OSL Group and Anchorpoint Financial have completed test transfers of the HKDAP stablecoin on the Ethereum mainnet. The test covered the lifecycle of converting fiat funding into reserve assets, fully backing the minting and transfer of the token. Standard Chartered provided the banking infrastructure and institutional trust services for the test. All HKDAP tokens were fully redeemed following the transfers. The companies are targeting a phased launch for the stablecoin by the end of the second quarter of this year. “Our HKDAP test trades align with OSL’s mission to make money move as freely as information,” said Kevin Cui, Executive…

After successfully building digital banks across two continents, Tyme Group is now eyeing their 3rd GoTyme Bank. Rachel Freeman, Chief Growth Officer, shared that they are looking to decide within the 12 months time frame and hinted at some potential markets. Anxin Leong, also weighed in on the IPO timing, explaining why a listing remains a matter of when, not if, but 2029 or 2030 is a more realistic window than the 2028 target previously floated by CEO Coen Jonker. In this episode: The shortlist for the third market and the 6 to 12 month decision window How the kiosk…

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Insurance Authority (IA) have announced a cross-sector reference checking arrangement between the banking and insurance industries. The initiative aims to reduce the risk of financial professionals concealing past misconduct when moving across the broader financial services sector, addressing the “rolling bad apples” phenomenon. Both sectors already operate independent reference checking frameworks. The banking sector introduced its Mandatory Reference Checking Scheme in May 2023 for senior roles and expanded it in September 2025, while the insurance sector launched its scheme in September 2024 and broadened its scope in early 2026 to include technical…

Weixin Pay is expanding its merchant footprint in Australia, rolling out its digital wallet across 12 major tourist attractions in Tropical North Queensland to capture the returning wave of Chinese outbound travellers. The integration covers high-demand locations across Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, including diving operators, cruise providers, wildlife parks and rainforest tours. Participating merchants in the region and on Hamilton Island are pairing the payment option with targeted incentives to encourage on-ground spending. For payment providers and the broader tourism sector, the rollout highlights the growing reliance on integrated digital payment solutions to capture cross-border transaction volumes. Providing…

XTransfer has expanded its X-Net settlement infrastructure into Latin America, aiming to address persistent cross-border payment challenges faced by SMEs engaged in international trade. X-Net is a B2B cross-border settlement and risk management network that connects banks and financial institutions with SMEs. The platform standardises collections, payouts, and compliance workflows, with the goal of reducing friction around account access, foreign exchange costs, settlement delays, and regulatory complexity. The expansion comes as trade activity between China and Latin America continues to accelerate. XTransfer reported a 94% year-on-year increase in Latin America collections in 2025. This significantly outpaced China’s 8% export growth…

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has launched a Digital Licensing Platform to process senior management appointments for authorised institutions, according to an official circular. The system handles applications under section 71 of the Banking Ordinance, which covers individuals seeking regulatory approval to become Chief Executives, alternate Chief Executives, or Directors. The portal introduces automated workflows to replace manual submissions. Key features include web-based forms with auto-fill and skip logic, electronic signatures, and the issuance of electronic approval letters. “The platform facilitates a paperless licensing process,” said Alan Au, Executive Director of Banking Conduct at the HKMA. “It will help…

Alipay AI Pay has launched a delegated purchasing feature on Taobao, allowing users to authorise an AI assistant to monitor prices and execute transactions on their behalf. The tool integrates with Alibaba’s Qwen AI model to offer a conversational shopping experience. Users can instruct the assistant to find specific items at desired price points. The feature uses a single-use authorisation model, and the company says it enables safe automated shopping. Shoppers initiate the process by messaging the AI assistant within the Taobao application with a product and price request. After selecting a preferred item from the curated results, users authenticate…

Hang Seng Bank has introduced Hong Kong stock trading on its Hang Seng Business Mobile Banking app, giving corporate customers a new digital channel to manage liquidity and investment activity. The update extends the bank’s existing online securities trading service from its desktop e-banking platform to mobile. Corporate users can now complete securities account activation directly on their smartphones. Once activated, the app provides unlimited real-time Hong Kong stock quotes at no additional charge. It also features automatic profit and loss calculations to track securities holdings, alongside a real-time portfolio overview. Hang Seng said the launch responds to growing demand…

UOB Private Bank has appointed Paul Zhou as Market Head for Greater China to drive its wealth management expansion across the region. The appointment takes effect on 11 May 2026, according to finews. The Singapore-based bank is aiming to increase its footprint among high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients in mainland China and the broader Greater China region. For Paul Zhou, UOB is a familiar environment. He transitions to the private banking arm from UOB China, where he has served as Head of Sales and Distribution since 2018. During his tenure there, he directed the wealth management and secured lending teams, as…

SUNMI Technology Group Co., Ltd, a Business IoT (BIoT) leader, was officially listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under stock code 06810.HK. Inside the trading hall of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, founder, chairman and CEO Jack Lin, together with the core management team, rang the ceremonial listing gong for the SUNMI Technology HKEX listing, marking the official entry of SUNMI Technology into the international capital market. The SUNMI Hong Kong IPO oversubscribed more than 2,000 times, raising over HK$1 billion with an opening price of HK$97.5 per share, up 292.2% from the issue price,…

What is stopping businesses from fully tapping a US$336 billion cross-border payments opportunity? Ask the merchants trying to sell beyond their home markets, and the answer often comes back to infrastructure. They would say that payments may look simple at the point of sale, but the work behind it is not. They grow heavier with every new corridor. Each market adds another layer of work behind the payment itself, and those hidden demands can narrow margins long before a business reaches meaningful scale. Kozen Tan, CEO, Singapore of LianLian Global, sees the consequences of this fragmentation firsthand, particularly as businesses…

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has launched the HKMA Cargox pilot programme, partnering with 21 banks to digitalise trade finance and improve credit access for local SMEs. The initiative uses the city’s Commercial Data Interchange (CDI) data infrastructure to test new cargo and trade data use cases. By integrating this alternative data into existing banking operations, the regulator aims to address existing pain points that importers and exporters face when applying for financing. Scheduled to run through 2026 and 2027, the pilot projects will test four main areas. These include connecting banks with major cargo platforms, combining SME trade…

Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, is acquiring Hong Kong-based payments infrastructure firm Reap for up to US$600 million to expand its B2B financial services platform. The transaction, structured as a mix of cash and stock, values Payward at US$20 billion. It will integrate Reap’s stablecoin-native card issuance and cross-border settlement tools into Payward Services, giving partners a single connection point for digital and traditional financial products. “Reap is the payments layer for what comes next,” said Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward. “Card networks, banking rails, and blockchains on a single API, settling in stablecoins. The infrastructure for…

Editor’s Note: The IPO fundraising figure has been removed from this article. Chinese B2B cross-border payments company XTransfer has filed for an IPO in Hong Kong. The company submitted its listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), according to GuruFocus. UBS and CICC are underwriting the offering. XTransfer counts China Merchants Venture and Alibaba among its pre-IPO investors. The company plans to list under a weighted voting rights (WVR) structure, with certain shares carrying ten votes each. Founder and Chief Executive Bill Deng will retain full control of these enhanced voting rights. Founded in 2017, XTransfer provides payment…

HSBC Hong Kong has launched the HSBC Privé World Legend Mastercard, becoming the first bank in the Asia Pacific region to offer the payment network’s most premium consumer credit tier. HSBC Private Bank targets the invitation-only credit card specifically at its clients. The bank automatically upgrades existing HSBC Privé cardholders from their current World Elite Mastercard status to the new World Legend tier. The upgrade grants cardholders access to The Mastercard Collection, a newly introduced global suite of elevated travel, dining, and entertainment benefits. Sunny Chow, Head of Cards and Unsecured Lending at HSBC Hong Kong, said the launch reflects…

South Korean internet giant Kakao reported a 13.2% year-on-year increase in first-quarter net profit, supported by strong growth in its platform and financial services businesses. The company posted a net profit of 226.8 billion won (US$156.8 million) for the January to March period, according to a regulatory filing, according to Yonhap. Operating profit jumped 66% to 211.4 billion won, while sales rose 11% to 1.94 trillion won. Kakao said both operating profit and revenue reached record highs for a first quarter. The group’s platform division, which includes mobility and payments services, generated 1.2 trillion won in sales, up 16% from…

Mox achieved financial breakeven in the first quarter of 2026 and has launched a new wealth management tier to drive sustainable profitability. The digital bank introduced Mox+ to target young professionals and the emerging affluent segment in Hong Kong. The financial milestone comes five years after the bank’s launch, with its customer base now exceeding 750,000. Mox aims to transition from everyday banking to a comprehensive wealth partner through its new offering. “Achieving financial breakeven for the first quarter of 2026 on the back of a strong 2025 set of results shows our direction of travel,” said Barbaros Uygun, CEO…

RedotPay is integrating with the Tempo blockchain to support RedotPay AI stablecoin payments, allowing automated agents to execute transactions autonomously. The integration uses the Machine Payments Protocol (MPP) from Tempo, a Layer-1 blockchain backed by Stripe and Paradigm. The open standard allows machines to authorise and settle payments programmatically over the internet. By embedding its payment rails into the protocol, RedotPay enables its reported seven million users to fund purchases made by AI agents using stablecoins. These agents can handle product discovery, order placement, and final settlement without requiring human intervention at checkout. For merchants, the integration creates a new…

Visa and Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK) have completed testing for AI agent payments in Hong Kong. The trial enabled an AI programme to execute real-world purchases on behalf of a consumer over Visa’s existing network. Visa processed the transaction through Visa Intelligent Commerce, a framework built to handle automated, consent-driven payments. Acting on a cardholder’s instructions, the AI agent arranged a business trip by selecting a souvenir and organising airport transport. The agent presented suitable options and completed the purchases using a BOC Visa credit card. The system required explicit user consent and verification at every step to…

Hong Kong SME credit conditions remained broadly stable in the first quarter of 2026, according to a recent survey published by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). The quarterly report showed that 73% of respondents felt banks held a similar or easier credit approval stance compared to six months ago. This marks a slight improvement from 70% in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, 27% of businesses perceived a more difficult approval process, dropping from 30% at the end of 2025. The regulator noted that this perception does not necessarily indicate actual difficulties in securing funding. Media reports, broader business sentiment, and…