Japanese electronics group Sony has partnered with insurtech company bolttech to launch My Sony Care+, an embedded protection programme offering extended coverage for selected devices. The programme is supported by Tokio Marine and builds on Sony’s existing My Sony Care extended warranty service. My Sony Care+ adds complimentary accidental and liquid damage (ADLD) cover to standard warranty protection. From mid-December, the programme is available in Hong Kong for Sony cameras and lenses. Coverage will expand in 2026 to include additional products such as Xperia smartphones, televisions, portable music players and over-ear headphones. Customers can purchase the plan within 30 days…

The Hong Kong Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) will co-organise the 19th Asian Financial Forum (AFF). It will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) on 26–27 January 2026. Theme and Focus This year’s AFF introduces the tagline “Finance Empowering Business”. The theme is “Co-creating New Horizons amid an Evolving Landscape”. Over a hundred global political and business leaders, investment experts, and financial heavyweights will attend the forum. They will discuss the global economic outlook, trade finance, supply chain management, and gold and precious metals trading. The forum aims to stimulate cooperation…

The South Korean government plans to introduce a second-phase digital asset bill this year, which will establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins. Alongside this, authorities aim to set rules for cross-border stablecoin transactions and push for the introduction of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for digital assets within 2026. According to News1 Korea, the government outlined these measures on 5 January as part of its “2026 Economic Growth Strategy.” The Financial Services Commission (FSC) is the primary authority responsible for implementing the legislation. The bill’s second phase will require issuers to obtain licences, meet capital requirements, manage reserve assets to cover…

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced on 9 January that the Financial Secretary has approved a two-year extension of Arthur Yuen’s appointment as Deputy Chief Executive. The approval was given on the advice of the Governance Sub-Committee of the Exchange Fund Advisory Committee. The extension will take effect from August 2026. Yuen will continue to be responsible for the full range of banking policy, supervision, conduct and enforcement matters at the HKMA. In this role, he oversees the formulation and implementation of regulatory policies. He is also responsible for the supervision of authorised institutions operating in Hong Kong. The…

UnionPay International (UPI) and Samsung Electronics have launched a joint mobile payment service based on an “NFC–QR code all-in-one” solution, following an announcement in Shanghai. Under the collaboration, UnionPay cardholders can add their cards to Samsung Wallet and choose either NFC contactless payment or QR code payment when making transactions. Hong Kong will be the first market to introduce the service, with BOC Credit Card acting as the initial issuing partner. Samsung Wallet is currently available in 62 countries and regions. The partnership is expected to broaden the international availability of UnionPay’s mobile payment services among Android users and support…

South Korea’s plan to legalise a bank-led, won-denominated stablecoin is facing political resistance. The push is deepening long-standing tensions between financial regulators, the central bank and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) over who should be allowed to issue stablecoins under the country’s first comprehensive digital asset law. At the heart of the dispute is capital liberalisation. According to The Korea Times, policymakers fear that wealthy individuals could use cash to buy won-denominated stablecoins and move assets overseas, bypassing bank-mediated capital controls and taxes. Currently, individuals can remit up to US$100,000 per year without reporting to banks. The Bank…

Digital banking in Asia was supposed to change the world. Five years later, did it live up to the hype? In this in-depth retrospective, Vincent Fong (Chief Editor, Fintech News Network) sits down with David Becker (Managing Director, Head of APAC Sales, Mambu) to unpack the last five years of the digital banking boom. They discuss why the predicted “death of traditional banks” never happened, how incumbents managed to adapt so quickly, and why the real revolution is happening in rural financial inclusion rather than just glossy apps. From the technical challenges of cloud-native infrastructure to the “boring but important”…

The 19th Asian Financial Forum (AFF), co-organised by the Hong Kong SAR government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), will be held on Monday, 26 and Tuesday, 27 January 2026 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. This year, the forum introduces the tagline “Finance Empowering Business”, under the theme “Co-creating New Horizons Amid an Evolving Landscape”. The event will bring together over 100 global business and political leaders and financial experts to examine geopolitical shifts, macroeconomic trends, and developments in financial markets, while exploring potential investment opportunities and fostering collaboration among stakeholders. Prof Frederick Ma, HKTDC…

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) announced on 30 December that all retail banks, including digital banks, will have fully launched the Money Safe service for individual customers. Banks will also undertake a series of publicity efforts to raise awareness of the service. Money Safe lets customers protect a portion of their deposits. Banks require a face-to-face anti-scam verification before allowing withdrawals or transfers from these protected deposits, giving customers a chance to assess potential fraud. The service targets customers who do not need immediate access to these funds. Arthur Yuen, Deputy…

HashKey listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, becoming the first digital asset company to go public in Hong Kong through an initial public offering. At the listing ceremony, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr Xiao Feng said the listing marked a new phase for the company and carried greater responsibility. He added: “As a company deeply rooted in Hong Kong, we have always believed that compliance is essential for achieving long-term success and sustainable growth.” He said HashKey would continue to strengthen capabilities in security, custody, on-chain execution and compliance to build its…

TRM has published new research showing that North Korea-linked actors were responsible for more than half of the US$2.7 billion stolen in cryptocurrency hacks in 2025, marking the regime as the single most dominant and sophisticated threat actor in the crypto theft ecosystem. For years, North Korea has used crypto theft to fund weapons proliferation, evade sanctions, and pursue destabilising activities. Notably, high-value heists in 2023–2025 have shifted from exploiting smart-contract flaws to targeting the operational infrastructure of exchanges and custodial services. Single points of failure in these systems allow access to large sums. TRM attributes several major incidents to…

The South Korean government announced on Thursday (19 December) that it will establish an interagency task force to address the recent large-scale data breach at e-commerce giant Coupang Corp. According to Yonhap, the decision was made during a meeting of science and technology-related ministers chaired by Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon. The task force will be led by Ryu Je-myung, second vice minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT. It will comprise officials from the science ministry as well as other agencies, including the Personal Information Protection Committee, the Korea Media Communications Commission, and the Financial Services Commission. The task…

RedotPay, a global stablecoin-based payment fintech, has closed a US$107 million Series B round, bringing its total capital raised in 2025 to US$194 million. The oversubscribed round was led by Goodwater Capital, with participation from Pantera Capital, Blockchain Capital, Circle Ventures, and existing backers including HSG. As of November 2025, RedotPay has over 6 million registered users across more than 100 markets and processes over US$10 billion in annualised payment volume. The company reports annualised revenue exceeding US$150 million and continues to grow profitably through an efficient and scalable business model. “Our goal is to help users manage their finances…

Aspire has released its Hong Kong Ecommerce Pulse Check 2025, highlighting that while mid-sized ecommerce merchants remain broadly optimistic about growth, financial inefficiencies are steadily eroding margins. The study, conducted with 100 Hong Kong merchants generating HKD 1-10 million in annual revenue and developed in collaboration with Stripe, identifies payment-related friction as the most significant but least visible constraint on performance. Around 91% of respondents reported losing between 1% and 10% of monthly revenue due to payment failures, chargebacks and disputes, hidden fees, settlement delays, and the complexity of managing multiple payment providers. These losses compound rising processing costs, with…

Do Kwon, the crypto tycoon behind the 2022 collapse of TerraUSD and Luna, caused an estimated US$40 billion in investor losses. He could face another trial and prison sentence in South Korea if authorities extradite him. The 34-year-old Korean national is expected to apply to the International Prisoner Transfer Programme after serving half of his 15-year US sentence. American prosecutors have agreed not to oppose the request as part of a plea deal. This keeps the possibility of his transfer to Korea open. Following his arrest in Montenegro in March 2023, Kwon sought legal action to be extradited to Korea…

Startale Group and SBI Holdings have signed a MoU to jointly develop and launch a fully regulated Japanese yen-denominated stablecoin. The project aims to issue a trust-based Type 3 Electronic Payment Instrument, which is not subject to Japan’s ¥1 million cap on domestic remittances and account balances. The stablecoin will support domestic and cross-border use, enabling payments, settlement, and tokenised digital-market applications. The partners plan to launch it in Q2 2026, subject to the completion of regulatory and compliance requirements. Under the agreement, Startale will oversee technology development, including smart contracts, APIs, security, and compliance systems, as well as ecosystem…

KakaoBank, South Korea’s largest internet-only bank, is accelerating its global expansion through a deepened partnership with Superbank. Superbank is an Indonesian digital bank in which KakaoBank made its first overseas equity investment. The Korean lender acquired a 10% stake in Superbank in 2023 as part of a collaboration with Grab. This investment laid the foundation for its push into international markets. Since then, KakaoBank has provided support across multiple areas. These include product and service planning, advisory input on user interface and user experience design, and guidance on the bank’s launch strategy. Through this work, it has steadily built its…

Ant International, HSBC, and Swift have completed a Proof of Concept (POC) demonstrating the cross-border transfer of tokenised deposits using ISO 20022 standards. The initiative connects Swift’s global messaging network with HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service and Ant International’s blockchain infrastructure. The POC represents a step forward in testing how tokenisation can support liquidity management, programmable finance, and round-the-clock settlement. As part of the trial, Ant International and HSBC linked Ant International’s proprietary blockchain system with Swift’s network. This enabled real-time treasury movements between HSBC Singapore and HSBC Hong Kong via the Tokenised Deposit Service. A common protocol was developed jointly…

a16z crypto, the crypto-focused arm of Andreessen Horowitz, has announced its expansion into Asia with the opening of its first office in Seoul, South Korea. SungMo Park will join as Head of APAC go-to-market, leading the Seoul office and building a regional presence. The expansion follows the firm’s latest State of Crypto report, which highlights the increasing concentration of onchain activity in Asia. The report notes that South Korea is the second-largest crypto market. Nearly one in three adults in the country owns crypto, surpassing stock investors. Japan has seen a 120% increase in onchain activity over the past year.…

Trio AI, a Hong Kong-based AI infrastructure service provider, has signed a MouU with AbbyPay, a POS-free digital payment brand under The Payment Cards Group Limited (PCG), on 26 November, marking the start of their strategic partnership to integrate AI into payment processing. Trio AI provides secure, scalable AI computing platforms that support end-to-end model applications. PCG operates Asia’s first cloud-based processing and settlement platform and holds principal memberships with major card schemes and e-wallet networks. The partnership aims to combine Trio AI’s AI capabilities with AbbyPay’s payment infrastructure to develop intelligent solutions for payment security, efficiency, and operational optimisation.…