Visa has named Elaine Chang as its new Group General Manager for Greater China, replacing Shirley Yu, who will retire at the end of the year. Chang brings more than three decades of experience in technology and leadership. She spent 20 years at Intel before joining Amazon in 2013 as Global Vice President and General Manager of Kindle China. She was named President of Amazon China in 2016 and later became Managing Director of AWS Greater China from 2019 to 2023. In 2024, she moved into a global role at AWS as Global Go-to-Market Lead for Generative AI and Machine…

Artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from theory to practice, propelled by advances in computing power and the increasing accessibility of data. The focus should now be on applying AI creatively to scalable, mass-market applications, rather than simply building more models, Wang Jian, the founder of Alibaba Cloud and the director of Zhejiang Lab, told Bloomberg. In a July 2025 interview with the media outlet, Wang discussed the evolution of AI, cloud computing, and China’s tech ecosystem, outlining both the opportunities and challenges ahead. He traced the evolution of AI from a narrow, academic sector in the 1980s, marked by weak…

Tether Holdings, as the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, is seeking a private capital raise (akin to venture capital) of up to $20 billion . If Tether manages to raise that amount (a challenging proposition), it would launch the El Salvador-based company’s valuation somewhere close to $500 billion, alongside valuations for companies such as OpenAI and SpaceX. This would be a remarkable outcome for a cryptocurrency firm that has been under regulatory scrutiny for years, and even as that scrutiny persists, the world remains interested in investing. Part of the attraction surrounds Tether’s past positioning, where…

WeLab, a Hong Kong fintech platform, and Google have announced a partnership focused on applying AI across WeLab’s operations and financial services. The collaboration aims to support WeLab’s goal of providing AI-driven financial solutions to 500 million users by 2032. Under the partnership, WeLab will use Google’s AI models and tools to enhance operational efficiency, product design, and marketing. The company will also rely on Google Cloud infrastructure to support its regional growth strategy and expansion into new markets. WeLab has previously implemented Google Cloud in Indonesia, enabling rapid scaling with attention to performance, compliance, and security. “By partnering with…

To further support mainland tourists’ travel and spending in Macau and to encourage integration within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, Macau Pass and Alipay have introduced a top-up service allowing users to recharge their mCards via Alipay from September 26. Users can now top up their mCards at any time through the MPay app or the Alipay app, enabling smoother use of public transportation and other services across Macau. The mCard has long been a key tool for mainland tourists visiting Macau, offering up to 50% discounts on buses and light rail transit, while also supporting payments for dining,…

The Asia-Pacific region is approaching a milestone in cross-border payments: though fully achieving instant, efficient international money movement remains a goal. Domestic payment systems have progressed with real-time rails, QR codes and digital wallets. However, cross-border transactions still face high costs, long settlement times, inconsistent experiences and increased fraud risks. Amid sustained trade growth and digital economic expansion, establishing seamless cross-border payment infrastructure is now imperative. To address these challenges, LexisNexis Risk Solutions and the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) published a white paper, The Journey Towards Frictionless Cross-Border Payments in APAC. The report leverages industry insight to identify persistent barriers…

Yuno, a global payment orchestration platform, announced its expansion in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region with the opening of regional headquarters in Singapore and new operations in China. The dual-office setup aims to support merchants in scaling across borders with a unified payment infrastructure. Earlier this year, Yuno also established regional headquarters in Qatar and London to serve the MENA and European markets. Founded by Juan Pablo Ortega and Julián Núñez, the entrepreneurs behind Latin American tech company Rappi, Yuno was created to simplify global payments after they experienced the challenges firsthand. The platform provides a single API that connects to…

RedotPay, a fintech specialising in stablecoin-based payments, has closed a US$47 million strategic investment round. The funding included new participation from Coinbase Ventures and a global technology entrepreneur, alongside increased commitments from Galaxy Ventures and Vertex Ventures. With this milestone, RedotPay joins the ranks of fintech companies valued at over US$1 billion. In March, the company secured a US$40 million Series A funding. “Our mission has always been to make digital finance accessible, secure, and efficient for everyone,” said Michael Gao, Co-Founder and Chief Executive of RedotPay. “Having Coinbase Ventures join us, along with the continued support from Galaxy Ventures…

Kakao Pay and Japan’s PayPay have expanded their partnership, allowing PayPay users to make offline payments at more than two million merchants across South Korea. According to The Korea Herald, the South Korean online payments company said on Thursday (September 25) that PayPay’s network has been connected to Korean offline stores, enabling Japanese visitors to pay as they would at home. This marks PayPay’s first overseas expansion. The company is one of Japan’s largest cashless payment providers, with over 70 million registered users. Japan is South Korea’s second-largest source of visitors after China, with 1.92 million Japanese tourists travelling to…

OSL Group, a Hong Kong-based digital asset platform, has completed the acquisition of Koinsayang, a licensed digital asset exchange in Indonesia, through the issuance of approximately 9.266 million consideration shares. The acquisition provides OSL Group with licenses for cryptocurrency and derivatives trading, supporting its strategic expansion in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. The transaction grants OSL Group full regulatory approval to operate in Indonesia, establishing a foundation for the development of areas such as real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation and PayFi. According to the Indonesian Blockchain Association, Indonesia accounts for 10.1% of global interest in RWAs, ranking third worldwide. By combining Koinsayang’s…

In APAC, online payments are dominated by digital cashless payments. 87% of payments on Southeast Asia’s e-commerce platforms are done using digital payments, as of 2024. When it comes to digital payments, banks and financial institutions face growing pressure to deliver both frictionless user experiences and robust security. Technologies like Click to Pay, Passkeys, and tokenized transactions are emerging as key enablers of trust, convenience, and compliance. In this webinar, we’ll explore: Regional trends in Asia shaping the future of digital payments and E-commerce How Click to Pay is transforming the online checkout experience across digital channels The role of…

Alibaba Cloud announced new large models and infrastructure upgrades at its annual Apsara Conference 2025. The updates cover language and multimodal models, agent development frameworks, enterprise AI platforms, and cloud infrastructure. “In the future, large AI models will be deeply integrated into a wide range of devices, functioning like operating systems, equipped with persistent memory, seamless cloud-edge coordination, and the ability to continuously evolve,” said Eddie Wu, Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. He added that Alibaba Cloud remains committed to open-sourcing Qwen and shaping it into the “operating system of the AI era,” while continuing with a RMB…

On the second day of HUAWEI CONNECT 2025, Zhang Ping’an, Huawei’s Executive Director of the Board and CEO of Huawei Cloud, delivered a keynote titled “All Intelligence: Empowering AI Pioneers for Industries.” He outlined Huawei Cloud’s work in AI compute services, foundation models, embodied AI, and AI agents. Huawei Cloud announced its AI Compute Service powered by CloudMatrix384. The CloudMatrix supernode will be upgraded from 384 cards to 8,192 cards and can support clusters running on 500,000 to one million cards. The company also introduced Elastic Memory Service (EMS), which expands video RAM with memory to reduce latency in multi-round…

South Korea and BlackRock have entered into a partnership to position the nation as the “AI capital in Asia” through large-scale joint investments in data centres and renewable energy. According to The Korea Times, the agreement was reached on Monday (September 22) during a meeting in New York between President Lee Jae Myung and Larry Fink, interim co-chair of the World Economic Forum and CEO of BlackRock, held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Under the memorandum of understanding signed between the Korean government and BlackRock, the partnership will pursue a three-pronged strategy: joint development of data…

As financial institutions increase their use of AI, opaque decision-making systems risk undermining public trust, regulatory compliance, and risk management, according to a new report by CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals. The report, Explainable AI in Finance: Addressing the Needs of Diverse Stakeholders, examines the rising complexity of AI systems in areas such as credit scoring, investment management, insurance underwriting, and fraud detection. It argues for the adoption of “explainable AI” (XAI), a set of techniques intended to make AI decision-making more transparent, auditable, and understandable to humans. “AI systems are no longer working quietly in the…

Kaia DLT Foundation (Kaia), a blockchain-based organisation, and LINE NEXT, the venture arm of Japan-based LINE Corporation focused on the Web3 ecosystem, are set to launch a stablecoin-powered Web3 super-app, Project Unify. The app will be available both as a standalone Kaia-powered service and as a Mini Dapp operated by LINE NEXT. The Unify app is expected to enter beta testing within this year, with subsequent additions of consumer-focused Web3 and fintech features, including stablecoin yield, payments, remittances, on/off-ramps, and Web3 applications. Through the Unify app, users will be able to deposit stablecoins into their wallets and access a real-time…

ZA Bank has exceeded one million users as of the first half of 2025, marking a notable milestone in Hong Kong’s digital banking sector. Since its launch in 2020, the bank has maintained steady growth and a leading position among local digital banks. ZA Bank CEO Calvin Ng said, “We remain committed to delivering innovative, secure, and user-centric banking services. Looking ahead, we will continue to drive product-led growth with a focus on wealth management and diversified asset allocation. At the same time, we are actively exploring digital asset use cases, as we work towards becoming the digital wealth management…

Entrepreneur Adrian Cheng announced the launch of ALMAD Group, a new venture headquartered in Hong Kong and focused on digital innovation and emerging markets. Cheng, who stepped down as Chief Executive of New World Development in September 2024 after the company reported a record loss amid one of the city’s largest debt burdens, has since withdrawn from all family business positions, including at parent company Chow Tai Fook Enterprises. In the same period, he acquired management rights to New World’s flagship retail brand, K11. With ALMAD Group, Cheng is embarking on a new chapter that reflects his personal vision for…

Two men in their seventies in Hong Kong have been defrauded of HK$48 million (US$6.2 million) in separate scams involving fake officials and cryptocurrency transfers. Police reported on Friday (September 19) that one victim, aged 77, received a call on June 7 from someone impersonating a mainland Chinese official, who alleged the man was involved in a cross-border criminal case and demanded payment to prove his innocence. According to the South China Morning Post, the victim followed the instructions and made 24 transfers totalling around HK$21.8 million to three designated local bank accounts between June 10 and August 15. The…

Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global technology ecosystem, has introduced the Hub71 Startup Immersion Programme at Investopia Hong Kong. The initiative aims to provide later-stage Hong Kong startups with a pathway into Abu Dhabi’s technology ecosystem, supporting their efforts to expand regionally and access international markets. Investopia, organised by the UAE Ministry of Economy, served as the platform for the announcement. The launch highlighted the UAE’s commitment to fostering global economic partnerships through innovation, while positioning Abu Dhabi as a hub for international scaling opportunities. In the presence of Mohammed Alhawi, Undersecretary of the UAE Ministry of Investment, Hub71 signed MoUs with…