Singapore Puts $173M Into FinTech as Private Funding Hits a Decade Low
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
Singapore is putting S$220 million into FinTech over the next three years, just days after private FinTech funding hit its weakest first half in about a decade.
That timing says a lot. Funding fell to $499 million across 53 deals in H1, with AI taking most of the capital while crypto continued to attract deal volume. Singapore is now betting public money can help keep its FinTech ecosystem competitive, particularly through AI, infrastructure, and talent.
It’s a reminder that when private capital pulls back, financial hubs have to decide how much they’re willing to step in — and where that money can actually make a difference.
Meanwhile, dLocal looks at how different settlement models affect FX and liquidity, while MassPay argues that cross-border payments need to be accurate, not just fast.
Let’s get into today’s FinTech stories. 👇 See you tomorrow!
Cheers,
INSIGHTS
💡 dLocal: 3 Settlement Models, 3 Different FX Outcomes. dLocal breaks down Cross-Border, Local-to-Local, and FX@Transfer settlement models and how each affects FX risk, liquidity, and treasury control. There is no single best model — the right choice depends on a company’s market footprint, growth stage, treasury capabilities, and risk appetite, with stablecoins emerging as a potential fourth option. Read the full article here
FINTECH NEWS
🇸🇬 Singapore commits S$220M to FinTech over three years through FSTI 4.0, covering AI adoption, infrastructure and talent. The scheme will co-fund at least 1,000 internships as private FinTech funding hit a decade low.
🇧🇷 SumUp secures SCFI license from Brazil's central bank, expanding beyond its previous direct credit society status. The approval broadens SumUp's capacity to diversify funding and extend financing products for small businesses.
🇸🇦 SAMA licenses Jeel Pay for BNPL, raising the total of licensed finance companies to 78. The platform focuses on education payments, letting customers spread tuition over up to 12 months.
🇸🇪 Avanza launches Avanza Sigma, an algorithm-driven discretionary equity management service. Built on factor investing after its Sigmastocks acquisition, the service targets Sweden's SEK 1,000B discretionary management market at half the typical price.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇮🇳 UPI expands to Uzbekistan, becoming the 11th country to accept the Indian payments platform. NPCI International partnered with Uzbekistan's NIPC to let Indian travelers make instant merchant payments by scanning the national UZQR code.
🇮🇳 PhonePe brings UPI to feature phones, enabling payments without internet via UPI 123Pay. The SMS-based service supports P2P transfers and merchant payments on select Nokia, HMD, Lava and Itel devices.
🇶🇦 Qatar Central Bank integrates Himyan into Samsung Wallet, enabling contactless payments via Galaxy devices. Eligible debit and prepaid cardholders can now tap to pay at points of sale nationwide.
🇿🇦 Samsung Wallet adds Scan to Pay in South Africa, powered by EFT Corp. Galaxy users can now make QR code payments directly from Samsung Wallet.
🇳🇬 OPay dismisses a viral notice advising customers to withdraw funds, calling it false and unauthorized. The Nigerian payments company confirmed its operations are normal and urged users to disregard the circulating message.
ARTICLE OF THE DAY
💡 MassPay: Making Cross-Border Payments Right the First Time. As faster payment rails continue to evolve, account validation is becoming just as important as speed. MassPay now validates beneficiary accounts across its 180-country payout network, helping confirm account details and name matching before funds move. The shift is simple: cross-border payments need not only to be fast, but also accurate and certain. Read the full article here
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇬🇧 Allica Bank applies for a Swedish banking licence, its first expansion outside the UK. The digital business bank has set up a Swedish entity and hired a local executive team to target the country's concentrated lending market.
🇩🇲 Asprofin Bank expands into embedded finance, building API-enabled BaaS capabilities from Dominica. Its partnership with Digital TRVST targets roughly US$5B in annualized transaction volume within 12 months.
🇺🇸 US bank regulators finalize rules defining unsafe bank practices, covering areas including third-party risk and liquidity management. The joint guidance from the FDIC, OCC, and Federal Reserve sets clearer standards for supervisory action.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇰🇲 MEXC launches the MEXC Global Card, offering up to 10% USDT cashback and 7% annualized returns. Built on Visa's network, the card supports Apple Pay and Google Pay with zero fees through September 30, 2026.
🇪🇺 ECB moves to put the euro on-chain for institutional settlement. The Pontes project launches in September, connecting blockchain platforms to TARGET Services. A 2024 pilot with 64 institutions settled nearly €1.6B.
🇷🇺 Russia's Sberbank wants Bitcoin and Ethereum as loan collateral. Deputy chairman Anatoly Popov confirmed plans to accept BTC, ETH and USDT as security. Domestic crypto payments remain banned under the new digital currency law.
🌎 Ripple is preparing the XRP Ledger for quantum computers before "Q-Day" arrives. The firm has laid out a four-stage plan to test and adopt quantum-resistant cryptography across its network.
🌎 Zcash private transactions could drop from three-second waits to under 200 milliseconds, according to new research. The upgrade targets the network's shielded transaction speed to make privacy-preserving payments significantly faster.
🇺🇸 TD successfully completes testing of tokenized payments through the BIS Project Agorá platform. The bank moved real USD between two domestic entities with atomic settlement, demonstrating feasibility of DLT based real money transactions.
🇬🇭 Universal Merchant Bank becomes first in Ghana to offer virtual accounts for the crypto sector. The bank received dual approval from the Bank of Ghana and the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide regulated banking access to eligible virtual asset businesses.
STABLECOINS NEWS
🌎 Nium launches stablecoin funding for global payouts, letting businesses fund in USDC and pay out in local fiat currency. The conversion happens instantly, with payouts reaching 190+ countries in seconds.
🌍 Tether CEO slams BIS over tokenized bank deposit push, calling stablecoins a higher form of money than fractional reserve products. Paolo Ardoino argued that USDT, now above $183B in market cap, is exposing weaknesses in traditional deposit structures.
🇸🇬 BIS sees tokenised deposits playing a bigger role than stablecoins in future payments. The report backs deposit tokens for settlement but flags interoperability and financial stability risks.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇦🇴 Banco BCS and Mastercard aim to strengthen digital payment experiences in Angola with expanded card benefits and contactless capabilities. The collaboration will introduce Mastercard Gold and World card benefits and roll out contactless and e-commerce payment functionality for Banco BCS customers.
🇨🇭 Mastercard and Visa team up with Swiss platform Payinit, aiming to simplify international money transfers for Swiss bank customers. Transfers will work via mobile number or email, without needing the recipient's card or account details. Read more
🇳🇿 Equerra partners with Airwallex, connecting the payments platform to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The integration helps businesses streamline global payments and multi-currency reconciliation.
🌏 KuCoin partners with FinChain to integrate FUSD into its RWA Collateral Mirroring Solution. Institutional users can keep existing custody and yield arrangements while using mapped collateral value to access KuCoin trading liquidity.
🌎 Experian and JPMorgan embed real-time account checks into payment flows to catch fraud before money moves. The integration aims to accelerate account verification during transactions.
🇵🇭 FinTech firm Salmon becomes an official NBA partner in the Philippines through a long-term deal. Starting with the 2026-27 season, Salmon will headline the NBA 3X Philippines Open as presenting partner.
🇨🇭 Kyndryl and Google Cloud advance agentic AI at Incore Bank, completing a proof of concept for automated KYC risk assessment. The solution uses Kyndryl's Agentic AI Framework with Google's Gemini models to support fully auditable customer onboarding.
🇺🇸 REPAY partners with NxtEdge by DiningEdge to deliver embedded AP payments for hospitality and food and beverage operators. The integration enables automated invoice processing and supplier payments within DiningEdge's platform.
🇺🇸 Array partners with Narmi to embed consumer financial tools into the Narmi Digital Banking platform. The integration gives community banks and credit unions access to credit monitoring, identity protection, and subscription management tools directly within their digital banking experience.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇦🇺 Airwallex backs ten Australian AI startups with US$1M in equity-free funding through its new AI Accelerator program. Selected startups receive capital plus access to Airwallex's global payments and financial infrastructure.
🌎 USD.AI secures a $100M stablecoin debt facility from Bullish for GPU financing. The facility will fund lending against high-performance computing assets, with Bullish planning to onboard sUSDai across multiple trading pairs.
🇻🇳 Vietnam FinTech MFast raises US$6 million in Series A funding led by Wavemaker Partners. The agent driven financial distribution platform plans to launch operations in the Philippines and expand its network beyond Vietnam's 63 provinces.
🇲🇾 IFC invests US$20M in Boost at a US$340M valuation. The Axiata FinTech subsidiary continues seeking investors after the World Bank unit's commitment. Read more
M&A
🇺🇸 Clerky is joining Stripe, bringing its popular startup legal platform under the payments giant. Clerky startups account for 23% of Silicon Valley seed financings and have raised over $140B in aggregate venture capital.
🌍 EQT closes its combination with Coller Capital, creating one of the largest dedicated secondaries platforms globally. The deal lifts EQT's total AUM to €341B with a combined evergreen platform exceeding €10B.
🇯🇵 MUFG is set to acquire Grow Inc., the Japanese operator of the Grow! financial services app. The deal expands MUFG's retail digital offering as the bank deepens its consumer FinTech footprint.
🇺🇸 Fomo acquires Mobula tech and team in $17M deal, picking up the blockchain data indexing company. The acquisition combines Mobula's data infrastructure with Fomo's platform. Keep reading
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇮🇳 Raise Financial hires ex-Upstox exec Abhishek Singh as CEO of its new insurtech vertical Pluto Insurance. Singh brings over two decades of experience from Aviva India, PNB Metlife and Edelweiss Tokio Life.
🇺🇸 Ondo Finance hires Allison Parent as Chief Policy Officer. Parent joins from GFMA, where she served as Executive Director, and previously held roles at Barclays and the Bank of England.
🇮🇳 HDFC Bank CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan will step down in October, ending a tenure that began in 2020. The bank's board is expected to name a successor in the coming weeks.
🇨🇦 eStruxture names former Nuvei CFO David Schwartz to lead finance as data center expansion accelerates. Schwartz joined after overseeing Nuvei's IPO and subsequent take-private transaction. Read more
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