Author: Fintech News Singapore

Ant Group Chairman Eric Jing said AI will increasingly act as a virtual CFO and COO for SMEs as the company expands its work on agentic finance and practical AI tools. He said many SMEs still lack the skills and manpower to handle complex payment flows, risk checks and cross-border transactions. “Many SMEs may not have sophisticated digital skills or a large workforce to support them in doing business, and this is where AI agents can really play a role in helping them to navigate the landscape,” Jing noted. Speaking at the Singapore Fintech Festival, Jing said Ant Group aims…

DBS expects its artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives to generate more than S$1 billion in revenue this year, up from S$750 million in 2024, CEO Tan Su Shan said. She shared the outlook with CNBC during the Singapore Fintech Festival week, adding that AI is already delivering measurable gains for the bank. Unlike many firms still waiting for returns on their AI investments, DBS says its results stem from more than a decade of work modernising data systems and integrating both generative and agentic AI across operations. The bank now runs around 370 AI use cases supported by over 1,500 models.…

Pine Labs traded higher in its Mumbai debut after raising about US$440 million in its initial public offering, Bloomberg reported, in a listing that drew strong interest from investors. The stock reached 248 rupees in early trading, above the offer price of 221 rupees, valuing the payments firm at roughly US$3.2 billion. Demand during the sale was firm, with nearly 241 million shares bid for compared with 97.9 million on offer. Pine Labs operates across several Asian markets, including Singapore and Malaysia, where it provides point-of-sale hardware and merchant software. For the year ended March 2025, the company reported revenue…

Citi and Swift have completed a trial demonstrating the feasibility of settling payments between fiat and digital currencies using a Payment-versus-Payment (PvP) workflow. The trial showed how existing Swift infrastructure can be combined with blockchain-based connectors, orchestrators, and smart contracts to support interoperability between traditional financial systems and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) networks. “These trials with Swift represent a significant leap forward in understanding and developing infrastructure required to support digital currency transactions,” said Ayesa Latif, Head of FX Products. “Our collaboration has demonstrated how existing financial systems can be enhanced with blockchain technology to unlock new levels of speed,…

XTransfer and Kasikornbank (KBank), a regional financial institution in the AEC+3 market, have signed a MoU at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2025. The partnership seeks to provide cross-border financial solutions for SMEs engaged in trade across ASEAN markets. The collaboration will focus on domestic and cross-border payment solutions, foreign exchange (FX) conversion, and operational integration to support trade efficiency. Under the MoU, the parties will assess and develop cross-border payment solutions, including domestic and international collections and payments, as well as FX conversion, tailored for SMEs in Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Using application programming interfaces (APIs) and digital platforms, XTransfer…

If you snooze, you lose. It’s a cliché for a reason. The unspoken rule that applies everywhere, especially in the financial world, where falling behind even for a moment can mean being left out of the next big wave of innovation. Like every other technology-driven sector, finance is evolving at breakneck speed. Every day brings new advances. Just take a look at how artificial intelligence took off. Not just that, things like cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and data analytics are all aimed at making financial services faster, safer, and more accessible. In this race to innovate, one thing has become clear. No…

The winning artwork from five young artists will appear on the Trust Bank’s login screen, giving their work national visibility across a platform used by more than one million people in Singapore. The display will also include short personal stories from each artist. The “One Million Dreams” contest was held in partnership with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), the Social Service Offices (SSOs) in Ang Mo Kio and Yishun, and the Discover ME! art programme. Children from MSF’s network were invited to create artwork that expressed what “One Million Dreams” means to them, marking Trust’s one million…

Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) has deployed an AI-powered enterprise fraud and risk management (EFRM) solution from Clari5. The bank announced the new system at the Singapore FinTech Festival after implementing it in just 45 days. The platform is part of PVB’s ongoing digital transformation and provides a “GenAI-ready” infrastructure for fraud prevention. It detects and monitors financial crime in real-time across the bank’s internet and mobile banking channels. PVB stated the system supports its compliance with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) regulations. Peter Paul V. Laud, Senior Vice President at PVB, said the bank is “committed to building a secure,…

Syfe, Universal Pensions and Quipu have been named winners of the 2025 Global Impact Champions Awards for Financial Health at the Singapore Fintech Festival. The Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN), together with the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, selected the three startups from a pool of 130 applicants across 39 countries. About half of the applicants were venture-backed fintech firms. Fifteen finalists competed for an investment pool of US$1 million, backed by ThinKuvate and Tenity. The awards were created to highlight solutions that help people manage money more effectively, build resilience during financial shocks…

TNG eWallet in Malaysia and Pakistan’s digital bank easypaisa are early adopters of Ant International’s generative AI platform to automate responses and reduce friction in customer service. Both organisations are using the Alipay+ GenAI Cockpit, which Ant International describes as an AI innovation platform for building agentic applications that can handle common queries and perform routine rectification tasks. The system is designed to strengthen customer support and streamline user journeys. The platform draws on Ant International’s experience across Alipay+, Antom, WorldFirst and its inclusive finance services in treasury management, digital lending and credit technology. It was launched in June 2025…

TenPay Global and the National Bank of Cambodia have agreed to work on linking KHQR with Weixin Pay to streamline digital payments across the two countries. The partnership sets out a framework to connect Cambodia’s Bakong system with China’s Weixin Pay network. Both institutions aim to make transactions between the two markets faster and easier, including support for outbound and inbound remittances. TenPay Global is the cross-border payments arm of Tencent’s fintech division and provides business and consumer payment solutions across multiple markets. Dr. Chea Serey, Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia, said, “The collaboration between the NBC and…

MYbank, a digital bank in China affiliated with Ant Group, presented its AI-driven banking solutions at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2025. As AI adoption in banking rises, McKinsey’s Global Banking Annual Review 2025 estimates that banks’ overall cost base could fall by 15–20%. In response, major banks are integrating AI to improve efficiency and reduce costs. For example, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) is working with Microsoft to help staff draft and review loan documents, while Singapore’s UOB is using AI for anti-money-laundering, cutting the time needed to detect suspicious transactions by 60%. MYbank has focused on embedding AI directly…

Western Union has teamed up with TenPay Global to launch a co-branded flagship remittance store in Singapore that links mobile initiation with in-person payment. The partnership is part of a broader collaboration between the two companies and is Western Union’s first global deployment of this combined model. At the People’s Park Complex outlet in Chinatown, customers can begin a transfer through the Weixin Mini Program before completing it at the counter in cash or via supported digital methods. Stored sender and receiver details help reduce form filling and shorten processing time. The store is one of Western Union’s 20 branches…

Google Pay is set to expand its footprint across Southeast Asia, with a launch in the Philippines expected shortly. A Google executive confirmed these plans during the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF), indicating a broader rollout across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Currently, the mobile wallet service is available in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Ramakrishnan TG, Strategic Partnerships Lead for Google Pay APAC, outlined the company’s regional goals. “I’m pretty sure over the next 18 to 24 months, we are going to cover all 11 [ASEAN countries] and any additional countries in the next 18 to 24…

Paymentology is bringing its credit ledger platform PayCredit to Asia Pacific as demand for flexible credit continues to grow across the region. The rollout gives banks and fintechs a single system for managing card issuing and credit logic, allowing them to set repayment terms, billing cycles and limits with more precision. The company said the platform is built to help issuers launch credit products faster across markets with different regulatory and consumer needs. Paymentology noted that many legacy systems were designed for debit and have struggled to support revolving balances, instalments and BNPL. PayCredit is developed as a credit-first platform and…

Cambodia and Singapore have officially launched the first phase of a new cross-border QR code payment system, allowing Cambodian travelers to use their local bank accounts for transactions in Singapore. Under Phase 1, which enables the “Cambodia scans QR codes in Singapore” flow, Cambodian residents holding Khmer Riel bank accounts can now make quick and secure real-time payments in Singapore. Users can utilise the Bakong app or other participating mobile banking applications to scan RoamQR codes displayed by SGQR merchants throughout the country. The launch took place at the Singapore Fintech Festival, where National Bank of Cambodia Governor Chea Serey…

LianLian Global, the cross-border fintech platform of Lianlian DigiTech, presented its payment solutions at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2025. At its booth, LianLian Global showcased the LianLian Global Payout Service (LGPS), which allowed cross-border payment service providers, banks, and other licensed financial institutions to deliver payments to China and other global destinations through a single API. The service aimed to provide transparency, security, efficiency, and traceability. Singapore had become a key hub for Lianlian DigiTech’s Southeast Asian operations. The company established its Singapore entity in 2018 as a regional base for expanding into Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. In September 2021,…

The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Fintech Association have named the winners of the Global Fintech Hackcelerator and the SFF Fintech Excellence Awards at this year’s Singapore Fintech Festival. The awards recognise companies and individuals whose solutions show clear potential to improve financial services and support industry-wide digital transformation. Global Fintech Hackcelerator: Top Three Winners This year’s Global Fintech Hackcelerator focused on “Artificial Intelligence for Financial Services,” with problem statements from BNP Paribas, Mastercard and Prudential’s AI Lab. The competition drew 180 registrations from more than 40 jurisdictions, and 17 finalists were shortlisted for Demo Day. They were…

During the Singapore Fintech Festival 2025, Huawei and FanRuan jointly introduced the ChatBI AI Intelligent Decision-Making Solution, aimed at strengthening business analysis and supporting digital transformation in the financial sector. Roger Wang, Director of the Partner Development Department, Huawei Digital Finance BU, and Saber Chen, Chief Product Officer (CPO) of FanRuan, attended the launch ceremony together. The solution integrates Huawei’s digital infrastructure, including servers and Lakehouse Architecture, with FanRuan’s FineBI and FineChatBI analysis platforms to create an end-to-end workflow from data access to model inference and strategy execution. It supports natural-language data retrieval for frontline staff, enabling faster access to…

xpate, an all-in-one payments and banking platform, has partnered with SEON to strengthen real-time fraud prevention and AML compliance for merchants. The integration brings SEON’s fraud detection and data enrichment tools directly into xpate’s transaction monitoring systems. Online fraud continues to escalate. In 2024, consumer fraud losses rose 25% year-on-year to more than S$12.5 billion. Account takeover attacks increased 250%, and almost half of businesses faced synthetic identity fraud. With merchants operating in over 100 countries, xpate determined that traditional, reactive fraud controls were no longer sufficient against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, deepfake-enabled schemes, and AI-driven threats. “Fraud prevention shouldn’t slow…