Going down from November 12 to 14, the 2025 Singapore Fintech Pageant (SFF) drew a large crowd of 65,000 individuals in one of many world’s largest fintech gatherings. This 12 months’s annual occasion, which marked its tenth version, explored the theme “Expertise Blueprint for the Subsequent Decade of Finance”, delving into how the rising know-how stack, together with synthetic intelligence (AI), tokenization, and quantum applied sciences, are reshaping world finance.
Discussions centered on the {industry}’s main challenges and alternatives, with some 800 distinguished audio system collaborating in 400 periods to spotlight how superior applied sciences are advancing sustainable progress and inclusion throughout rising markets and the World South.
Greater than 40 worldwide pavilions and 600 exhibitors showcased the most recent improvements from governments, monetary establishments, know-how suppliers, and startups, offering a world perspective on the way forward for monetary companies.
A significant theme this 12 months was tokenization, which is steadily shifting from experimentation towards industrial purposes. The federal government additionally strengthened its dedication to speed up AI adoption, saying new initiatives to foster collaboration and integration, along with proposed pointers for the accountable use of the know-how in monetary companies.
Like earlier editions, SFF 2025 featured quite a few bulletins from public authorities, corporates and startups, reflecting speedy innovation and elevated partnerships throughout the sector. Corporations like Visa, Mastercard, and Ant Worldwide, rolled out new options designed to cut back friction, faucet agentic commerce alternatives, and improve cross-border fee capabilities, whereas governments throughout Europe, Asia, and the Center East unveiled new collaborations to discover alternatives throughout AI, digital property, and fee linkage.
Singapore: a number one fintech hub
Talking on November 13, Chia Der Jiun, Managing Director of MAS, highlighted Singapore’s progress as a world fintech hub.
Over the previous decade, MAS has fostered an ecosystem the place innovation can flourish by supporting modern tasks and facilities, enabling experimentation with rising applied sciences and enterprise fashions, and making use of regulation in the best proportion, on the proper time, to the best threat.
Right this moment, Singapore is dwelling to a vibrant fintech sector comprising greater than 1,800 fintech companies in a variety of domains. Robo-advisors are broadening entry to wealth administration, multi-currency cellular wallets are lowering the complexity and prices of cross-border funds, fintech companies are utilizing data-driven underwriting to offer small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) entry to small loans with versatile phrases and tenor, and startups are leveraging cutting-edge applied sciences to reinforce effectivity throughout fraud prevention, buyer help, threat evaluation, and extra.
Monetary establishments are additionally lively stakeholders within the fintech ecosystem, having arrange over 50 innovation facilities throughout Singapore. Greater than 30 monetary establishments have established AI competency facilities within the nation, engaged on options that serve not simply the native market, but in addition their world operations.
Supporting AI improvement and adoption
To additional help the adoption of AI throughout monetary companies, MAS has launched numerous initiatives for the {industry} to share assets, co-develop, and implement efficient options. Its newest initiative, known as BuildFin.ai and introduced at SFF 2025, is a platform that brings collectively tech suppliers and analysis institutes to work with monetary establishments on complicated issues of frequent curiosity.
This builds on PathFin.ai, a collaborative initiative launched in July 2025 on which monetary establishments and tech firms share their AI adoption expertise and profitable use instances to speed up improvement and implementation. Examples embody an AI resolution to optimize multi-currency money administration for company treasuries, and an agentic AI resolution for end-to-end insurance coverage claims processing. PathFin.ai has already grown to greater than 100 individuals.
Pointers for AI threat administration
To make sure that Singapore’s quickly increasing and more and more refined fintech and AI ecosystem continues to develop in a secure and sustainable means, MAS is proposing a set of pointers on AI threat administration to information monetary establishments on the accountable use of AI within the monetary sector.
The proposed pointers, issued for public session on November 14, set MAS’ supervisory expectations throughout three key areas:
- Oversight of AI threat administration;
- Key AI threat administration techniques, insurance policies and procedures; and
- AI lifecycle controls, capabilities and capacities.
Tokenization strikes in the direction of industrial use
After AI, tokenization was one other main theme at this 12 months’s SFF. The tech is steadily shifting from experimentation towards early industrial use, promising quicker settlement, fewer intermediaries, smarter automated transactions, and the potential of making monetary markets extra environment friendly and accessible.
Nevertheless, to advance this transition, three important constructing blocks are wanted for asset-backed tokens to scale: standardized tokens and interoperable networks; secure and dependable settlement property; and institutional-grade networks.
MAS is working with world policymakers and main monetary establishments to construct this basis by growing requirements, selling community interoperability, and exploring using completely different settlement property, Chia mentioned. The central financial institution can also be finalizing the options of its stablecoin regulatory regime and will likely be getting ready draft laws, he added.
Increasing cross-border use instances
On the Layer One Summit, on November 12, Leong Sing Chiong, Deputy Managing Director of Markets and Growth at MAS, shared updates on the central financial institution’s digital asset initiatives. He famous that MAS is increasing Venture Guardian to help cross-border purposes of tokenized property.
One initiative, dubbed Les Gardiennes and collectively led by the Banque de France and MAS with UBS and Société Générale-FORGE, is testing repo transactions utilizing tokenized property and digital cash.
In funds, Leong highlighted BLOOM (Borderless, Liquid, Open, On-line, Multi-currency), launched in October. This challenge brings collectively over 16 world banks, monetary establishments and fintech firms to advance tokenized deposits and controlled stablecoins for wholesale settlement, and create shared compliance and settlement frameworks.
He mentioned MAS is contemplating a hybrid mannequin that may give monetary establishments entry to wholesale central financial institution digital forex (wCBDC) whereas making certain interoperability between distributed ledger and conventional techniques.
Leong additionally described the World Layer One (GL1) initiative, a public-private collaboration supported by MAS, the Financial institution of England, Banque de France, the European Central Financial institution, and world monetary establishments. This initiative goals to develop interoperable infrastructures to facilitate cross-border monetary transactions, all of the whereas assembly regulatory compliance.
Domestically, MAS can also be advancing with its wCBDC experimentations, efficiently testing using a wholesale digital Singapore greenback for settling in a single day loans between banks. DBS, OCBC, and UOB took half on this first stay issuance of wCBDC, and the transactions have been formally recorded similar to real-world monetary exercise.
MAS now needs to increase on this work by operating one other trial in 2026 that can contain tokenized MAS Payments settled utilizing the identical sort of digital forex.
Supporting immediate cross-border funds
Cross-border connectivity was additionally outstanding in funds matters.
Singapore and Cambodia formally launched the primary section of a brand new cross-border QR code fee system, permitting Cambodian vacationers to make use of their native financial institution accounts for real-time transactions in Singapore.
Individually, the Cambodian central financial institution has agreed to hyperlink KHQR, the nation’s official QR code fee normal, with Weixin Pay, setting a framework to attach Cambodia’s Bakong system with the Chinese language cellular fee platform to facilitate quicker, extra seamless remittances and funds between the 2 markets.
Within the company sector, Liquid Group and TerraPay are exploring a shared framework that would allow QR funds to circulate between their world networks, together with key corridors in Africa and Asia. The settlement, signed at SFF 2025, will study how Liquid Group’s RoamQR community can join with TerraPay’s world fee infrastructure to allow real-time QR acceptance and settlement.
RoamQR is an industry-led QR interoperability community developed below MAS’s SGQR+, Singapore’s interoperable fee QR code normal.
Bilateral partnerships
Like earlier editions, SFF 2025 served as a platform for Singapore to announce a number of important bilateral fintech collaborations.
MAS and the UK’s Monetary Conduct Authority (FCA) launched the UK-Singapore AI-in-Finance Partnership, an initiative aimed toward selling reliable AI innovation and serving to monetary establishments and tech suppliers scale options throughout each markets. The 2 authorities will collectively take a look at AI purposes, share regulatory insights, and host discussions on accountable adoption.
Singapore can also be collaborating with German on tokenized cross-border settlement. The cooperation goals to enhance worldwide monetary transactions, together with flows between each nations, and can see the 2 nations promote frequent requirements for funds, international alternate (FX), and securities flows involving tokenized property to help interoperability throughout digital asset platforms.
Lastly, MAS, the Financial institution of England and the Financial institution of Thailand are collectively exploring the technical and coverage implications of settling FX transactions utilizing synchronized settlement mechanisms. Constructing on insights from Venture Meridian FX, this collaboration will use simulated variations of taking part central banks’ actual time gross settlement techniques (RTGS) and distributed ledger know-how (DLT)-based settlement environments to look at interoperability between the central banks’ techniques and sophisticated, multilateral eventualities involving completely different settlement infrastructures, and jurisdictions.
GFTN launches ALFIN and expands partnerships
At SFF 2025, GFTN, one of many organizers of the occasion, introduced a number of main initiatives, together with the beta launch of ALFIN, a analysis intelligence platform offering trusted and explainable AI purposes for finance. ALFIN integrates three knowledge layers: GFTN’s proprietary insights from world innovators, traders, and regulators; publicly out there monetary and regulatory knowledge; and user-referenced inputs for real-world context.
GFTN additionally added 5 new platform companions, specifically Finternet, the Linux Basis, Mojaloop Basis, RegGenome, and Common Pensions, to increase its suite of digital options. As well as, it expanded its impression efforts, forming a strategic alliance with Accion to mobilize capital for digital finance and inclusive fintech firms focusing on financially underserved communities.
Established by MAS, GFTN is a not-for-profit group that connects policymakers, monetary establishments, and know-how suppliers to construct extra resilient and inclusive monetary techniques. Via its subsidiaries GFTN Companies and GFTN Capital, the group gives advisory and know-how options, and invests in growth-stage fintech firms.
Fee networks give attention to stablecoin, agentic commerce
SFF 2025 additionally featured a number of company bulletins, with fee networks specifically specializing in integrating stablecoins, enabling agentic commerce, and eradicating friction. Visa launched a brand new pilot program, permitting companies and platforms to ship payouts utilizing Visa Direct on to recipients’ stablecoin wallets. This initiative goals to enhance the pace and accessibility of worldwide payouts, notably in areas with forex volatility or restricted banking infrastructure.
The pilot is being launched with choose companions, together with Nium, with a broader rollout deliberate for the second half of 2026 as consumer demand and regulatory frameworks develop.
Visa additionally rolled out its Scan to Pay function for QR funds throughout Asia-Pacific (APAC). The function is supported by digital wallets like Samsung Pockets throughout the area, LINE Pay in Taiwan, VNPT Cash in Vietnam, and Woori Card and Hyundai Card in South Korea, and works with QR fee suppliers together with Lakala in Mainland China, FOMO Pay in Singapore, VNPAY and NextPay in Vietnam, and OpenRice in Hong Kong.
Visa can also be advancing its agentic commerce technique with the rollout of Clever Commerce throughout APAC and pilots deliberate for 2026. Visa Clever Commerce combines APIs and a associate program to allow AI brokers.
Like Visa, Mastercard can also be advancing stablecoin integration, increasing its payout community by a partnership with Thunes that permits direct transfers to stablecoin wallets. The collaboration will combine Thunes’ Direct World Community with Mastercard Transfer to help close to real-time payouts utilizing regulated stablecoins.
Mastercard additionally outlined its objective to get rid of passwords and guide card entry for on-line procuring throughout APAC by 2030, aiming to make on-line transactions safer and seamless by tokenization and biometric authentication. Early adoption is concentrated on Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, with full tokenization and password-free funds anticipated by 2027.
Different company bulletins
Ant Worldwide CEO Peng Yang outlined the agency’s next-stage AI priorities, naming the Falcon TST and SHIELD fashions as its focus for the following 18 months.
The agency additionally expanded its partnership with DBS to combine Ant Worldwide’s Alipay+, Antom, WorldFirst, and Bettr Platform Tech.
In the meantime, Ant Worldwide’s service provider fee and digitization companies arm Antom launched EPOS360, an utility integrating point-of-sale (POS) techniques, funds, banking, lending, and enterprise help designed for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Thunes, a Singaporean cross-border fee infrastructure, launched new account top-up and withdrawal options for digital asset platforms. These enterprise-grade instruments allow exchanges, infrastructure suppliers, networks, and issuers to supply immediate, compliant on- and off-ramp transactions in native currencies and fee strategies.
China’s XTransfer, one other cross-border fee specialist, teamed up with Maybank and Kasikornbank (KBank) to collaborate on cross-border monetary options for SMEs, and Shariah-compliant options.
Crypto alternate Coinbase launched Coinbase Enterprise in Singapore, its first worldwide growth exterior the US. The all-in-one monetary platform helps crypto buying and selling, immediate fee settlement, and decrease transaction charges utilizing stablecoins. It operates in partnership with Commonplace Chartered.
Revolut Enterprise rolled out Versatile Money Funds in Singapore, providing firms a option to earn every day returns on idle balances by low-risk cash market funds. It helps as much as 100 funds throughout GBP, EUR, and USD with no minimal or most funding limits.
Boku, a community for localized fee options, launched its Innovation Hub in Singapore. This hub features a crew targeted on constructing new fee capabilities to unravel retailers’ cross-border cash motion challenges. It’ll collaborate with regional fintech startups and retailers to design, prototype, and validate capabilities.
Lastly, a Google govt confirmed plans for Google Pay to increase its footprint throughout Southeast Asia, with a launch within the Philippines anticipated shortly. Presently, the cellular pockets service is out there in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
Winners of the 2025 World Fintech Hackcelerator and SFF Fintech Excellence Awards
MAS and the Singapore Fintech Affiliation unveiled the winners of this 12 months’s World Fintech Hackcelerator and the SFF Fintech Excellence Awards.
The World Fintech Hackcelerator acknowledges probably the most modern, market-ready options to handle downside statements centered on “AI for Monetary Companies”. This 12 months’s three winners are:
- ActuaViz, from Taiwan, which transforms insurance coverage product administration by changing complicated documentation into structured, machine-readable codecs;
- Claimsio, from Poland, which gives AI-native debt assortment companies designed for SMEs, changing conventional assortment businesses with automated workflows; and
- Oxford Threat, from the UK, which permits banks to ship hyper-personalized monetary companies by coaching AI fashions with insights into investor decision-making processes.
The SFF Fintech Excellence Awards, supported by PwC Singapore, have fun modern fintech options by corporates and people. Within the Company class, these winners are Fennech Pte Ltd (Rising Fintech Award), WeeFin (Monetary Inclusivity Award), Cynopsis Options Pte Ltd (Regulatory Chief Award), ESGpedia Pte Ltd (Sustainable Innovator Award), and LexisNexis Threat Options (Thematic: AI).
Within the Particular person class, the winners are Alice Liu, Digital Treasures Heart Pte Ltd, CEO and Co-Founder; Jeeta Bandopadhyay Tookitaki Holding Pte Ltd, COO and Co-Founder; andLouis Liu, FOMO Pay, CEO and Founder.
Featured picture: Edited by Fintech Information Singapore, based mostly on picture by EyeEm by way of Freepik
