APAC Payment Methods; What are mobile wallets?; Cross Border Payments – New Age Rails;
This week in Fintech Wrap Up, I’m diving into the future of core banking modernization, the rapid evolution of digital payments in APAC, and how new cross-border payment rails are reshaping global money movement.
Insights & Reports:
TL;DR:
Hey fintech friends 👋
This week’s Wrap Up is packed with insights, deep dives, and some exciting news from across the payments and banking world. Let’s get into it.
In APAC, digital payment adoption continues to blow past milestones. Digital wallets now dominate both e-commerce and in-store payments, with China, India, and Thailand leading the charge. Cash is rapidly disappearing in countries like Australia and China, and A2A payments are picking up steam across the region. It’s clear: the future is fast, mobile, and increasingly wallet-powered.
Speaking of fast, cross-border payments are entering a new era. While the core infrastructure (hello, SWIFT) hasn’t changed much, the rails we’re riding on have evolved. Today’s best-in-class systems are blending pre-funding strategies, smart batching, and real-time settlements to slash costs and speed up transfers. Project Nexus and new-age rails are setting new benchmarks—transfers in 60 seconds? Yes, please.
I also explored Kinexys Digital Assets’ Project EPIC and their vision for the tokenized asset ecosystem. Privacy, composability, and streamlined digital identity are the pillars of their mission to bring asset tokenization into the mainstream—efficiently and securely. A big, bold vision backed by solid thinking.
In payments infrastructure, most businesses still have a long way to go. A new report shows nearly 60% are stuck in fragmented setups, and a surprising number still rely on manual payment links. Agility is the name of the game—especially if you’re planning to scale globally. There’s a real opportunity here for companies that get it right.
Meanwhile, for CFOs, ERP systems shouldn’t just be cost-cutting tools—they’re powerful levers for business transformation. From aligning KPIs to orchestrating change management and building superuser-led training programs, finance leaders can drive serious value when ERP is done strategically.
On the news front, PayPal is launching its first-ever contactless mobile wallet in Germany—a big move for in-store payments. Tide is reportedly seeking a $1B+ valuation in a new share sale (potential unicorn alert 🦄), and Visa just invested in BVNK’s stablecoin platform, signaling continued momentum in crypto infrastructure.
Hope you enjoy this edition of Fintech Wrap Up. As always, thanks for reading—and feel free to hit reply if something sparked your curiosity!
Reports
Insights
Recommended by LinkedIn
Deep Dive: A Guide to Modernizing Core Banking Systems
Banks today are grappling with mounting economic pressures, outdated technology, and fierce competition. With cost-to-income ratios hovering around 60%, there’s a growing urgency to rethink operations and core infrastructure.
What really stood out is how top-performing banks—the true tech leaders—are cracking the code by shifting the bulk of their IT budgets toward innovation instead of just keeping legacy systems on life support. These forward-thinking players are allocating up to 75% of their tech spend to “build the bank” initiatives, allowing them to launch products faster, enhance customer experiences, and operate far more efficiently.
One of the biggest questions banks face is how to actually approach modernization. Full core replacements are expensive and high-risk, while greenfield builds don’t always solve existing legacy issues. That’s where Progressive Migration comes in—it offers a middle path, allowing banks to transition gradually off outdated systems without disrupting business as usual.
A real-life case study from Tuum brings this approach to life. It shows how a mid-sized bank migrated accounts, lending, and reporting to a modern core platform—all while maintaining service continuity. By leveraging smart APIs and data lakes, they not only stayed on budget but also automated key processes and eliminated years of technical debt.
If you’re navigating a digital transformation—or just curious about the future of core banking—this one’s packed with insight.
APAC Payment Methods
APAC consumers have long been leaders in digital payment adoption. In 2014, digital payments already accounted for 42% of e-com and 6% of POS value, largely skewed by China’s high adoption.
Now, the picture is more balanced, as digital wallets are the leading online payment method in eight of the 14 APAC markets covered in this report.
Credit card use is spread unevenly across the region. They were the leading overall payment method by value in 2024 in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan, while having comparably lower penetration in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
Cash use has been slashed across APAC over the past decade. This varied considerably across the region in 2024 — from lows of 5% in China and 7% in South Korea, to highs of 39% in Japan and 41% in the Philippines.
📊 E-commerce Payments in APAC (2024):
🔹 81% of all online transactions are now digital — vs. just 42% a decade ago (2014)!
🔹 Digital wallets are the primary driver, accounting for a massive 39% share across the region.
Curated News
PayPal to launch contactless mobile wallet in Germany
In the coming weeks, PayPal’s first-ever contactless mobile wallet will launch nationwide, available to PayPal consumers in Germany before anywhere else in the world. The new contactless feature will be accessed through the latest version of the popular PayPal App. Consumers will be able to choose PayPal to pay safely and easily with a simple tap of their phone at any location that accepts Mastercard contactless payments.
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Product Manager ✦ Senior BA ✦ Project Manager ✦ FinTech ✦ Digital Payments ✦ Fraud Prevention ✦ Open Banking ✦ Credit Decisioning ✦ Product Innovation with AI ✦ Voice & Chatbots ✦ Product Roadmaps ✦ PMP ✦ PRINCE2 ✦ CSM
4dVery informative, thanks Sam Boboev