FintechNews.sg – Weekly Newsletter
Period: Dec 9 2025 – Dec 15 2025
📝 Executive Summary
This week’s fintech landscape continued to demonstrate strong momentum across digital assets, payments, AI adoption, and institutional partnerships. A high‑profile legal outcome in crypto underscored regulatory enforcement risks, while major infrastructure experiments signalled tangible progress in tokenised cross‑border financial flows. Institutional expansion in digital assets was highlighted by a strategic partnership between Standard Chartered and Coinbase aimed at broadening institutional services.
Asia‑Pacific’s broader digital finance environment was also in focus, with comprehensive event coverage outlining key APAC fintech gatherings for Q1 2026 and a global study highlighting uneven but widespread AI integration in financial services. Traditional finance intersects with technology as IBM announced a significant acquisition to bolster AI and data capabilities, reinforcing the AI‑tech convergence trend.
On the regional front, FintechNewsSG published a wide array of corporate updates — from funding rounds and profitability milestones to product launches and regulatory compliance features — reflecting healthy ecosystem activity in SEA and beyond. Notable movements included SME lending enhancements, digital banking product innovation, and payments interoperability developments.
📈 Key Trends
- Institutional Digital Assets Growth: Standard Chartered and Coinbase deepen collaboration to build custody, staking and trading services for institutions. (Fintech Singapore)
- AI Implementation Gap in Finance: AI adoption is widespread but full integration remains a challenge, highlighting execution gaps across firms. (Fintech Singapore)
- Cross‑Border Tokenisation Trials: A POC between Ant International, HSBC and Swift shows evolving experimentation in blockchain‑based cross‑border liquidity flows. (Fintech Singapore)
- Fintech Funding & Profitability Indicators: Airwallex’s US$330 M Series G and Syfe’s reported profitability signal continuing investor confidence and business scaling. (Fintech Singapore)
- Regulatory and Enforcement Signals: High‑profile crypto fraud sentencing and new regulatory bodies establish heightened supervision in digital assets. (Fintech Singapore)
🇸🇬 Singapore
Crypto / Digital Assets
- Crypto Founder Jailed 15 Years for US$40B Terra‑Luna Fraud (12 Dec 2025) A New York court sentenced Do Kwon to 15 years for orchestrating the collapse of TerraUSD and Luna, one of the largest crypto frauds in history, highlighting enforcement risk in digital asset markets. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/123524/crypto/do‑kwon‑15‑year‑sentence‑terra‑luna‑fraud/ (Fintech Singapore)
Blockchain / Payments Infrastructure
- Ant International, HSBC and Swift Complete POC for Cross‑Border Tokenised Deposits (12 Dec 2025) A proof of concept links blockchain‑based tokenised deposits with ISO 20022 messaging to demonstrate cross‑border treasury settlement potential. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/123558/blockchain/cross‑border‑tokenised‑deposits/ (Fintech Singapore)
AI in Finance
- AI Reaches Widespread Adoption in Finance, Yet Full Integration Still Lags (15 Dec 2025) A study finds that while AI tools like chatbots and ML are widely used across financial services, many organisations have not fully integrated AI into core workflows. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/123562/ai/ai‑reaches‑widespread‑adoption‑in‑finance‑yet‑full‑integration‑still‑lags/ (Fintech Singapore)
Payments
- Instarem Now Offers Up to US$1 Million in Choco Up SME Financing (11 Dec 2025) Instarem introduces integrated SME financing via Choco Up, offering up to US$1 million in non‑dilutive funding to support small business cashflow. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/…/instarem‑now‑offers‑up‑to‑us‑1‑million… (Fintech Singapore)
Digital Banking
- Trust Bank Launches Spotify‑Style Year‑End Rewind with Personalised Animal Avatars (11 Dec 2025) Trust Bank unveils a year‑end feature engaging customers with personalised app experiences, reflecting innovative customer engagement in digital banking. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/…/trust‑bank‑launches‑spotify‑style… (Fintech Singapore)
Security / Fraud
- Pregnant DBS Staff Foils S$200,000 Scam Against Elderly Customer (11 Dec 2025) A DBS employee’s vigilance helped avert a large financial loss for an elderly customer, illustrating the ongoing importance of frontline fraud awareness. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/…/pregnant‑dbs‑staff‑foils‑s200000‑scam… (Fintech Singapore)
- Malaysian Man Jailed for Filming Malware Tutorials Behind S$3.2M Scam (11 Dec 2025) A man was sentenced to prison for producing tutorials that facilitated malware‑based financial scams, underscoring cybercrime enforcement. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/…/malaysian‑man‑jailed‑for‑filming… (Fintech Singapore)
🌏 Southeast Asia
Payments
- Pakistani NayaPay Enables QR Payments to Over 50 Countries via Alipay+ (10 Dec 2025) NayaPay partners with Alipay+ to enable QR‑based payments across more than 50 countries, expanding cross‑border retail payment options. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/…/pakistans‑nayapay‑enables… (Fintech Singapore)
- TenPay Global, Mastercard Enable Direct Remittances to Weixin Pay (10 Dec 2025) TenPay and Mastercard partner to facilitate direct remittances to Weixin Pay, enhancing Asia‑Pacific payment corridors. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/…/tenpay‑global‑mastercard… (Fintech Singapore)
- Airwallex Acquires Majority Stake in Indonesian Payment Provider (10 Dec 2025) Airwallex expands in Indonesia with a majority stake acquisition of Skye Sab, strengthening its regional payments footprint. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/…/airwallex‑acquires‑majority… (Fintech Singapore)
WealthTech / Funding
- Endowus Launches Income Enhanced Portfolio for Professional Investors (9 Dec 2025) Endowus introduces a new portfolio product targeting professional investors seeking enhanced income strategies. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/…/endowus‑launches‑income‑enhanced… (Fintech Singapore)
- MetaComp Raises US$22 Million to Scale Stablecoin Payment Network (9 Dec 2025) Singapore‑based MetaComp secures US$22 M in Pre‑A funding to expand its stablecoin‑based payments infrastructure. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/…/metacomp‑raises‑us22‑million… (Fintech Singapore)
Funding / Growth
- Airwallex Secures US$330 M Series G, Eyes US Growth and AI Expansion (8 Dec 2025) Airwallex completed a US$330 M Series G round led by Addition, valuing the company at roughly US$8 B and supporting US expansion and AI investments. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/123226/funding/airwallex‑series‑g‑usd330m‑us‑expansion/ (Fintech Singapore)
- PvX Secures US$250 M Financing Capacity and Raises US$4.7 M Seed Extension (8 Dec 2025) PvX announces US$250 M in financing capacity alongside a seed extension to support consumer financial products. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/…/pvx‑secures‑us250m‑financing… (Fintech Singapore)
- Trulioo Joins Google Agent Payments Protocol to Secure AI Transactions (8 Dec 2025) Identity verification platform Trulioo integrates with Google’s Agent Payments Protocol to enhance security for AI‑driven payment activity. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/…/trulioo‑joins‑google‑agent… (Fintech Singapore)
- 10x Banking, audax Partner on Core Banking Modernisation (8 Dec 2025) Core banking platform 10x Banking partners with audax to modernise digital core systems for financial institutions regionally. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/…/10x‑banking‑audax‑partner… (Fintech Singapore)
🌏 Asia
Corporate & Investments
- Microsoft to Invest US$17.5 B in India to Expand AI, Cloud Infrastructure (10 Dec 2025) Microsoft commits US$17.5 B to expand AI‑focused cloud infrastructure in India, underscoring technology investment in the region. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/123316/fintech‑india/microsoft‑india‑investment/ (Fintech Singapore)
Payments / E‑commerce
- Razorpay Singapore Enables Merchants to Steer Users to Cheaper Payment Methods (10 Dec 2025) Razorpay Singapore launches a checkout feature allowing merchants to present lower‑cost payment options to consumers. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/…/razorpay‑singapore‑enables… (Fintech Singapore)
🌍 Global
Digital Assets
- StanChart and Coinbase Expand Institutional Digital Asset Partnership (15 Dec 2025) Standard Chartered and Coinbase broaden their collaboration to explore comprehensive institutional digital asset services, including custody, staking, and trading. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/123568/digitalassets/standard‑chartered‑coinbase/ (Fintech Singapore)
Events / Market Intelligence
- Top 14 Fintech Events to Attend in APAC in Q1 2026 (15 Dec 2025) A curated list of 14 major fintech events and conferences in APAC for early 2026, providing networking and strategic insight opportunities. Source: https://fintechnews.sg/123306/events/top‑14‑fintech‑events‑to‑attend‑in‑apac‑in‑q1‑2026/ (Fintech Singapore)