Author: Fintech News Singapore

Singapore lawmakers were told that Tokenize Xchange’s collapse has left customer funds in limbo, with court-appointed managers estimating more than S$266 million owed as of 15 August 2025. Tokenize Xchange, operated by Amazingtech Pte Ltd (ATPL), was not licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) but had been allowed to operate under a temporary exemption during the transition to the Payment Services Act 2019. Its non-licensed status was disclosed on MAS’ website and in ATPL’s customer agreement. The exemption would have ended if the licence application was withdrawn, approved or rejected, and following MAS’ rejection, ATPL was required to…

Pand.ai, an AI solutions provider for financial institutions, has spun off a new company called Pangentic. The AI-native insurtech, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pand.ai, will focus on its AI-powered insurance broker GINA. The new venture is backed by Zheng Yudong, the former CEO of MariBank. Pangentic will take GINA, which is currently active in the Singapore market, to a global audience. The GINA platform is an AI-first insurance broker that uses AI to provide transparent pricing and intelligent recommendations. It has been noted for its high conversion rates, with over half of quotes converting into purchases in Singapore. Additionally, roughly…

Crypto exchange Coinbase is adding the Singapore dollar-backed XSGD to its platform, giving users access to the MAS-recognised stablecoin. The move follows a partnership with Singapore-based StraitsX and marks the first time the Singapore dollar stablecoin will be available to Coinbase users globally. This forms part of Coinbase’s ongoing APAC expansion. XSGD, issued by StraitsX, is pegged one-to-one to the Singapore dollar and has been recognised under the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s upcoming Single Currency Stablecoin regulatory framework. It joins Coinbase’s existing roster of US dollar-based stablecoins and offers individuals and businesses a local currency option for trading and payments.…

Amber International, which operates as Amber Premium, has launched institutional-grade digital asset management services as part of its move into the Digital Assets Treasury (DAT) sector. The Singapore-based company said it is responding to growing corporate demand for more sophisticated tools to manage digital assets. Data from BitcoinTreasuries.net shows 179 publicly listed companies globally hold more than US$110 billion worth of Bitcoin, yet many lack the infrastructure for secure custody, compliance oversight and risk management. Amber Premium said its new services will provide integrated support for corporations investing in digital assets. This includes consulting, trading solutions, financing, custody and compliance…

HSBC has gone live with cross-border tokenised deposits, aiming to give corporate clients faster, always-on settlement between markets. The bank completed its first US dollar transfer between Hong Kong and Singapore in September with Ant International as its pioneer customer. The service builds on HSBC’s earlier rollout for domestic payments in Hong Kong and Singapore and has now been extended to the UK and Luxembourg. It supports additional currencies including the British pound, the euro and the US dollar, with plans to introduce the service to more of the bank’s markets. Using HSBC’s distributed ledger technology, traditional deposits are represented…

Thailand’s Krungsri teams up with American software development company Informatica to tighten data governance and speed up its digital banking push in Thailand. As part of its digital transformation, the bank is consolidating and managing data previously scattered across business units to improve security, privacy and regulatory compliance. The bank is adopting Informatica’s Cloud Data Governance and Catalog and Cloud Data Quality products, built on the AI-powered Intelligent Data Management Cloud platform. This follows its shift to a hybrid cloud environment on Amazon Web Services (AWS). The tools are designed to help Krungsri address data discovery, metadata management and data…

South Korean travelers using Kakao Pay can now tap and pay overseas as Alipay+ and Mastercard extend contactless payments to more than 150 million merchant locations worldwide. Kakao Pay is one of the first Alipay+ mobile payment partners to introduce NFC payments abroad. The new feature lets users with NFC-enabled Android phones tap their device at contactless POS terminals that accept Mastercard in markets including Japan, Southeast Asia, the U.S., Europe and Oceania. It complements existing QR code and barcode-based cross-border payments. The service is live on the latest versions of the Kakao Pay app, with KakaoTalk for Android coming…

Payments platform EBANX is stepping up its push into emerging markets by rolling out stablecoin payments, launching AI-powered tools and expanding to the Philippines. The company said merchants will soon be able to accept payments in stablecoins such as USDC and USDT alongside existing fiat options. This move is aimed at providing faster, lower-cost cross-border transactions and more flexible settlement choices in markets where banking infrastructure is fragmented. EBANX also introduced AI-powered systems to improve approval rates, detect fraud and offer deeper payment insights. Its fraud detection tool analyses more than 100 data points per transaction in real time, while…

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek is pushing back against allegations that the exchange concealed a security breach detailed in a Bloomberg report. Bloomberg reported on 19 September that Noah Urban, a teenage hacker linked to the Scattered Spider group, and an accomplice gained access to a Crypto.com employee account in early 2023. The attack exposed some personal data from a small number of users but did not compromise customer funds. Urban was arrested in January 2024 and later pleaded guilty in connection with hacks at multiple companies. In August 2025, a U.S. judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison and…

When Fintech News Network convened a panel of fraud and risk leaders from across Asia Pacific, one thing quickly became clear. The fraud landscape is shifting at a pace that outstrips most financial institutions’ ability to respond. From deepfakes to synthetic identities, and from fraud-as-a-service on the dark web to real-time manipulation of biometric data, criminals are deploying artificial intelligence with a level of speed and precision that few could have imagined even a few years ago. Globally, in 2024, over US$1 trillion was lost to scammers, and the increased use of AI will further accelerate this issue. Some reports…

audax taps AWS Partner Network to bring its plug-and-play banking stack to more banks in Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Backed by Standard Chartered, the Singapore-based fintech says the partnership with Amazon Web Services will help banks and financial institutions modernise systems, address infrastructure challenges and speed up digital transformation projects across both regions. By joining the AWS Partner Network, audax gains access to AWS’ technical expertise, advanced technologies and infrastructure resources, enabling it to deliver scalable, cloud-based solutions with greater speed and reliability. The company provides a full-stack digital banking platform with pre-integrated modules for onboarding, origination, payments,…

E-commerce is undergoing a profound transformation, triggered by artificial intelligence (AI) agents and the move from “machine-to-machine” (M2M) payments to truly autonomous “AI-to-AI” payments, says Sherman Jiang, a senior product executive specialized in consumer finance, fintech, and banking. This shift requires a complete rethinking of payment systems and introduces new challenges for product leaders to tackle In a recent post published on September 12, Jiang looks at the future of e-commerce and the potential impact of agentic AI on the space, and outlines the hurdles ahead. According to Jiang, unlike their older, rule-based M2M payments, agentic payments involve reasoning, learning,…

Small businesses in India and Brazil can now accept payments directly within WhatsApp, using QR codes to let customers pay instantly without leaving the app. The payments feature was one of several updates WhatsApp highlighted at its second Business Summit in India, held in Mumbai. It is designed to make sales faster and more seamless for small firms already using the WhatsApp Business app. WhatsApp also introduced a new calling option that allows people to contact larger businesses directly from the app or receive calls they have requested. This capability is available on the WhatsApp Business Platform in India and…

Private credit platform Kilde has secured US$1.5 million in funding to tap a wave of investor demand for higher-yield alternatives. The Pre-Series A round was led by Purple Ventures, through its second fund, with participation from existing investors. The fresh funding will be used to expand Kilde’s team, upgrade its technology and capital markets capabilities, and position the platform to access larger borrowers and higher-quality deals. Founded in 2019, Kilde’s assets under management have surpassed US$127 million. The company connects family offices, funds and accredited investors to private credit opportunities across Europe and Asia, focusing on senior-secured lending to consumer…

Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) and UnionPay International are rolling out a new campaign that provides up to 5% cashback for cardholders traveling in mainland China. The SplendorPlus campaign runs until 31 December 2025 and targets UOB UnionPay cardholders. The offer comes as travel between Singapore and China accelerates. Changi Airport recorded a 15.8% year-on-year rise in passenger traffic between the two countries in the second quarter of 2025, nearly triple the airport’s overall growth of 5.9% for the same period. Under the programme, UOB UnionPay cardholders earn 2% base cashback on all eligible local and overseas retail spending with…

Equinix has opened its first International Business Exchange (IBX) data centre in Chennai, named CN1, to support India’s digital growth and AI (AI) ecosystem. The facility, located on a six-acre site in Siruseri, will be interconnected with Equinix’s Mumbai campus, which currently consists of three IBX data centres. The initial investment of US$69 million provides 800 cabinets of capacity, with long-term plans to expand to 4,250 cabinets. The facility is designed for 99.999% uptime and will offer the company’s interconnection services, including Equinix Fabric, which enables enterprises to use hybrid multicloud services. CN1 is also prepared to support liquid cooling…

The Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF 2025) celebrates its tenth year and looks to the next decade with artificial intelligence (AI), tokenisation and quantum computing at the centre of the conversation. The 2025 edition will run from 12 to 14 November at the Singapore EXPO, bringing together over a thousand global leaders from finance, technology and policy, including senior ministers, central bank governors and industry heads, to explore how emerging technologies can strengthen the global financial system. Organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN) and Constellar in collaboration with the Association of Banks…

MHC Digital Group, an institutional digital assets platform, has announced a joint venture with Catena Digital to establish Macropod, an Australian dollar-backed stablecoin platform. The stablecoin, to be listed under the ticker AUDM, will be issued on a one-to-one basis against Australian dollars held in trust with a major Australian bank. It will operate under regulatory oversight and provide monthly proof-of-reserves attestations. The venture combines MHC Digital Group, led by Mark Carnegie, with Catena Digital, founded by former National Australia Bank executives and headed by Chief Executive Drew Bradford. According to the partners, Macropod aims to provide a scalable and…

GXS Bank, the digital lender backed by Grab and Singtel, has secured a fresh capital injection of US$60 million from its key shareholders, regulatory filings show. According to Deal Street Asia, the latest infusion came from A-5 DV Holdings Pte Ltd and SFG Digibank Investment Pte Ltd, both subsidiaries of Grab Holdings, which subscribed to new ordinary shares on 15 September. A-5 DV Holdings acquired 46.35 million shares, while SFG Digibank Investment picked up 30.9 million, filings with Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) revealed. This marks the third time in under two years that Grab has injected capital…

Foreign investment, sustainability, and artificial intelligence (AI) were the leading topics in Asia-Pacific (APAC) financial media in 2024, reflecting shifting capital flows, growing climate risks, and the rapid adoption of AI across the region’s financial sector, according to a new study by Carma, a media intelligence provider. The study analyzed 14,000 English-language print and online financial coverage from Tier-1 mainstream news and trade publications across Asia in 2024, to provide both localized insights and regional trends. Foreign investment tops coverage Across the six markets studied, namely Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Japan, cross-border capital flows were the…