startling to note is that the amount is nearly equal to the total losses recorded for 2024, according to data from TRM Lab’s latest report. Far from being the usual crimes of opportunity, the recent scale and sophistication of the attacks reveal how crypto is becoming a battleground for geopolitical cyber conflict. State-sponsored actors are now testing their skills against critical financial infrastructure, pushing the boundaries of international finance and exploiting the…

Coenraad (Coen) Jonker, Founder and CEO of Tyme Group, radiates quiet confidence, driven by his staunch belief that banking can always be rebuilt for the better. This is the mind behind Tyme Group, the digital banking business that began in South Africa with a simple mission: to bring the unbanked into the fold, profitably and at a population scale. In a sector famous for promising inclusion, Tyme has successfully delivered real impact to millions of customers without concern for borders, referring to itself as a multi-country digital bank. Today, Tyme calls Singapore home, with 15+ million customers across South Africa,…

Southeast Asia’s e-wallet landscape is a vibrant yet chaotic arena, shaped by rapid digital adoption, fierce competition, and an unrelenting push for financial inclusion. Digital-first players are racing to reshape customer expectations, while a broader transformation is underway to evolve from “super apps” into truly integrated “life apps.” At the heart of this transformation lies a decisive enabler: automation. From seamless onboarding to hyper-personalised financial recommendations, automation is quickly becoming the essential backbone that allows e-wallets to scale, differentiate, and remain competitive in a region where user expectations are rising fast. Nikkei Asia projects that the ASEAN digital payments market…

Singapore’s motor insurance market could be on the verge of a major change. Grab, the Southeast Asian super app giant known for its ride-hailing, payments, and financial services, is quietly making decisive moves to enter the insurance space. GrabInsure, which secured its MAS license and GIA membership back in May 2025, is gearing up to launch motor insurance products. These would reportedly be tailored for its large network of private-hire drivers, according to a company spokesperson. For an insurance segment historically dominated by players like Income Insurance, MS First Capital, and AIG, Grab’s entry could mark the beginning of a…

Singapore has taken a definitive step forward in digital asset regulation via its Singapore DTSP licensing framework. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released its final position on the proposed regulatory regime for Digital Token Service Providers (DTSPs), under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 on 30 May 2025. Effective 30 June 2025, the new Singapore DTSP licensing framework significantly tightens compliance expectations for Singapore-based and Singapore-incorporated entities providing digital token services. This move firmly signals that Singapore is no longer willing to serve as a base for offshore crypto operators that evade domestic oversight. MAS has also clarified…

In Singapore, the future of retail is already in motion. Consumers here are making sharp, values-driven decisions about how they shop, who they trust, and what technologies they allow into that journey. These are, in fact, the key drivers of Singapore retail trends in 2025. From seamless AI-powered interactions to rising concerns over digital fraud, shoppers are setting new expectations for speed, safety, and social responsibility. The Adyen Index Retail Report 2025, drawing insights from over 41,000 consumers and 14,000 merchants across 28 global markets, also zooms in on Singapore’s retail landscape. It reveals a market that’s actively shaping the…

The fintech unicorns in Asia are moving to reshape the very fabric of how people and businesses interact with money. From digital payments to decentralised finance (DeFi), these companies are solving real-world challenges like financial inclusion and cross-border transactions, while setting new global standards for innovation. Out of the unicorns worldwide valued at a combined $4 trillion, a rising share are coming out of Asia’s fast-moving fintech ecosystem. These include two decacorns from India and China, each valued at over $10 billion. In this article, we take a closer look at Asia’s fintech unicorns, exploring how they’re changing the game,…

From bustling megacities to remote villages, digital finance is breaking down barriers, giving millions access to banking, credit, and investment opportunities for the first time. Nearly 96% of fintech companies are making financial inclusion a priority, proving that innovation is all about the people, not the tech; the driving force behind the fastest-growing Asia Pacific fintechs. With AI-powered financial tools, seamless cross-border payments, and intuitive super apps reshaping everyday transactions, these fintechs in the Asia Pacific are not just changing how money moves. They’re reimagining what’s possible. Here, we spotlight the fastest-growing Asia Pacific fintechs leading the charge in the…

BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) burst onto the scene as a game-changer, transforming how consumers shop and pay over time. What started as a consumer-friendly alternative to traditional credit is becoming a more concrete financing solution in the digital payments ecosystem, particularly in emerging markets like BNPL regulation in Asia. Research and Markets projects that the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) market in the Asia Pacific region will experience significant growth, expanding at an annual rate of 14.5% to reach an impressive $211.7 billion in 2025. However, as the BNPL payment model evolves, so do the challenges and opportunities surrounding…

Imagine a world where you never have to step into a physical bank again. No more long queues, no paperwork, and no outdated processes. In Asia, that future is already here. With the rapid rise of digital banking, millions are now managing their finances seamlessly from their smartphones. But with so many options available, which digital banks are truly leading the charge in 2025? This article breaks down the top digital banks across Asia, according to The Banker’s Top 100 Digital Banks list, so you can find the best one for your needs by country. What is a Digital Bank?…