The Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (FIDReC) logged 4,355 claims this year as scam disputes drove its highest caseload in two decades. Claim volumes rose 50 percent from the previous year, led by a surge in scam cases, broader disputes across financial institutions and stronger public familiarity with FIDReC’s services. Of all filings, 2,646 were accepted for handling, up 22 percent, while 2,358 were completed, a 36 percent increase. The Early Resolution phase introduced in July 2024 contributed to the gap between claims received and handled. The process gives parties 10 business days to resolve matters directly and closed 811…
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In this exclusive roundtable jointly hosted by Fintech News and OneConnect Financial Technology banking C-levels from Philippines debate whether we’ve fallen into the trap of incremental gains and end up dreaming too small about how AI can potentially reconfigure banking. Hear real world use cases of top banks in the Philippines’ are leveraging AI to take their banks to the next level. Roundtable speakers: Matthew Chen, CEO, OneConnect Financial Technology Jerry Ngo, CEO, East West Banking Corporation Manish Bhai, CEO, UNO Bank Lito Villanueva, EVP and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer, RCBC Gigi Puno, CTO, GoTyme Bank Nishy De Silva,…
The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has entered into a partnership with digital payment services provider SingX Singapore Pte Ltd to offer real-time remittance services. The collaboration specifically targets overseas Filipinos residing in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. Through this partnership, BPI clients can transfer funds directly to beneficiaries’ BPI accounts using SingX’s fully digital platform. Joel De Vera, Head of Strategy, Products, and Support Group for Institutional Banking at BPI, stated that the initiative aims to make remittance services more accessible and cost-effective. “SingX is a strategic partner for BPI because of its innovative technology, global reach, and…
The 2025 Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) marked its most significant edition yet, attracting a record 65,000 participants from around the world. Against the backdrop of rapid advances in tokenisation, cross-border connectivity, and AI, the festival reaffirmed its role as the global epicentre of financial innovation. As the Strategic Knowledge Partner, Zühlke, a trusted technology transformation partner, with engineering and innovation deeply rooted in their DNA, once again played a key role in shaping conversations centred on three defining themes shaping the next chapter of financial innovation. From Technology Hype to Impact AI has reached a decisive turning point, shifting from…
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has appointed Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli as the next Head of its Innovation Hub. He will take up the role on 1 March 2026 for a five-year term, succeeding Cecilia Skingsley, who stepped down after being appointed County Governor of Stockholm. Mancini-Griffoli is currently Assistant Director in the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, where he oversees payments, currencies and financial market infrastructures and chairs the fund’s coordination group on digital money. He joined the IMF in 2011 after serving as a senior economist at the Swiss National Bank advising its board on monetary policy, and…
AI now compresses underwriting from days to seconds. That advantage only compounds when decisions remain fair, transparent, and explainable-so customers trust the outcome and supervisors see control. Below is a publisher-safe rewrite that preserves the original substance while reframing how lenders embed responsible AI across end-to-end credit management-without slowing growth. Why this matters now Modern scoring engines digest bureau files, account activity, and alternative signals to cut time-to-yes and sharpen risk differentiation. The same pipelines can also re-encode historical inequality if bias hides in data, features, or feedback loops. Treating AI as a sealed “black box” is no longer viable…
Thai digital insurer Roojai has raised US$60 million in funding from Apis Partners and Asia Partners. The Series C round also saw participation from existing shareholders HDI International, Primary Group and the International Finance Corporation. Roojai was founded in 2015 by CEO Nicolas Faquet and has built a strong position in Thailand’s online motor insurance market. The company has expanded into health, personal accident and travel insurance and has begun growing its operations in Indonesia. The new funds will support its expansion in both markets and will be used for strategic acquisitions. Roojai uses a direct distribution model in a…
Banks and payment infrastructures across the Swift network have finished the move to ISO 20022, marking a major upgrade to global payment data. The transition was completed on 22 November when the coexistence period with the older MT message format ended. The shift follows several years of coordinated preparation across the global financial community, which agreed in 2018 to adopt ISO 20022 for cross-border payments. The G20 and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures regard the standard as a core element of efforts to improve the speed and transparency of international payments. ISO 20022 introduces richer and more structured…
Victor Lysenko is stepping down as founder and CEO of Osome after more than eight years leading the Singapore headquartered business and financial management platform. He announced his departure in a LinkedIn post, describing the decision as bittersweet and noting the company’s growth since he started it in 2017. Lysenko said Osome has expanded into Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. The company reached profitability in the fourth quarter of 2024, supported by a 25 percent increase in annual revenue and a 60 percent improvement in annualised EBITDA. Osome raised over US$17 million in a…
Authorities in Singapore are directing Apple and Google to stop scammers from spoofing government names on their messaging apps. The Singapore Police Force, acting under the Online Criminal Harms Act, issued separate Implementation Directives to both companies on 24 November 2025. Apple must add safeguards to iMessage, while Google must do the same for personal RCS messaging on Google Messages. The measures, which include blocking or filtering names that mimic “gov.sg” or government agencies and adjusting how unknown sender names appear, must be in place by 30 November 2025. Government agencies have used the “gov.sg” SMS sender ID since July…
Global payments processor Thredd has signed an agreement to enable Visa Cloud Connect worldwide, expanding access for banks and fintech firms seeking greater scale and resilience across markets. Visa Cloud Connect gives organisations cloud-based access to VisaNet, Visa’s secure and powerful payments network. It is built for cloud-native companies and supports faster time to market, stronger flexibility and simpler cross-border expansion without multiple regional integrations. Thredd will connect across three global Visa Cloud Connect endpoints as part of a full global rollout. The company said the integration removes the need for separate regional connections and supports its vision of a…
Sumsub, a full-cycle verification platform, warns that APAC has entered a new phase of industrialised fraud driven by synthetic data, AI tools and the growing professionalisation of fraud-as-a-service networks. The fifth annual Identity Fraud Report 2025–2026 by Sumsub describes a global “Sophistication Shift”, where overall fraud volumes are stabilising but high-quality attacks have risen 180 percent year on year. In APAC, synthetic personal data fraud jumped 142 percent and now makes up 15.7 percent of all regional fraud attempts, the region’s third-largest category. The report draws on millions of verification checks and more than four million fraud attempts, supported by…
Dyna.Ai, a Singapore-based AI-as-a-Service company, today highlighted how financial services organisations are leveraging AI to elevate human potential through enterprise AI deployment. As 85% of global financial institutions now launch AI initiatives, the most advanced organisations are moving beyond human-in-the-loop models and toward full AI autonomy in routine domains. This will unlock “autonomous efficiency,” where AI handles menial tasks completely so human expertise can focus on relationship building, complex decision-making, and top-line revenue growth. Organisations scaling AI successfully are those moving deliberately toward autonomous efficiency, where AI operates with full autonomy in well-defined, routine domains while humans remain responsible for strategy,…
Banks everywhere are circling the digital asset space, but most that we know are still standing at the edge of the pool instead of diving straight right in. It seems like they all know that they need to get in, and deep inside, they know and can feel that a shift is coming. Yet, for all the talk about innovation and transformation, many banks seem terrified about how to make the first move, let alone when to. As one banker half-joked during Singapore Fintech Festival, “We’re exploring stablecoins,” which in banking language basically translates to “We know this is important,…
There is a familiar statistic that gets mentioned often at fintech events, but it felt different when we were preparing for our conversation with Tony Ball, President of Payments and Identity and the incoming CEO of Entrust. Fraud. Nearly seven in ten organisations reported an increase in fraud attempts in the past year. It is a reminder that the security models the industry used to rely on, now no longer reflect how people live and work. Especially when the bank is no longer big-old physical branches but rather, sits there in your pocket. These days, your office may be a…
OpenWay is supporting Visa’s international rollout of Fleet 2.0 to help businesses manage mobility payments more efficiently. The collaboration is part of Visa’s Ready for Fleet program. Visa Fleet 2.0 brings open-loop acceptance and is designed to consolidate fuel, toll, parking, EV charging and travel expenses into a single physical or digital card. The system includes sustainability readiness and provides tools for fleet operators, leasing companies and financial institutions to monitor spending and streamline payments. It also supports different energy types as more fleets adopt electric, hybrid and hydrogen vehicles. OpenWay has integrated Visa Fleet 2.0 into its Way4 Fleet…
DCS has appointed payments executive Jia Hang as its new Executive Chairman, the most senior leadership move in the company’s history. He will oversee the DCS Group, which includes its global fintech business and its core Singapore operations. The appointment comes as the company strengthens its role in Singapore’s payments sector and expands its dual rail infrastructure across traditional and blockchain networks. DCS said Jia will guide strategy, governance and business development, with a focus on improving financial access, supporting interoperability and working closely with regulators and partners. His role also includes enhancing customer experience and reinforcing DCS’ position as…
Job scams disguised as online work have led to more than S$10.6 million in losses since October, according to a Singapore Police Force update on 24 November. The trend aligns with earlier observations highlighted by The Straits Times, which reported a rise in fraudulent recruitment pitches circulating on social and messaging platforms. Police said victims were typically approached through job listings or unsolicited messages claiming that commissions could be earned through simple digital tasks. These offers appeared across job portals, social media channels and messaging apps. In many cases, victims were asked to take on roles that looked routine but…
CIMB Singapore is expanding SME access to sustainability-linked financing through its partnership with ESGpedia. The bank’s SME Sustainability-Linked Loan and Financing Programme, launched in August 2024, has supported more than 100 companies in setting emissions targets and securing preferential interest rates. The programme aims to address long-standing barriers faced by smaller firms. Sustainability-linked loans have typically been tailored for large corporates with bespoke metrics and costly verification, and many SMEs still view sustainability as a costly effort with limited immediate returns. CIMB’s framework offers a simpler structure aligned with global standards and uses ESGpedia’s digital platform to help companies calculate…
OpenAI has rolled out shopping research in ChatGPT to streamline how users compare and choose products. The feature lets users describe what they need and then asks clarifying questions before pulling information from reliable online sources to produce a personalised buyer guide within minutes. Shopping research is starting to appear on mobile and web for logged-in users on Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans. OpenAI said usage will be nearly unlimited through the holiday period. The tool is designed for more involved buying decisions where users want to weigh specifications, tradeoffs or budget limits. It checks current details such as…