Singapore

Japanese credit card brand JCB has signed several deals to expand its global acceptance online and at the point of sale.

Indonesia’s Go-Jek plans to roll out a preliminary version of its ride-hailing app in Singapore Thursday, bringing fresh competition to the hometown of arch-rival Grab, according to people familiar with the plan. Both companies combine ride hailing technology with payments and other financial services.

Despite the fervor over mobile wallets and banking, one day consumers may never need to open a dedicated bank or payment app.

Grab and Mastercard have formed a partnership extending the reach of the ride-hailing app by making a prepaid card available to Grab’s 110 million users across Southeast Asia.

Singtel Group, owner of Singapore Telecom, launched a QR code-based cross-border mobile payments alliance with Thailand’s largest digital bank, Kasikornbank and Thailand’s largest mobile phone operator Advanced Info Service or AIS.

Fresh off the heels of having recently raised capital of more than $12 billion in its latest funding round before a potentially lucrative IPO, Ant Financial Group, the operator of Alipay, is rapidly expanding its acceptance network outside of China.

PayNow Corporate enables corporations, businesses and government agencies to pay and receive funds instantly by linking a unique entity number to their Singapore bank account.

South Asian remittance firm InstaReM has launched its cross-border P2P and B2B digital money transfer service in the U.K. and the EU as it prepares for an IPO in 2021. It also expects to become profitable by then.

The world’s most profitable car manufacturer is investing $1 billion in Singapore’s Grab Holdings Inc., valuing Southeast Asia’s largest car-hailing service at just over $10 billion.

Despite Canada's high penetration of contactless POS terminals and consumer affinity for the technology, the country has lagged behind nations such as the U.K. and Singapore in contactless payments. That is set to change as Canada's transit schemes launch contactless open-payment systems.

Companies that aspire to be the Uber of their industry should take a second look at the ride-sharing market, where Grab has become a lightning rod of payments investment and innovation.

Until the technologies provide significant savings, cryptotokens threaten financial stability, and the risks of open access to central bank balance sheets are worked out, retail CBDCs are a long way off, writes Collin Canright, a fintech consultant.

For the U.S., being late to the real-time payments game has some tactical advantages, namely the ability to learn from other countries' successes and failures.

Adyen is working to expand its point-of-sale presence in its push to become an omnichannel payments provider, this week reaching Singapore.

On-demand transportation and mobile payments provider Grab has launched Grab Financial, which will serve as its fintech platform.

Sentbe, a South Korean international money-transfer company, is expanding its payout options and market reach in a partnership with the mobile cross-border payments network TransferTo.

Ride service and mobile payments provider GrabPay has hired Ooi Huey Tyng, a former Visa executive with more than 25 years of experience in banking and payments, as managing director of Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

While interest from the West has so far been tepid in the region, this is an opportune time for fintech investors to look at participation in the Southeast Asian market, writes Alexander Koles, CEO and founder of Evolve Capital Partners.

TransferTo and Cellum, a leading international mobile wallet provider, have formed a strategic partnership enabling Cellum to expand its services by leveraging TransferTo’s cross-border payments network.

Many companies in the payments realm want to be seen as the next Uber, but Uber's Asian counterpart Grab is working to become something else — the next Octopus.