DBS is reworking its push into Malaysia with a new plan to pursue a 30 percent stake in Alliance Bank, according to people familiar with the process who spoke to Bloomberg. The lender had initially looked at taking a stake of up to 49 percent, but that proposal did not move forward with Bank Negara Malaysia. The earlier plan exceeded the country’s usual ownership limit for financial institutions, which generally caps foreign or corporate shareholders at about 30 percent, and would have required special approval. By shifting to a stake size that fits within the country’s standard threshold, DBS is…
Author: Fintech News Singapore
Author
Read More
Global money movement firm TerraPay has announced the launch of Xend, a new network designed to improve interoperability between digital wallets, banks and cards. TerraPay said Xend functions as an infrastructure layer that lets wallet users transact with more than 11,500 banks through the Swift network and make payments at about 150 million merchant locations worldwide. These services can be accessed through existing wallet apps without requiring complex bilateral connections. The company said Xend is already live with more than 200 million wallet users and is able to scale across 3.7 billion wallet endpoints. The network is intended to support…
Global neobank Revolut disclosed that a recently completed share sale has valued the company at US$75 billion. The company did not disclose the transaction size or the stake sold. The round drew both new and existing investors. Coatue, Greenoaks, Dragoneer and Fidelity Management & Research Company led the deal, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Franklin Templeton and T. Rowe Price Associates. NVentures, NVIDIA’s venture capital arm, also invested, deepening Revolut’s collaboration with the firm in areas that include AI. Revolut said employees were able to sell shares as part of the process, marking the fifth such opportunity it has offered.…
Trust Bank has launched a new Visa-powered instalment feature that lets credit card users split eligible purchases into monthly payments at checkout. The service allows customers to spread payments when they check out at participating merchants, including Courts, iStudio, selected Samsung Experience Stores and the Samsung Online Store. It is available only on main Trust credit cards and applies to transactions of at least S$100 or the minimum set by the retailer. Debit card and supplementary credit card transactions are not eligible, and Link cards must be paired to a Trust credit card account. The feature builds on Trust’s existing…
In a country known for its world-class financial system, it can be surprising to learn that only around a quarter of Singapore’s small and medium enterprises have access to bank financing. The remaining businesses are left to patch together funds from personal savings, family, or tedious, inflexible options. These are the same SMEs that power daily life, the ones Singapore depends on for its restaurants, clinics, retailers, logistics operators and everything in between. That gap has created room for a different kind of lender to step in, one that is less concerned with rigid credit checklists and more focused on…
Singapore police stepped up their inquiry into the alleged Prince-linked scam network after searching a car loan company that borrowed from a firm tied to Chen Zhi. People familiar with the case told Bloomberg that officers raided SRS Auto Holdings last week and arrested its sole proprietor, Tan Yew Kiat. The Singapore Police Force confirmed it is investigating Chen and related companies and said one person has been detained for suspected money laundering, without naming the individual or firm. SRS and Tan did not respond to queries. Chen, chairman of Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, was indicted in the US last…
OCBC is adding in-app calling to its digital banking apps, with access for retail customers rolling out progressively from November 2025 after an earlier launch for corporate users in June 2025. The feature lets customers call the bank directly within the OCBC and OCBC Business apps and is intended to improve security by reducing reliance on SMS one-time passwords and security questions. OCBC is among the first banks in Singapore to introduce this capability. The bank said the function will be particularly helpful for customers who need urgent assistance overseas, including those dealing with suspected card fraud or account security…
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said Singapore takes illicit financial flows seriously and will act quickly to protect its position as a trusted business and financial centre. During a discussion on recent money laundering cases and US accusations involving an Asian crime figure, the moderator cited a remark from one of Wong’s ministers that “when we open the windows, some flies may also enter.” Wong responded that “sometimes we get more than flies” and added that “We do have quite a big fly swatter.” He said illicit flows are not unique to Singapore and occur across all major financial centres. Wong…
India’s payment landscape has undergone a profound transformation over the past years, marked by government-led infrastructure modernization, the rise of digital payments, and the rapid expansion of the fintech sector. A new report by PwC and Global Fintech Fest provides an overview of India’s evolving payments landscape, emphasizing the simultaneous rise of digital payments, especially the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and the persistent use of cash. It also looks at the emergence of the ecosystem-based business models, and identifies areas of future growth, including credit cards, artificial intelligence (AI) applications, and new UPI use cases, all the while warning of…
Sumsub has announced two initiatives at its inaugural What The Fraud Summit (WTF Summit) in Singapore. These include the launch of its integration services with Singpass, Singapore’s national digital identity platform, and a Research Collaboration Agreement (RCA) with Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore) under Sumsub’s AI Academic Program. The research will focus on developing human-imperceptible watermarks for personal images to prevent deepfake fraud, the first such initiative in the Asia-Pacific region. Singpass Integration for Document-Free Verification The Singpass integration allows businesses in Singapore and international companies operating locally to authenticate citizens and residents without manual documents. Sumsub acts as…
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is taking a cautious stance on cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Thursday, 20 November. “Stablecoins, cryptos, they have a huge risk, and so we are adopting a very cautious approach towards it,” he noted in a memorial lecture at the Delhi School of Economics. “But at the same time, when it comes to digital innovations like UPI (unified payments interface) or digital lending, our stance has been very accommodative and very enabling.” Reuters reported that the growing popularity of US dollar-backed stablecoins is expected to be a key trend next year…
Yubi has raised Rs 411 crore (US$46.4 million) in fresh capital to accelerate its international expansion and strengthen its artificial intelligence driven credit products. According to a report by YourStory, the Chennai-based fintech secured the funding through a mix of long term structured debt and founder equity. A large share of the capital comes from EvolutionX Debt Capital, which is providing up to Rs 336 crore (US$37.9 million). Founder and CEO Gaurav Kumar is contributing Rs 75 crore (US$8.5 million), bringing his total personal investment to more than Rs 330 crore (US$37.2 million). Yubi plans to channel the funding into…
The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) has opened a new support hub in Dubai to guide Singapore companies entering the Middle East. The Business Times reported that the Singapore Enterprise Centre is the federation’s first in the region and the fifth in its GlobalConnect network. The new centre will act as a launchpad for businesses exploring opportunities in the Gulf. It will offer market advisory services, business matching, networking sessions, workshops and sector-focused roundtables. Existing centres under the initiative are located in Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok and Bengaluru. Interest in the Middle East has grown sharply. According to SBF,…
In the last decade or so, almost every financial interaction we make has moved from big physical branches to a small, tiny screen. Be it your own phone or laptop, you can really do anything and everything. You can open a bank account, sign up for a lender, send money to a friend, or pay for a delivery on that screen of yours. Now, your entire financial journey happens through a digital front door. But the same door that customers usually walk through also happens to be the very door criminals use, too, often at the same moment. That is…
OCBC users in Singapore can now transfer funds directly to eight major digital wallets across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. This brings the bank’s pay-to-wallet feature to ten wallets, following last year’s addition of Weixin Pay and Alipay. The expansion is part of OCBC’s partnership with Visa, which began in 2024 to enhance cross-border payments. Transfers to the new wallets are near instant and fee free. Supported services include Coins, GCash and PayMaya in the Philippines, GoPay, LinkAja and Ovo in Indonesia, MoMo in Vietnam and Touch ’n Go in Malaysia. Together with the two Chinese wallets, these platforms…
Singapore announced plans to create a dual listing bridge between the Singapore Exchange and Nasdaq to support cross-border listings, concluding a review aimed at strengthening the equities market. The proposed platform will target Asian growth companies valued at least S$2 billion and would allow issuers to use a single set of offering documents to raise capital in both Singapore and the United States. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) expects the initiative to launch around mid-2026, subject to regulatory approvals. National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat, who chaired the review group, said the effort “takes an entire ecosystem, the regulator, exchange,…
EdenX Group, an Australian and Singapore-based fintech platform providing end-to-end solutions for franchise and SME growth, capital raising and business exits, has launched a US$5 million funding round to expand its regulated capital markets infrastructure and develop a platform for transacting in businesses. The round is being led by SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered Bank, and has attracted interest from both existing and new investors. Formed through the integration of Eden Exchange, Franchise Ready, Franchise New Zealand Media and edenX Capital, EdenX Group has relationships with over 250 franchise brands and more than 120,000 users…
OneConnect highlighted its latest AI-driven solutions at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2025, which ran from 12 to 14 November and marked the event’s 10th anniversary. The festival attracted more than 65,000 participants from 130 countries, including regulators, financial institutions, and technology firms. The company first entered Singapore in 2018 and returned this year to present its “AI in ALL” suite, positioning it as part of its broader international expansion. Matthew Chen, CEO of OneConnect International, spoke on a panel alongside representatives from Tencent Cloud and Bank of China. The discussion explored how Chinese firms are using AI to improve efficiency…
CIMB Singapore has taken the lead in forming the SME Resilience Circle with CrediLinq, KPay and Singlife to expand access to smarter, more flexible working capital for SMEs in Singapore and across the region. The Circle aims to help SMEs build resilience, support growth and improve long term sustainability while managing rising costs, digital disruption and evolving customer behaviour. The initiative was formalised through separate MOUs between CIMB Singapore and each partner. CrediLinq contributes AI driven credit underwriting to support more accurate risk assessment, while KPay connects merchant payment data to financing to help smaller businesses access credit more easily.…
DeCard by DCS and Coin98 have launched the Coin98 Fusion Card, a payment solution that allows users to spend digital assets at more than 150 million Visa-accepting merchants worldwide. The partnership brings together DeCard’s regulated payments infrastructure and Coin98’s Web3 wallet, marking one of the region’s earliest collaborations between a licensed financial institution and a major DeFi platform trusted by millions. Crypto interest in Southeast Asia remains high, with 92 percent of consumers aware of digital assets and 64 percent expressing interest in using them for payments. Even so, everyday spending has been held back by regulatory uncertainty, infrastructure gaps,…