Financial Technology
How will agentic AI change online payments?
How will agentic AI change online payments?
It’s unclear who’s liable if it over‑orders or pays the wrong merchant.
Alipay’s AI Pay surpasses 100 million users
Consumers pay via voice command, eliminating the need to switch between pages.
Asia-Pacific fintech to hit $348.1b by 2031
The market will be driven by mobile-first usage and open API payment rails.
How can Asia-Pacific fintechs survive this year’s funding slowdown?
Hong Kong could emerge as a bright spot.
Fintech expands SME credit as 72.9% see growth impact
SMEs make up over 90% of businesses across Asia yet face constrained traditional financing.
APAC fintech exits hit $8.8b in H2 2025 as Hong Kong IPOs rebound
In contrast, IPO activity in Australia was “dry”, said KPMG.
APAC fintech funding slumps 52% as VC investment craters
Total fintech funding reached $19.4b across 1,675 deals in 2022 before sliding.
How will mergers and crypto regulation reshape APAC fintech investment in H1?
Chinese fintechs will embrace "dual-market routes" to grow overseas.
APAC fintech deals drop to $9.3b in 2025 as private equity hits record low
Venture capital investment for fintechs in the region also fell to its lowest in a decade.
Cybercriminals exploit identities across APAC finance
Deepfakes, phishing and stolen credentials are driving banks to overhaul authentication.
APAC neobanking hits $261b in 2025 as mobile use rises
China and India account for 70% of regional market share.
Human Sparsity Blockchain: A citizen-validated ledger for digital finance supervision
HSB collects ground-level fraud signals that are captured in standardised entries.
Korea revises bill to check criminal info of virtual asset service providers
The law also broadened rule-breaking activities that are screened.
UnionPay links 25 foreign wallets to Weixin Pay as China QR use surges
Global travellers can use domestic cards on Weixin Pay QR network
BPS Financial fined $9.67m over Qoin Wallet crypto promotion
It is also hit with a 10-year ban for making unlicensed services.
GFTN targets growth-stage fintechs with $200m fund
The focus will be on firms that have shown commercial traction and scale.
Citi, CredAble partner for digitalised invoices, trade finance controls
The platform can validate invoices by verifying over critical fields such as values, dates, amongst others.
Commentary
Asia’s 20% advantage: The simplification strategy rewriting banking from Singapore to Shanghai
Perth is emerging as an unlikely testbed for the future of global finance