Airwallex is expanding into revenue recognition and reconciliation with its acquisition of Leapfin. The acquisition will add Leapfin’s financial data automation technology to Airwallex’s platform. The companies plan to introduce new product capabilities in the coming months to help finance teams manage reconciliation, revenue recognition and record-to-report processes. Leapfin’s platform helps companies organise transaction data from different systems for accounting and reporting. Airwallex plans to use the technology to support businesses operating across multiple entities, currencies and data systems. Airwallex CEO and Co-founder Jack Zhang said, “Leapfin has solved a notoriously difficult engineering problem by turning messy transactional data into…
Author: Fintech News Singapore
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Revolut is reshuffling its technology leadership as Co-Founder Vlad Yatsenko prepares to leave the CTO post for a board role. Bloomberg reported that Yatsenko will step down in July ending a long run in the top technology role at the UK fintech. Donato Lucia, Revolut’s Head of Technology, will assume the renamed role of Vice President of Technology. Yatsenko joined before Revolut formally launched and is described as the company’s first employee. CEO Nik Storonsky later gave him the co-founder title, saying earlier this year that the title helped Yatsenko recruit engineers. Yatsenko said he felt settled about the decision.…
Grab-backed GXS Bank has bought 2.44 billion shares in Indonesia’s Superbank, giving it a 7.22% stake in the listed digital bank. The purchase adds to Grab’s indirect exposure to Superbank as the Singapore-based company moves to bring the Indonesian lender under its financial services segment. IDN Financials reported the share purchase based on the Indonesia Stock Exchange’s update on shareholders with ownership of more than 5%. GXS Bank is jointly owned by Grab Holdings and Singtel, with the former holding 60% and the latter owning the remaining 40%. The IDX update also showed that A5-DB Holdings Pte. Ltd., another Grab-linked…
The payments landscape across Asia-Pacific (APAC) is entering a defining phase. Rapid adoption of real-time payments, the emergence of cross-border interoperability models, and growing interest in digital money are reshaping how value moves across the region. In this conversation, Arun Kini, Managing Director for Payments APAC in Finastra, shares his perspective on how APAC is evolving, why it is structurally distinct from Western markets, and what it will take for banks to build truly future-ready payment ecosystems. How is the payments landscape across APAC evolving, and what structurally differentiates the region from Europe and the U.S. in terms of adoption,…
Kyrgyzstan is moving its national payment app beyond local payments after IPC linked ELCARD Mobile to Alipay+ for overseas QR transactions. Backed by the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic, the rollout allows users in Kyrgyzstan to pay merchants abroad through the Alipay+ network without needing a separate app. IPC and Alipay+, Ant International’s unified wallet gateway, introduced the service as part of efforts to expand cross-border payment connectivity for ELCARD Mobile users. IPC, a subsidiary of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic, operates the country’s national payment system and connects local banks and financial institutions through the ELCARD…
TerraPay and PalWallet have partnered to help businesses settle cross-border payments faster using stablecoin and local payout infrastructure. The partnership brings together TerraPay’s global payments network and PalWallet’s hybrid fiat and digital asset infrastructure. It will support payment service providers, fintechs, merchants, remittance platforms, exchanges and enterprise clients operating across multiple markets. PalWallet provides infrastructure for stablecoin settlement, global payments and embedded financial services. Through the collaboration, the company plans to expand its payout reach, support treasury and remittance corridors, and offer more local payout options across emerging and developed markets. The partnership comes as businesses look for payment infrastructure that…
Fireblocks has launched Flow to help payment service providers and fintechs add stablecoin acceptance without rebuilding their checkout systems. The product lets payment companies enable merchants to accept digital asset payments and settle in their preferred stablecoin. It is available immediately and was unveiled at Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam. Flutterwave is among the launch customers integrating Flow into its stablecoin infrastructure. The company will use it to accept payments from consumers using different digital assets, with settlement and reconciliation built in. Flow plugs into existing checkout and deposit flows. It supports more than 800 external wallets across EVM, Solana and…
Thunes is adding real-time payout capabilities to its global network, giving businesses outside the country a more direct route for sending USD payments into the US. Members of the Thunes Direct Global Network can now send payments into the US through Automated Clearing House, Same-Day ACH and real-time payment rails using a single API. The service is supported by Thunes’ direct connection to a tier 1 US financial institution and its 50 Money Transmission Licenses across US states and territories. The setup is designed to reduce delays, lower transaction costs and cut the risk of payment rejections by avoiding multi-layered…
The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have clarified that PayNow nicknames are being removed to curb impersonation scams, not to expand compliance controls. The joint response followed Daniel Rabetti’s commentary in The Straits Times on 28 May, which questioned what the change could signal for PayNow users. According to ABS and MAS, impersonation scams in Singapore have doubled over the past year, with the misuse of PayNow nicknames contributing to many cases. From 6 June 2026, PayNow will stop displaying nicknames for retail users. Payers will instead see selected letters of the…
Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) and remittance platform Taptap Send have entered into a strategic partnership to expand inbound remittance services to Vietnam. The collaboration enables individual customers in Vietnam to receive international money transfers with zero receiving fees. Under the agreement, the partners will roll out the remittance solution to more than 30 million VPBank customers as well as individuals across the country. The service features fast and streamlined processing alongside 24/7 support to address common cross-border payment issues such as time zone differences, processing delays during public holidays, and foreign exchange risks. Taptap Send has previously…
Paymentology has launched Lume to help banks and fintechs expand card programmes across markets on cloud-native issuer processing infrastructure. The platform is designed to support global scale, localisation and continuous product development. Lume enables issuers to connect to local payment rails, meet sovereign requirements and adapt to market-specific preferences through regional instances across continents. The platform will also support areas such as crypto and stablecoin-linked payments, agentic commerce, real-time payments, tokenisation, embedded finance and digital credit. Lume runs on a multi-cloud architecture across AWS and Google. It uses an API-first model and a zero-trust security framework, with identity-based authentication instead…
Artificial intelligence (AI) agents can deliver meaningful efficiency gains and enhance the delivery of public services. However, these benefits are accompanied by challenges and risks, including security vulnerabilities alongside data protection and privacy concerns, according to a new report by Google and key Singapore government agencies. The report, released in May, shares findings from the AI Agents Sandbox, a controlled environment launched by the Singapore government in August 2025. Over a four-month period, this initiative allowed for the testing of AI agents against real-world public-sector use cases under appropriate safeguards. The sandbox focused on three primary applications. The first use…
SEON has rolled out new AI capabilities to help fraud and AML teams apply real-time risk signals across investigations, reporting and network analysis. The updates include a Model Context Protocol server, Network Detection, AI Chart Builder and an AI Playbook for Risk and Compliance Teams. The MCP server allows analysts to connect tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot or custom agents to SEON’s risk data. The integration gives teams access to more than 900 real-time risk signals across identity, device, behavioural, AML and IP data. The MCP server is aimed at teams that already use AI tools but…
FOMO Pay will roll out DuitNow QR acceptance in Singapore, allowing Malaysian visitors to pay merchants using their local banking and payment apps. The feature will allow Malaysian visitors to pay in Malaysian Ringgit through DuitNow QR, while FOMO Pay merchants receive settlement in Singapore Dollars. The rollout comes ahead of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link, which is expected to open in January 2027 and carry up to 40,000 passengers daily. The rail link is expected to increase consumer traffic between Singapore and Malaysia. The DuitNow QR Singapore rollout is aimed at merchants in sectors such as retail, dining…
Global payments technology company Juspay announced that it joined the Mastercard Engage partner network as a certified third-party partner for Mastercard Click to Pay today. Building on its rollout in Brazil, Juspay is enabling Click to Pay in Asia, which is said to enable merchants to provide a secure checkout experience. Click to Pay eliminates the need for manually entering card details, thereby improving conversion rates and reducing checkout friction. Mark Ronayne, Associate Director, International, at Juspay, shared, “With Click to Pay, we’re enabling merchants to offer a consistent, one-click checkout, helping improve conversion while delivering a seamless payment experience…
Mastercard has named Ling Hai as its next Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as part of a wider reshuffle across its global leadership team. The changes will take effect on 3 August 2026 and cover several senior roles across finance, services, commercial payments and global operations. Ling, currently President of Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, will succeed Sachin Mehra as CFO. Mehra will move into the newly created role of Chief Business Officer, where he will oversee country operations globally, Sales Enablement, Global Partnerships and Digital Commercialization. Linda Kirkpatrick, President of the Americas, will become Chief Services Officer, succeeding…
Stablecoin payments are moving into the eligible enterprise merchant network of Checkout.com through a new partnership with Coinbase. The integration is powered by Coinbase Payments and will enable consumers to pay using USDC or USDT. Merchants will continue to settle in US dollars through Checkout.com’s existing payment rails. The feature will be available to eligible merchants across Checkout.com’s network of more than 1,000 enterprise customers. The company works with digital businesses that already use its platform for cards, bank transfers and digital wallets. The partnership comes as stablecoin payments gain traction in online commerce, particularly in markets where card access…
Mastercard has launched a travel campaign in Southeast Asia with more than 300 offers for short-haul travelers across six countries. The Phone. Passport. Mastercard. campaign covers Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. It was developed with issuing banks and merchant networks to support regional travel across Southeast Asia. The offers span dining, shopping, accommodation, transport and travel experiences. The campaign targets travelers taking short-haul trips within the region, including spontaneous getaways and long weekends. Through the campaign, Mastercard cardholders can access offers while using their cards for travel-related spending, from transport and dining to shopping and hotel bookings. Mastercard’s…
Consumer fraud is no longer a peripheral risk across APAC. It is becoming a defining factor in how people engage with digital services, payments and financial institutions, and in how much they trust them. New report from LSEG Risk Intelligence, based on responses from 7,000 consumers across APAC, shows the scale of the challenge and why organisations across banking, fintech and payments need to rethink how fraud risk is managed. Fraud exposure is now the norm, not the exception Almost six in ten adults across APAC have been exposed to scams directly or indirectly in the past two years. Around one…
Singapore consumers are raising concerns over underage betting as more users plan to place bets online during the 2026 World Cup. Jumio’s 2026 Online Identity Study found that 76% of respondents in Singapore worry about minors using sports betting apps during the tournament, the highest among the four markets surveyed. The study surveyed 8,003 adult consumers across the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore and Mexico. Globally, 63% of respondents shared the same concern. In Singapore, 82% believe online platforms and their technology providers are responsible for preventing underage betting. World Cup Betting Interest Grows The findings come as sports betting…