Singapore leads Southeast Asia in digital wealth adoption, according to the latest e-Conomy SEA 2026 report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company. Leading digital wealth platforms are used each month by 9% of Singapore’s internet users, nearly three times the share in the next-ranked market, Malaysia. The report attributes the lead to Singapore’s affluent and financially literate consumer base, deep capital markets, and mature digital financial ecosystem. Markets like Vietnam and the Philippines both recorded declines over the period, which the report says could likely be a short-term shift in user engagement as opposed to a “structural retreat from…
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Airwallex has extended its partnership with McLaren Racing and will become the Official AI Finance Partner of the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team from January 2027. The expanded agreement builds on a relationship established in February 2024, when Airwallex began supporting McLaren’s global financial operations through its cross-border payment and treasury management technology. Under the renewed partnership, both companies plan to explore ways to use technology to improve financial operations and efficiency. Airwallex will also continue supporting McLaren’s digital partner merchandise platform, allowing it to accept customer payments through various global and local payment methods. As part of the agreement,…
Standard Chartered is partnering with Air India to offer the airline’s frequent flyer status to affluent Global Indian clients in Singapore and the UAE. The partnership combines Standard Chartered’s cross-border wealth management services with Air India’s Maharaja Club loyalty programme and will launch in the coming weeks. Standard Chartered will offer eligible affluent clients Maharaja Club Gold or Silver status. Meanwhile, Air India customers who meet the bank’s eligibility criteria can access its wealth centres in Singapore and the UAE. What Standard Chartered clients receive Maharaja Club status comes with travel benefits including extra baggage allowance, priority check-in and boarding,…
Mastercard has demonstrated how AI agents can make multiple payments to different service providers under a single approved budget. The company showcased its Agent Pay for Machines solution at Cloudflare Connect following pilots with Cloudflare, Ant International, AIsa, Base, BVNK, Coinbase and Hype. It has also opened early access for developers to build and test AI agent payment applications. How AI Agents Can Make Payments Within Approved Budgets The solution builds on x402, an open protocol that allows digital services to request payments online. Businesses can assign AI agents tasks and set spending limits. When an agent encounters a paid…
OCBC will let customers in Singapore hold up to RM50,000 in Malaysian ringgit in their savings accounts from 23 October. The bank claims to be the first non-Malaysian bank to introduce the feature. Customers with an OCBC Global Savings Account or Premier Global Savings Account can convert Singapore dollars into ringgit and earn interest on their balances. They can also spend using a linked debit card without foreign currency transaction fees. Cash withdrawals at OCBC ATMs in Malaysia will not incur foreign exchange conversion charges, administrative fees or third-party operator fees. With the addition of ringgit, the multi-currency accounts will…
State Bank of India (SBI) is investigating a suspected data breach after 3,897 customer records containing personal information surfaced on the dark web, according to Reuters. In a disclosure on 21 October, India’s largest lender said it had examined approximately 375,000 records found online. Its preliminary assessment identified exposed details including customer names, mobile numbers, dates of birth, gender, email addresses and residential addresses. The information also included branch and Customer Information File (CIF) identifiers, lead IDs and metadata associated with loan and lead records. SBI received alerts about the suspected exposure on 16 October from its threat intelligence provider,…
DBS PayLah! users can now make QR payments at more than 250,000 merchants across Taiwan, covering approximately two-thirds of the country’s TWQR merchant network. DBS expects payment acceptance to expand across the full participating TWQR merchant network in 2027 as more providers join. More than three million PayLah! users can use the service at night markets, restaurants and retail outlets without downloading another payment app or relying on cash. DBS is the first Singapore bank to connect its customers to TWQR, adding Taiwan to its existing cross-border QR payment coverage through Indonesia’s QRIS, Malaysia’s DuitNow, Thailand’s PromptPay and UnionPay globally.…
Temasek has invested in the Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT, joining as an early and key investor. The fund is targeting €5 billion to provide growth capital to European technology companies, helping them expand without having to seek financing outside the region. Backed by the European Commission and institutional investors, it focuses on sectors including artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotechnology and energy. EQT manages the fund and makes individual investment decisions independently of its founding investors, including the European Commission. The Commission has committed €1 billion towards the fundraising target. Nagi Hamiyeh, President of Temasek Global Investments, highlighted Europe’s innovation…
Visa, BILL and Billtrust have launched a live pilot that enables AI agents to complete approved business invoice payments through supplier portals without manual intervention. The pilot aims to automate a step in B2B payments that often requires finance teams to log into supplier portals and manually enter payment details, even after an invoice has been approved. Announced in Las Vegas on 20 October, the initiative is described by the companies as the first live pilot of its kind. It uses capabilities from Visa Intelligent Commerce, Visa’s portfolio for AI-initiated payments. Human authentication requirements on supplier portals have previously limited…
Thunes now allows banks and payment providers to send money directly to Venezuelan bank accounts in real time. Members of its Direct Global Network can process transfers through Credito Inmediato Interbancario, Venezuela’s instant interbank payment system. The expansion supports remittances and freelancer payouts through money transfer operators and gig economy platforms. Remittances remain an important source of income in Venezuela. Inflows were estimated at US$6 billion in 2025, equivalent to 7 percent of GDP. About half originated from the United States. The new corridor also supports payments to mobile wallets and cash pickup locations, according to Thunes. Alex Young, Chief…
Bitget plans to acquire a licensed crypto exchange in Thailand as it expands its presence in Southeast Asia. The deal involves Bangkok-based GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics, which operates a digital asset exchange and brokerage. Bitget intends to acquire the company through its interest in Thailand’s BTGT Management. GMO Internet and its subsidiary GMO-Z.com Holdings will sell their entire stake in the exchange to BTGT Management or its designated buyer alongside other shareholders. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions. Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, said, “Thailand is an important part of Southeast Asia’s digital asset landscape, and this…
Salesforce has agreed to acquire customer engagement platform Braze for approximately US$5.66 billion in enterprise value, as it seeks to expand its AI-powered marketing capabilities. Under the agreement, holders of Braze Class A common stock will receive US$47.50 in cash per share. The proposed acquisition would strengthen Salesforce Marketing Cloud with Braze’s real-time customer engagement technology, which supports personalised communication across multiple digital channels. What Braze brings to Salesforce Braze enables businesses to respond to customer behaviour in real time, coordinating personalised messages across mobile apps, websites, email, SMS and WhatsApp. Its event-streaming architecture processes customer activity continuously, allowing businesses…
In India, access to banking and payments, alongside participation in formal investment products, is expanding rapidly, driven by fintech advances. Even with these gains, insurance uptake still lags behind, widening the protection gap compared with global standards. In this context, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to reshape India’s insurance sector, easing productivity limits, rising costs, manual work, and customer experience issues, and transforming functions including sales and distribution, underwriting, claims, and customer engagement, according to a new report by McKinsey and Company. AI in insurance sales and distribution In sales and distribution, frontline distribution remains fragmented, relying on multiple…
The UK and Singapore reviewed their cooperation in digital assets, AI and quantum technologies during the 11th UK-Singapore Financial Dialogue, held in Singapore on 20 October. The discussions also covered capital markets, sustainable finance and opportunities for international cooperation in 2027. Officials from MAS and HM Treasury (HMT) attended the meeting alongside representatives from the Bank of England (BoE), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and both countries’ diplomatic missions. Digital assets and tokenisation initiatives Both countries discussed initiatives supporting cross-border tokenisation and the development of wholesale digital financial markets. Singapore highlighted MAS’ Project Guardian, BLOOM and Global Layer One (GL1),…
Can stablecoins make cross-border payments faster, cheaper, and more accessible and where do banks fit in? At Luno’s LIDAC conference, moderator Vincent Fong joins Eddy Christian Ng from Tether, Milind Sanghavi from Xweave, and Gerard Ang from Standard Chartered to explore how stablecoins and tokenized money could reshape the way businesses and individuals move money. The panel discusses: Real-world uses for stablecoins in remittances, treasury, and supplier payments How stablecoins compare with tokenized deposits The opportunities and challenges for ringgit and other local-currency stablecoins Why liquidity, regulation, and collaboration matter for adoption From Malaysia to the wider region, the conversation…
Businesses are adopting AI rapidly, but the technology has yet to deliver widespread productivity gains, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Edward S. Robinson, MAS Deputy Managing Director (Economic Policy) and Chief Economist, highlighted this gap at the 2026 Beijing Financial Street Forum on 20 October. AI-driven electronics account for more than 70 percent of Asia’s export growth this year. Much of the growth in AI-producing industries reflects higher investment and equipment use rather than sustained productivity improvements. Robinson noted that broader gains would require businesses to adapt their operations and invest in skills and infrastructure. The Organisation…
Fireblocks has launched a trading platform that allows payments companies to compare stablecoin prices from multiple liquidity providers in one place. Fireblocks Liquidity Market enables customers to request quotes from different over-the-counter (OTC) trading desks and execute transactions under existing trading and settlement arrangements. MoneyGram, OpenPayd, Reap, TapTapSend and Zepz have joined as design partners. B2C2 and Zodia Markets are available as liquidity providers, with Cumberland, FalconX, GSR, Hercle, Nonco and Wintermute expected to follow. OTC and trading firms transferred nearly US$50 billion in stablecoins to payments companies and financial institutions through the Fireblocks Network over the past 12 months.…
Tech giant Sea Limited is looking to support the growth of its financial services arm Monee through a separate public listing. Formerly known as SeaMoney, the division was rebranded in May 2025 and offers digital payments, lending and banking services. It operates across eight markets: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brazil. The plan was outlined by Sea founder Forrest Li in an internal memo reviewed by Reuters. Li believes going public would provide Monee with additional resources to develop its business. Sea also intends to launch Sea Cloud, an AI-first enterprise platform, according to the memo.…
Mastercard has launched a new tool to help financial institutions detect fraud and assess risks before stablecoin payments are completed. The Stablecoin Security solution combines payment data with blockchain analytics to identify scams, sanctions exposure and other financial crime risks. Delivered through an application programming interface (API), it analyses transaction details, the origin of funds and exposure to restricted parties to generate risk scores. The service can also be integrated into existing fraud and compliance systems. Mastercard cited a study of 593 million stablecoin transfer events across 141 million Ethereum transactions in 2025. It found that nearly 60 percent involved…
Chocolate Finance has entered the UAE market, extending its investment services beyond Singapore and Hong Kong. UAE residents and international non-residents can now open accounts and invest in UAE dirhams (AED), US dollars (USD) or both. Customers can earn returns of 4.4 percent per annum on their first AED 100,000 or US$25,000 respectively, with returns of up to 4.4 percent on amounts exceeding those thresholds. Chocolate Finance’s top-up programme applies to investments within the stated thresholds, subject to its terms and conditions. The offering has no minimum investment requirements or lock-in periods. Founder Walter de Oude explained that the UAE…