Author: Fintech News Singapore

RippleX has launched the XRPL AI Starter Kit, a set of tools for developers building agentic payment applications on the XRP Ledger. The Ripple developer arm focuses on tools and infrastructure for the XRP Ledger ecosystem. The starter kit is aimed at AI agents that can make transactions, pay for services and settle value without direct human input. The first phase includes documentation, tools and integrations to help developers discover, learn and build agent-powered applications on XRPL. It also supports X402-powered payments using XRP and Ripple USD, or RLUSD, allowing AI agents to pay for API calls, AI model inference,…

Shopee has started job cuts affecting hundreds of developers worldwide, representing about 8 percent of its developer team, as parent company Sea reviews staffing needs during a wider AI push. The reductions started earlier this week and include quality assurance positions, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The report also indicated that Shopee may not be done reducing headcount. Sea, which operates Shopee, Garena and Monee, has been putting more resources behind AI as it searches for new growth engines. Chief executive Forrest Li has positioned AI as a key part of Sea’s long-term growth ambitions. Within Shopee,…

Visa is introducing new capabilities and expanding its platforms to support automated, AI-driven digital commerce. Announced at the Visa Payments Forum 2026, the updates focus on building core frameworks for autonomous transactions and modernising backend payment infrastructure. To support agent-driven commerce, Visa introduced Visa Intelligent Commerce, an architecture designed to provide trust, controls, and connectivity for AI agents. As part of this ecosystem development, Visa announced a collaboration with OpenAI to enable secure payments using Visa infrastructure within agentic commerce environments. “AI is transforming the front end of commerce. Stablecoins are reshaping the back end,” said Jack Forestell, Chief Product…

Mastercard has launched a new service that lets businesses use AI agents and software systems to make automated payments within set rules and limits. Agent Pay for Machines by Mastercard is designed for transactions that happen programmatically in the background of digital commerce. These include high-volume, low-value payments between AI agents, machines and software systems. The service is designed to allow these payments to be permissioned, orchestrated and settled at machine speed across Mastercard’s global payments network. In one example, an AI agent could set up an online store by buying a domain name, hosting service, images and checkout tools…

Thunes is expanding its US footprint with a new New York office to support cross-border payouts for American businesses. The new hub, located in Union Square, adds to Thunes’ existing US operations in San Francisco and Atlanta. The company is using capital from its US$150 million Series D funding round announced last year to support its expansion in the market. Thunes provides cross-border payment infrastructure for enterprises including gig economy platforms, marketplaces, payment service providers and financial institutions. Its network connects members to billions of endpoints across more than 140 countries and 90 currencies. Thunes said its US expansion is…

Grab is reportedly in discussions to join a funding round for Atome Financial, as the company looks to deepen its exposure to buy now, pay later and consumer lending in Southeast Asia. DealStreetAsia reported that the round could raise more than US$100 million, citing people familiar with the matter. The structure has not been finalised and may proceed in tranches. Atome Financial is part of Singapore-based Advance Intelligence Group and operates BNPL platform Atome and Indonesian digital lender Kredit Pintar. Lending Push Continues The talks come as Grab grows its lending and banking operations across consumers, merchants, drivers and SMEs.…

DBS will launch tokenised physical gold for customers in Singapore, with retail access expected through DBS digibank in the second half of 2026. The DBS Physical Gold Tokens will allow customers to access, hold and trade gold-backed tokens through a single platform. The bank described the service as a way to widen retail access to physical gold, which has traditionally been more readily available to institutional and accredited investors. Each token will be backed by one gram of physical gold held by DBS in a dedicated vault in Singapore. Customers will also have the option to redeem their tokens for…

Generative AI is making fraud more convincing and easier to scale. Reports of Gen AI-enabled scams rose 456% between May 2024 and April 2025, while deepfake activity is also rising sharply in APAC. Banks and fintechs across APAC are under growing pressure to tighten fraud controls and strengthen identity checks. This webinar brings together fraud and risk leaders to discuss how financial institutions are responding, including the use of stronger biometric checks and advanced liveness detection. The growing impact of deepfakes in Singapore and across APAC Exploring advanced technologies as fraud prevention grows more complex Striking the right balance between…

Reap has tapped Sumsub to support onboarding and compliance checks as it expands its stablecoin-native cards and payments infrastructure beyond APAC. The Singapore-based fintech will use Sumsub’s platform to automate verification for business customers and end cardholders. The partnership is aimed at helping Reap manage onboarding across markets with different regulatory, anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism requirements. Darryl Wan, Head of Legal, Risk and Compliance at Reap, said, “Onboarding is often the first real experience a customer has with Reap and it needs to be fast, simple, and compliant no matter where they are located. With the right infrastructure…

Credit Bureau Singapore and Experian Malaysia are working on a cross-border credit reporting service to help lenders assess borrowers with financial footprints in both markets. The proposed service will allow individuals to apply for consented credit reports across Singapore and Malaysia. It is intended to help lenders assess credit risk more accurately and improve access to financial products for consumers who live or work across both markets. The companies will explore a framework for the secure exchange of individual credit information. This will cover each bureau’s role in handling applications, consumer consent, data protection, governance and commercial arrangements. The service…

Nuvei is in advanced discussions to acquire cross-border payments firm Payoneer for roughly US$2.7 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, as reported by Reuters. The potential transaction aims to merge Nuvei’s merchant payment capabilities with Payoneer’s extensive global payout network. The proposed US$2.7 billion purchase price incorporates Payoneer’s cash reserves, placing the enterprise value at approximately US$2.3 billion. Nuvei could finalise an agreement in the coming days, though talks remain ongoing and plans could still change. An acquisition would grant Nuvei deeper access to emerging markets and large online marketplace clients, including Amazon, Walmart and eBay. The move…

The Singapore High Court has issued a notice to seize shares held by Capital A subsidiary Move Digital in digital wallet operator BigPay and logistics firm Teleport, the Edge Malaysia said. The enforcement action aims to recover a US$14.7 million (RM59.85 million) arbitration award owed to BigPay co-founders Christopher Davison and Navin Rajagopalan, as reported by The Edge Malaysia. The order mandates the seizure of Move Digital’s 99.56% stake in BigPay alongside its 11.45% stake in Teleport. This development highlights the strict enforcement capabilities within Singapore’s legal framework for fintech disputes resolved through arbitration, impacting regional corporate structures. The conflict…

AI is getting better at helping us shop. The next step is much bigger: making payments on our behalf. That sounds convenient, but it also raises some important questions. Who is really in control? What happens when an AI agent makes a mistake? And how can banks, merchants, and regulators trust transactions that are no longer initiated directly by humans? In this episode, Lionel Grosclaude, CEO of Fime, joins Fintech News Network to discuss the rise of agentic commerce and why trust may become the most important layer in AI-driven payments. The conversation explores Fime’s recently launched FACT (Framework for…

HSBC has tested B2B agentic commerce transactions in Singapore with Mastercard as banks look for new ways to automate business payments. The pilot was completed on 29 May 2026 and involved a multinational corporate buyer, Singapore-based procurement platform SourceSage and e-commerce supplier FortyTwo. The transaction was built on Mastercard Agent Pay and used tokenised payments, merchant discovery and referral capabilities. The proof of concept shows how digital agents could help businesses manage purchasing and payments with controls, transparency and risk management built into the process. HSBC framed the pilot as part of its wider push to support payment ecosystems through…

yuu Rewards Club members in Singapore can now convert their points into Max Miles under an expanded partnership with HeyMax. Under the new arrangement, yuu members can convert points at a ratio of 3.6 yuu Points to 1 Max Mile. HeyMax said this allows members to earn up to 10 miles per dollar. The feature gives members another redemption option through HeyMax’s network of more than 20 airline and hotel loyalty programmes. The move builds on the existing partnership between both companies, which already allows HeyMax users to convert Max Miles into yuu Points at a ratio of 1:3. HeyMax…

OpenWay and Visa are working together to help banks, processors and fintechs in Asia Pacific bring new payment products to market faster. The collaboration will support selected Visa payment products on OpenWay’s Way4 platform, which is used for card issuing, digital wallets, merchant acquiring, real-time payments and other payment services. Earlier coordination between Visa and OpenWay on selected product requirements and implementation frameworks could simplify rollouts and reduce deployment work. Way4 can be deployed on premises, in the cloud, through dedicated SaaS or in hybrid models. The collaboration builds on recent Visa payment products supported on Way4, including Visa Flexible…

Backbase is bringing Mastercard Move into its Banking OS as banks look for faster ways to launch cross-border payment services. The integration gives Backbase customers access to Mastercard’s global money movement capabilities through a pre-built connector, reducing the need for custom integration work. The collaboration is aimed at helping financial institutions roll out international payment services more quickly, while managing the payment flow from customer initiation to settlement and reconciliation. Mayank Somaiya, Global Vice President and Head of Ecosystem Partnerships at Backbase, said, “The Backbase Ecosystem extends the AI-native Banking OS with best-of-breed capabilities across payments, fraud management, open banking,…

OCBC is expanding its gold offering with allocated gold bars held in a Singapore-based vault. Institutional clients of OCBC, as well as high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients of Bank of Singapore, will be able to buy, sell and custodise physical gold from 10 June 2026. The service covers large gold bars of about 400 troy ounces, or 12.4kg, and 1kg kilobars. The trading and custodial chain will be based entirely in Singapore. Bank of Singapore’s client holdings in physical gold have grown by more than 40 percent since the end of 2025, with most of these holdings belonging to ultra-high-net-worth clients.…

FXC Intelligence, a financial data company specializing in the payments and e-commerce sectors, has released its annual Cross-Border Payments 100 list. The list identifying this year’s 100 most influential players in global payments and recognizing them for their operational scale, market significance, and sustained growth over the past year. Among the 2026 honorees, 16 companies hail from Asia-Pacific (APAC), an increase from 13 in 2025 which underscores the region’s rising prominence in the global cross-border transaction arena. Released on May 28, the list reveals that Singapore leads the APAC representation with six entries, followed by Mainland China with five, and…

Vietnam Maritime Bank (MSB) has halved its loan turnaround time from 30 minutes to 15 minutes after deploying automated credit decisioning technology from FICO and regional partner Blitz. The bank integrated artificial intelligence and machine learning models with rule-based criteria to standardise its credit assessment process. The deployment, completed in 10 months, aims to reduce manual errors while helping the lender launch digital credit products faster. “The bank can now approve loans with a level of speed and accuracy that was previously unattainable,” said Nguyen Quang Man, Deputy Chief Risk Officer at MSB. “The ability to adapt quickly as market…