SEON, a company focused on fraud prevention and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance, has raised US$80 million in its Series C funding round. The investment was led by Sixth Street Growth, with participation from existing investors IVP, Creandum and Firebolt, alongside new backers including Hearst. This round brings SEON’s total funding to US$187 million and is expected to support expansion in North America and other global markets, as well as further product development and hiring. Over the past year, SEON has reported strong growth among fraud and compliance technology providers. The company analyses millions of customer interactions daily for thousands of…
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India’s markets regulator has cleared Pine Labs to proceed with its initial public offering (IPO), according to a Securities and Exchange Board of India filing cited by Reuters. The fintech company, which offers point-of-sale machines and other payment solutions, plans to raise up to US$1 billion through the listing and is seeking a valuation of about US$6 billion. Proceeds from the IPO are expected to go toward expanding international operations, investing in technology and paying down debt. Pine Labs operates digital payments and issuing platforms in India and several overseas markets including Malaysia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and…
CIMB Singapore has launched the CIMB Founders Card, described as the first purpose-built personal credit card for sole proprietors and small business owners. It is designed to help entrepreneurs manage cash flow through instant cash access, up to 114 days of interest-free credit and zero foreign exchange fees on overseas spending. CIMB said the card was developed to address financing challenges faced by small business owners, including irregular income, limited credit histories and lack of collateral. Sole proprietors and SMEs make up 99% of Singapore’s businesses and employ about 70% of the workforce. The bank said the Founders Card reflects…
Triple-A, a digital currency payments company, has appointed Kailash Madan as its new Chief Commercial Officer. Madan has more than a decade of experience in payments, fintech and banking across Asia Pacific, EMEA and North America. He most recently led global sales at Primer, driving revenue growth across three continents. Before that, he scaled Primer’s Asia Pacific business, built enterprise merchant adoption at Stripe and spent six years in commercial and consumer banking roles at Citi. At Triple-A, Madan will lead the company’s global commercial strategy, working with merchants and partners to unlock new use cases for stablecoin payments, open…
Finastra has moved to streamline annuity risk management, adding automation and real-time analytics to its Fusion Invest software. The updates include automating the dynamic hedging of annuity contracts, which the company said will improve transparency for risk and compliance teams and streamline operations. Fusion Invest brings portfolio management functions into one platform and reduces manual data entry and reconciliation. According to Finastra, this helps annuity carriers cut errors and increase efficiency in monitoring collateral positions, valuations and movements. The platform also meets derivatives processing regulations, such as Swift ISO 20022, and improves collateral management workflows. The system automates tasks from…
Asia’s growing appetite for real-world asset tokenisation has prompted Saison Capital to launch Onigiri Capital, a US$50 million blockchain fund linking global startups with the region’s financial institutions and 300 million-plus crypto users. The Singapore-based fund has already secured US$35 million for investments in stablecoins, payments, tokenised assets, decentralised finance and financial market infrastructure. The launch comes as blockchain venture funding rebounds to its highest level since 2022 and real-world asset tokenisation is projected to hit US$10 trillion by 2030. Institutions from BlackRock and Goldman Sachs to MUFG and Bank of China are already integrating blockchain into finance. Onigiri Capital…
A major test run by Swift shows financial institutions can double their fraud detection power without sharing customer data, based on synthetic data trials. Swift worked with 13 global financial institutions to test how artificial intelligence and privacy enhancing technologies could help detect and prevent cross border payment fraud more quickly. The experiments used privacy enhancing technologies to let participants verify intelligence on suspicious accounts in real time, helping them identify complex international crime networks and avoid fraudulent transactions. In a separate use case, these technologies were combined with federated learning, where the model trains locally at each institution so…
Standard Chartered’s operations in Singapore delivered stronger earnings in the first half of 2025, supported by higher fee and foreign exchange income, The Business Times reported. While the bank did not disclose full local details in its global statement, preliminary figures point to continued growth in its Singapore franchise. Globally, the lender posted a pretax profit of about US$4.38 billion for the six months ended June 2025, up from the same period a year earlier and ahead of the US$3.8 billion average estimate of 15 analysts compiled by the bank. Profit attributable to shareholders also improved, reflecting robust performance across…
Travellers heading to Southeast Asia can now book Grab rides without leaving their home e-wallet, as Alipay+ brings the superapp’s ride-hailing service into its Voyager platform. The integration allows users of Alipay+ Voyager, its inbuilt AI travel agent, to arrange local transportation directly within their existing digital wallets, removing the need to download separate apps. It builds on the partnership Alipay+ and Grab formed in 2023, which enabled consumers to use their home e-wallets to make payments on the Grab app. Launched in mid-2025, Alipay+ Voyager is currently available on Alipay (Chinese mainland), AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR, China) and GCash…
Singapore-based fintech firm FOMO Group has brought Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) on board as a shareholder, adding to its roster of blue-chip investors. Financial terms of the deal were not made public. The move follows SGX Group’s earlier investments in CapBridge and 1exchange, which sit under the FOMO Group umbrella. FOMO Group, founded in 2015, spans digital payments, cross-asset investment, tokenisation of real-world assets and digital capital markets infrastructure. It owns three licensed financial institutions that operate independently: FOMO Pay, CapBridge and 1exchange. FOMO Pay is a major payment institution licensed in Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates,…
Banks can now settle intraday FX swaps in real time, 24 hours a day, after Partior linked its digital settlement network with Finteum’s marketplace using Adhara’s integration technology. In a recent proof-of-concept, the three firms showed how trades negotiated on Finteum’s platform could be automatically settled using Partior’s network. This delivered settlement-risk-free intraday liquidity management, with Adhara’s DC Commander integration technology handling treasury operations and connectivity. Finteum’s platform enables banks to exchange excess cash for the currency liquidity they need for specific time periods, improving how they manage liquidity buffers and use capital. Partior provides a digital cash settlement network…
CreditBank Papua New Guinea (CBP) has partnered with OpenWay, a global provider of digital payment solutions, to modernise its banking services through OpenWay’s Way4 platform. The partnership allows CBP to offer secure and convenient digital services while improving its capacity to introduce new products, streamline operations, and provide a consistent digital experience across multiple channels. “Our partnership with OpenWay and the adoption of the Way4 platform has given us the agility to innovate and deliver a digital-first banking experience that puts our customers at the centre. This partnership marks a new era in how we serve our customers and grow…
Citi has named Lee Lung Nien as its new Country Officer and Banking Head for Singapore, according to The Edge. Lee brings more than three decades of experience at Citi to the position. Since 2020, he served as Chairman of Citi Private Bank for South Asia, following a six-year tenure as CEO of Citibank Berhad in Malaysia from 2014 to 2020. In his new capacity, Lee will manage all of Citi’s businesses and operations in Singapore. His responsibilities include strengthening franchise performance, overseeing regulatory compliance, and expanding key client relationships. He is also the first Singaporean in about 50 years…
Personetics has launched its MCP Server, giving financial institutions and fintech firms a platform to develop and deploy agentic AI applications using its financial models and actionable insights. The Model Context Protocol Server offers secure access to Personetics’ behavior analysis, predictive analytics and engagement frameworks, enabling banks to create personalised, proactive AI experiences that guide smarter financial decisions. Banks can use it to power conversational agents, predictive nudging or goal-based coaching through chatbots, mobile assistants, virtual advisors or embedded modules. Personetics said the server shortens development cycles, reduces reliance on in-house data science and meets enterprise-grade standards for privacy, auditability…
Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the fastest-growing region for cryptocurrency activity, driven by robust engagement across South Asia, and Southeast Asia. In the past 12 months ending June 2025, the region recorded the highest global growth rate, with the value received rising 69% from US$1.4 trillion to US$2.3 trillion, according to data from Chainalysis, a US-based blockchain analytics firm. India, Pakistan, Vietnam drives crypto adoption in APAC APAC is also dominating the Global Crypto Adoption Index in 2025, with nine of the top 20 entries. India, Vietnam, and Pakistan are the main engines of growth, ranking first, third, and fourth globally for…
SBI Digital Markets (SBIDM), Samara Alpha Asset Management (Samara Alpha) and Bracket Labs Group (Bracket) have partnered to expand access to tokenised securities and develop new asset management strategies. Under the collaboration, Samara Alpha will use Bracket’s technology platform to broaden access to yield strategies, while SBIDM will source and curate capital market products. Bracket will provide the infrastructure, including tokenisation systems and platform access. The three firms said the partnership aims to bridge traditional finance and decentralised finance by offering institutional investors a combined approach to fund management, regulatory compliance and technology. It targets growing demand for professionally managed…
Brumby Pay, a fintech start-up based in regional Victoria, has named Monoova as its preferred Payment Service Provider. The collaboration brings together Brumby Pay’s patent-pending architecture with Monoova’s enterprise-grade infrastructure to support compliant, rapid and secure payment flows in the Australian market. The partnership is aligned with Brumby Pay’s aim to change the way invoices and bills are paid nationwide, with a focus on improving cash flow and business confidence. The platform is designed to accelerate payments for both B2B and B2C businesses across different sectors, recognise early and on-time payments as positive behaviour, and address challenges around liquidity for…
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) has admitted to engaging in unconscionable conduct in services provided to the Australian Government, including incorrectly reporting its bond trading data by overstating volumes by tens of billions of dollars. The bank has also acknowledged widespread misconduct across a range of products and services that affected nearly 65,000 customers. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and ANZ will ask the Federal Court to impose penalties of US$240 million in relation to four separate proceedings covering misconduct across the bank’s Institutional and Retail divisions. The misconduct occurred over many years and was…
Hong Leong Finance (HLF) has launched its HLF Digital app after piloting it since August 2024. It has recorded more than 14,000 sign-ups and over S$1 billion in digital transactions to date, including more than S$600 million in fixed deposits placed via the app. The app allows customers to open accounts, place fixed deposits, make fund transfers and update personal particulars through a secure platform that offers round-the-clock convenience. It complements the company’s branch network, giving users the option to combine digital services with in-person support from staff and relationship managers. HLF said customers have given positive feedback on the…
Agentic AI, systems that can perform tasks and solve issues with minimal human intervention, are set to disrupt the economic foundations for finance. According to a new report by McKinsey, this technology is poised to affect billions in revenue and challenge the business models and revenue at banks, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), credit-card companies, and others. This disruption will stem largely from making traditionally passive aspects of banking programmable and dynamic. Deposits will become fluid The report, released in August, highlights two especially vulnerable revenue streams in banking: deposits and credit cards. These areas rely heavily on customer inertia…