This week’s edition of Finovate Global looks at recent fintech news and developments from Singapore.
Ant International Raises $1.2 billion in Series A funding
Ant International, the Singapore-based business arm of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, has secured $1.2 billion in Series A funding. Existing supporters Ant Group and Alibaba Group Holding participated in the equity round along with a number of unnamed international institutional investors.
The capital will be used to accelerate Ant International’s global growth plans and fuel continued innovation in a number of areas including merchant payments, account management, and more inclusive financial services for businesses of all sizes. With its main operations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, Ant International offers a partnership network of banks, card companies, mobile payment firms, and technology platforms that connects 150 million merchants around the world with more than two billion user accounts.
Spun off as an independent entity in 2024 and headquartered in Singapore, Ant International operates four main businesses: its digital consumer payments platform, Alipay+; its payment processing technology and infrastructure provider, Antom; its cross-border payments and foreign exchange service for businesses, WorldFirst; and its digital banking and financial services platform, Bettr. The company supports more than 300 payment methods in 220+ markets. This includes 50 mobile payment partners and 10+ national QR code systems.
Ant International’s funding news comes as the company announces new partnerships with Freedom Holding Corporation to streamline online shopping from China to customers in Kazakhstan via its Antom division and with QI Tech to expand credit access for e-commerce merchants and consumers in Brazil through its Bettr division.
Alipay+ partners with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Bank
Ant International’s payment gateway, Alipay+, has announced a number of new bank partners in recent weeks, adding to its network of more than 50 digital wallets, banks, and financial institutions. The latest firm to team up with Alipay+ is Hong Kong-based Hang Seng Bank. Alipay+’s first banking partner in Hong Kong, Hang Seng Bank will be able to offer users of its mobile app the ability to make payments via QR code scans. The payment option works both in the Chinese mainland as well as overseas at 100+ million merchants in more than 55 countries and regions.
“Customers increasingly expect seamless payment solutions when traveling overseas,” Hang Seng Bank Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Rannie Lee said. “By partnering with Alipay+, we’re enhancing customer experience by bringing a simple QR payment service within our mobile app—combining broad merchant acceptance with the simplicity of paying and tracking spending in just one place. This is a strategic step in strengthening our payments proposition and expanding our cross-border connectivity, as we continue to build a digital ecosystem that keeps banking simple, safe, and smart.”
Alipay+ empowers banks to offer cross-border payment services via a single integration. The company also works with more than 10 national QR systems, including Malaysia’s DuitNow, Thailand’s PromptPay, and Uzbekistan’s HUMO. This enables banks to scale their mobile payments usage more efficiently instead of having to rely on individual agreements between banks and merchants in multiple markets. The announcement comes at a time when demand for outbound cross-border payments from the Asia Pacific region is expected to increase faster than the international average. Forecasts from FXC Intelligence suggest that this volume could reach $20.1 trillion by 2032, more than double its 2024 levels.
A wholly owned subsidiary of the HSBC Group, Hang Seng Bank Limited is a Hong Kong-based banking and financial services company. Founded in 1933, the institution serves nearly four million customers and counts retail banking and wealth management, commercial banking, insurance manufacturing and asset management, and markets and securities services among its core business activities.
Singapore and Thailand team up to fight digital fraud
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bank of Thailand (BOT) designed to enhance cooperation in the fight against digital fraud. The pact formalizes and expands on an existing collaboration between MAS and BOT to bolster cybersecurity defenses across their respective financial ecosystems.
“Cyber risks and digital fraud are key transnational threats confronting our region and call for closer collaboration to combat these risks,” MAS Managing Director Chia Der Jiun said.
The agreement calls for the two regulators to share information on cybersecurity and digital fraud, including changes to cybersecurity regulations and threat intelligence relevant to the financial sector. MAS and BOT will also focus on skill development via joint staff training, research exchanges, and policy discussions. Lastly, the regulators will conduct joint cross-border cybersecurity and crisis management exercises to boost operational readiness.
“As cyber threats and digital fraud continue to evolve rapidly amidst growing financial connectivity and technological advancement, closer collaboration between MAS and BOT will help deepen mutual capabilities and achieve seamless cross-border intelligence exchange to counter emerging threats,” BOT Governor Vitai Ratanakorn said.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed during the 31st Executives’ Meeting of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks Governors in Singapore earlier this week. Among the topics discussed were increased uncertainty in the global economy and the impact of AI on the economies and financial systems of countries in East Asia. The governors talked about the potential financial risks from large-scale AI investment, updates on regional developments in AI and digitalization, and the possibility of using AI to enhance the work of central banks.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Central and Eastern Europe
- Lithuanian identity verification, compliance, and fraud prevention solutions provider iDenfy unveiled its new bank card verification platform.
- Tech.eu’s Funding Explorer reported a rebound in fintech funding for companies in Germany.
- UniCredit Poland partnered with Flagright to enhance transaction monitoring, customer screening, and financial crime case management.
Middle East and Northern Africa
- UAE-based KamelPay teamed up with Paymentology to launch its new corporate payments platform for businesses, AbsoluteCard.
- Turkish fintech Midas announced plans to expand into payment systems.
- FOO, a B2B fintech solutions provider based in the UAE, partnered with Oman-based Omantel subsidiary, OMPAY, to power its digital wallet.
Central and Southern Asia
- India-based paytech Juspay partners with subscription management and recurring billing platform Recurly.
- India’s Ministry of Finance outlined a number of measures designed to fortify the country’s fintech industry.
- Digital bank easypaisa signed a Memorandum of Understanding with blockchain ecosystem Binance to explore fintech opportunities in Pakistan.
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Nubank announced plans to acquire Banco Porto Real de Investimentos.
- Ábaco, a fintech startup based in San Salvador, El Salvador, raised $53 million in combined venture equity and institutional debt to expand lending to small businesses in Central America
- Mexican neobank Banco Plata has begun the initial rollout of a network of 300 smart ATMs throughout the country.
Asia-Pacific
- Digital payments and fintech giant Ant International secured $1.2 billion in Series A funding.
- Alipay+ partnered with Hang Seng Bank to enable QR code payments in Hong Kong.
- Visa and AI-native financial infrastructure provider Lianlian DigiTech launched China’s first B2B agentic transaction.
Sub-Saharan Africa
- South African remittance fintech eZi Remit teamed up with Mastercard to enhance cross-border money transfer services.
- Nigerian fintech Moniepoint announced new Kenya CEO Rose Muturi.
- African fintech Zazu secured strategic backing from pan-African venture capital firm Launch Africa Ventures.
Photo by Jurgen Lasa from Pexels
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