Tencent is testing a mobile application called TenPayGo to help overseas visitors make digital payments in China. The platform aims to bridge the gap for international travellers navigating the country’s predominantly cashless payment ecosystem, as reported by Bloomberg citing Jiemian News. The app is being developed as a consolidated digital services platform. It supports electronic payments for travel, dining and shopping across the tens of millions of Chinese merchants that already accept Weixin Pay. TenPayGo is currently undergoing limited internal testing and has not yet been released to the public. The trial coincides with a broader recovery in inbound travel…

SBI Holdings has agreed to acquire Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank in a deal valued at approximately US$289 million, with completion expected in October pending approval from Japan’s Fair Trade Commission. The acquisition, first reported in May, will see Bitbank become a wholly owned subsidiary, accorting to Finextra. This comes as SBI accelerates its expansion in digital assets ahead of anticipated regulatory changes that will bring crypto under Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, offering clearer oversight for the sector. SBI has been steadily building its crypto footprint, including the integration of Bitpoint and a partnership with Visa to enable credit…

Ripple has launched its US dollar-denominated stablecoin, Ripple USD, in the Japanese market. The expansion follows regulatory clearance from the Japan Financial Services Agency under the country’s Payment Services Act. The token, known as RLUSD, will be made available to both institutional and retail users through the VCTRADE platform operated by SBI VC Trade. This launch implements a strategic initiative outlined in a memorandum of understanding signed between the companies in August 2025. Under the local regulatory framework, RLUSD is categorised as a new type of electronic payment instrument. This specific classification applies to foreign-issued stablecoins that meet the strict…

SBI Group has introduced its trust based stablecoin JPYSC in partnership with Singapore-based fintech company Startale Group. SBI processed the first issuance of JPYSC on 24 June, with SBI Shinsei Trust Bank overseeing the issuance and SBI VC Trade, a licensed crypto exchange, handling distribution. A trust bank manages reserve assets in SBI’s trust based structure, making JPYSC Japan’s first stablecoin of its kind, according to The Block. Unlike fund transfer type stablecoins, JPYSC is not subject to the 1 million yen transaction and balance limits that apply to such instruments. SBI expects JPYSC to attract retail and corporate users…

Visa has released its latest Consumer Payment Attitudes Study, highlighting how payment seamlessness is linked to a shift towards high-frequency travel within the Greater Bay Area (GBA). The report indicates that regional travel is becoming a regular routine rather than an occasional holiday. For mainland travellers entering Hong Kong, 51% stay between one and three nights, and 15% make same-day visits. This trend is mirrored by Hong Kong residents heading northbound. The GBA now forms part of the regular routine for 49% of locals, with Shenzhen leading as the most popular destination at 60%. Digital wallets lead payment preferences Digital…

Chainlink, South Korean infrastructure provider FairSquareLab, the Unified Korea Alliance (UniKA), and European stablecoin consortium Qivalis have launched Project Pangea to modernise global foreign exchange markets. The strategic collaborative task force aims to enable real-time, stablecoin-based cross-border settlement models, connecting dozens of financial institutions across Europe and South Korea. UniKA represents a steering committee of five entities, including Shinhan Bank, JB Bank, Kbank, FairSquareLab, and OBDIA, alongside more than 10 commercial banks, while Qivalis is backed by 37 European banks. The initiative focuses on the direct, atomic swap of regulated, fiat-referenced digital assets, such as euro and Korean won stablecoins.…

Reap has integrated Circle’s tokenised money market fund, USYC, into its corporate spend platform. The move allows globally operating businesses to generate yield on their idle treasury balances. The USYC fund provides institutional grade exposure to short-term U.S. Treasury backed assets. It operates onchain to maintain liquidity for daily operations. According to the company, the fund had approximately US$2.9 billion in circulation as of May 2026. Reap has added this yield bearing functionality to Reap Direct, its unified platform for managing corporate credit cards, cross-border payments, and expense management. The platform operates across both fiat and stablecoin infrastructure, powered primarily…

Tencent has started testing a new AI assistant named Xiaowei for its WeChat platform, as reported by Bloomberg. The super app, known as Weixin in China, recently made the service available to a limited number of users. Individuals can interact with Xiaowei using text or voice commands to complete tasks through the platform’s mini-app ecosystem. While WeChat has not specified exactly which functions the agent can handle, its ecosystem currently hosts mini-programmes for services including food delivery and ride-hailing. A separate statement from Tencent’s customer service unit confirmed that Xiaowei primarily uses the company’s proprietary large language model WeLM. The…

Payment Asia is integrating with PayMe by HSBC to allow its merchant network to accept payments directly from the digital wallet. The partnership enables businesses using the PA Pay application and Smart POS Terminals to process PayMe transactions. Merchants will receive real-time transaction data as part of the integration to track sales and monitor operational performance. PayMe by HSBC currently has a user base of over 3.3 million in Hong Kong. “We are thrilled to partner with PayMe by HSBC, a widely adopted payment platform in Hong Kong. This integration underscores our commitment to providing innovative and comprehensive payment solutions…

JPMorgan Chase as blocked staff in Hong Kong from using Anthropic’s AI models, according to a Financial Times report citing three people familiar with the matter. The decision reportedly came after the wording of Anthropic’s licensing terms led the bank to remove Claude models from its internal list of approved large language models available to employees in the city, Reuters reported. Goldman Sachs took a similar step in April, removing Claude from its approved tools for Hong Kong-based bankers. Neither JPMorgan nor Anthropic responded to Reuters’ requests for comment, and the report has not been independently verified. The moves come…

HSBC has launched a digital trade finance tool called HSBC TradeCash, allowing businesses in Hong Kong to upload sales invoice data online and secure loans within minutes. The paperless solution aims to reduce administrative burdens and accelerate access to working capital. Compared to traditional manual options, it can often take up to 24 hours to process. The digital service is available via HSBCnet, with plans to expand access to Business Internet Banking at a later stage. Hong Kong’s value of total goods exports increased by 35% year on year in the first four months of 2026. This growth in export…

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have launched a joint pilot project to test an e-HKD after-hours trading payment solution for the derivatives market. The initiative explores using a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) that operates around the clock to settle advance margin payments. This setup aims to improve risk management capabilities outside standard banking hours without disrupting existing operational workflows. Clearing participants must submit advance margin deposit requests by 3:00 p.m. under the current system so that HKCC counts their funds for the upcoming evening session. “By exploring the use…

Tencent Cloud has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China CITIC Bank International (CNCBI) to support the digital transformation and core banking development of the lender. The partnership will advance the Fintech 2.0 strategy of CNCBI. This relies on AI and aligns with the focus of the bank on synergy between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The two companies will focus on enhancing intelligent risk control capabilities to improve security and privacy in regional digital banking. CNCBI is also exploring the deployment of AI to automate internal operations and elevate retail services. Core banking and local technology As part of the…

Chinese cross-border payment company Payful has launched a cloud-native Visa charge-card programme for corporate and merchant clients through its subsidiary in Hong Kong. Built on the SmartVista platform developed by banking software firm BPC, this initiative targets businesses needing flexible digital card solutions. Corporate clients can now manage business spending through virtual Visa charge cards hosted in the cloud. Merchants gain control over payments, alongside real-time transaction visibility and digital card protections. Payful adopted a cloud-based issuing model to deploy modern card functionality rapidly while keeping operating costs low. Seeking to support long-term expansion plans, Payful selected BPC for its…

The Northern Metropolis Financial Advisory Taskforce held its inaugural meeting on 17 June to discuss the financing needs of major upcoming development projects in the region. Jointly established by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and The Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB), the group aims to strengthen coordination between the banking sector, government agencies, and other stakeholders involved in the Northern Metropolis development. Representatives from the Development Bureau and the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau presented details on key development projects and financing needs scheduled for the next three years. These near-term opportunities include four land parcels in Phase…

The international operation centre of the digital yuan has signed direct participant agreements with 26 financial institutions in Shanghai, Reuters reported. Managed by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the centre aims to expand low-cost and efficient cross-border payments. It also seeks to advance global adoption of the Chinese currency. The agreements allow participants to join the Cross-border e-CNY Transfer Services (Cbets). This integrated settlement platform supports round-the-clock digital payment links with foreign central banks and overseas financial institutions using the digital yuan, which is China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC). Standard Chartered Bank (China) confirmed it was one of…

Markets are supposedly rational. The efficient market hypothesis states that all participants act rationally and that every event and risk is already priced into an asset’s value. Actually participating in financial markets quickly bursts that theory however, as every day we see assets lose multiple percentage points in minutes, and ungrounded bull runs climb with no fundamentals to back them up. TL;DR Market anomalies are driven by emotional feedback loops (FOMO and panic selling), temporarily detaching price from fundamentals.  The Fear and Greed Index mathematically quantifies this sentiment using objective data like the VIX and volume momentum.  Successful trading uses…

TransUnion has reported mixed trends in the Hong Kong consumer credit market in Q1 2026, with steady growth in credit cards and personal loans offsetting sharp contractions in revolving lines. The credit bureau’s latest Hong Kong Industry Insights Report indicates that consumer repayment behaviour remained stable, and lenders have adopted more disciplined underwriting for higher-risk unsecured products. This shift occurs against a backdrop of 5.9% GDP growth in the first quarter, the strongest performance in nearly five years. Inflation remained steady at 1.7%. Credit card momentum and Gen Z growth Hong Kong’s credit card market maintained its spending momentum despite…

HSBC has restored its digital banking services in Hong Kong after an outage on Monday (15 June) morning left customers unable to access their accounts. The bank confirmed the issue in a statement to Reuters, saying all systems had returned to normal before 2pm local time. Customers experienced difficulties logging into the mobile app and accessing several features earlier in the day. HSBC issued an apology for the disruption but did not disclose the cause of the outage. It declined to disclose the number of users affected. The incident follows a similar disruption to the bank’s Hong Kong digital services…

Manulife Hong Kong has joined the Insurance Authority’s (IA) AI Cohort Programme as a Core Participating Insurer, a move aimed at advancing the use of AI within the city’s insurtech sector. The industry-wide programme brings together insurers and technology partners to promote the responsible adoption of AI. Through this initiative, Manulife Hong Kong will help establish AI Centres of Excellence, support talent development, and share insights with peers and regulators. “AI is rapidly transforming the insurance landscape, enabling insurers to reimagine how we serve customers while driving greater efficiency and resilience,” said Patrick Graham, CEO of Manulife Hong Kong and…