Sea Limited’s expanded partnership with Google is being framed as an AI collaboration. In reality, it is a bet on control of the interface layer of Southeast Asia’s digital economy.

The keyword is “agentic”. This is not about chatbots drafting product descriptions or auto-generating game art. It is about software that can execute — compare listings, apply vouchers, reconcile payments, moderate communities and complete transactions. In short, AI that acts on behalf of users.

If Shopee successfully deploys agentic shopping, the centre of gravity in e-commerce shifts from browsing to delegation. The platform that owns the agent owns intent. That creates enormous leverage — and scrutiny. An AI that optimises for margin rather than user value will quickly erode trust in price-sensitive markets.

For Garena, the upside lies in operational compression: faster live ops, smarter moderation and tighter anti-cheat systems. In gaming, retention is economics.

For Monee, agentic payments could simplify onboarding and fraud control — but also risk automated exclusion if governance lags.

The opportunity is clear. So is the burden. In Southeast Asia’s fragmented, mobile-first markets, AI will only scale if it reduces friction without introducing new opacity.

REGIONAL

Shopee, Garena, Monee: Sea’s AI ambition gets serious: Sea has signed an MoU with Google to scale agentic AI across Shopee, Garena and Monee, aiming to automate shopping, gaming operations and payments while improving inclusion, efficiency and user experience across Southeast Asia’s mobile-first markets.

SBI bets on Singapore to build Asia’s digital asset corridor: SBI Holdings plans to acquire a majority stake in Singapore’s Coinhako, injecting capital via SBI Ventures Asset. If approved, Coinhako becomes a consolidated subsidiary, strengthening SBI’s regulated crypto corridor ambitions across Asia.

VentureTECH invests US$7.16M in Malaysia’s Delta Spike Asia, IX Telecom: Delta Spike is a cybersecurity firm delivering end-to-end managed detection and response and full-spectrum cyber defence services across the region. IX Telecom is an emerging digital telco with service coverage in more than 200 countries and territories.

Malaysia launches initiative to accelerate AI Nation journey by 2030: The GII initiative translates real government and citizen problem statements into deployable solutions, prioritising Made by Malaysia technologies, strengthening the domestic AI ecosystem, and enabling Malaysian producers of AI and digital products to scale nationally and globally.

FEATURES & INTERVIEWS

From back office to frontline: How fraud teams became revenue drivers: Southeast Asia’s fast-payment rails have driven mass adoption of real-time digital payments, but fraud is rising just as quickly. Banks are turning to AI to reduce false declines, strengthen trust, improve compliance, and unlock revenue growth.

INTERNATIONAL

US to send AI specialists overseas to counter China: The government plans to send up to 5,000 American science and math graduates abroad over five years to promote US AI technology adoption in partner countries. The initiative aims to reduce reliance on Chinese-made technology by embedding volunteers with local organisations to support AI deployment.

Bill Gates withdraws from India AI Summit following controversy: His participation was questioned amid renewed scrutiny over his past interactions with Jeffrey Epstein. He has denied any wrongdoing, saying his contacts with Epstein involved only dinners related to philanthropy.

OpenAI, Pine Labs partner to bring AI to payments: The collaboration aims to automate workflows such as settlement, reconciliation, and invoicing, with Pine Labs embedding OpenAI’s APIs into its systems. Pine Labs, a fintech firm in India, processes over 6B transactions worth about US$126B across 20 countries.

Saudi Arabia’s Humain invests US$3B in xAI: The Saudi AI firm invested US$3B in xAI’s Series E funding round before its acquisition by SpaceX in early February 2026. The investment made HUMAIN a significant minority shareholder in xAI, with its holdings converted into SpaceX shares following the merger.

Qualcomm to invest up to US$150M in Indian startups: Qualcomm Ventures will invest in startups across all stages, focusing on AI applications in automotive, IoT, robotics, and mobile devices. Qualcomm has been active in India since 2007, supporting more than 40 startups, including Jio, MapMyIndia, and ideaForge.

Ola Electric to cut stores to 550 as sales slump deepens: The Indian EV maker previously announced a nationwide expansion to 4,000 stores but has since scaled back to 700 outlets as part of a restructuring. In its latest quarterly update, Ola Electric reported a net loss of US$53.4M, with revenue dropping 55% YoY.

CYBERSECURITY

Cyber threats are rising: Here are 25 startups fighting back: This list spotlights 25 cybersecurity startups strengthening Southeast Asia’s digital economy, spanning identity, cloud security, threat detection and compliance, as the region builds resilient, trust-first infrastructure for rapid digital growth.

Rethinking cybersecurity practices as Non-Human Identities surge: In 2026, the biggest cybersecurity risk is unmanaged access, not hackers exploiting flaws. As non-human identities outnumber employees, organisations lose visibility over APIs, service accounts and AI agents, leaving orphaned credentials vulnerable to stealthy abuse.

Phishing threats: Protecting your online shopping and banking: Online shopping and banking bring convenience but also rising cyber risks. This article highlights Indonesian fraud cases, explains phishing warning signs, and shares practical tips to protect accounts and personal data.

SEMICONDUCTOR

Ex-Google engineers charged with stealing Pixel chip secrets: Two former Google engineers and Samaneh Ghandali’s husband were indicted in the US on 14 felony counts, including conspiracy, theft of trade secrets, and evidence destruction, related to Google’s Tensor processor for Pixel phones.

OpenAI expresses confidence in chip supply despite shortages: OpenAI reports having clear visibility on its chip supply needs amid ongoing industry shortages. It is working with strategic partners who are supportive in providing access to chips, and that OpenAI remains cautious about supply chain risks.

South Korea rolls out 10,000 Nvidia GPUs for AI projects: It’s begun distributing 10,000 Nvidia GPUs to universities, research institutes, and AI projects as part of a planned supply of 260,000 units through 2030. The initiative, announced last October, aims to expand AI infrastructure across the country.

AI

Agentic AI is powerful – but power isn’t product-market fit: OpenClaw’s rise shows agentic AI is real and technically viable, but still infrastructure-first. Powerful autonomous assistants won’t achieve mass adoption without frictionless onboarding, invisible hosting, guardrails, and governance that make complex execution feel simple and safe.

The lean AI marketing stack every startup should build first: Early-stage startups often drown in fragmented marketing tools that waste time and runway. A lean AI marketing stack focuses on five core jobs — research, content, visibility, distribution, and measurement — using fewer integrated systems to drive consistent, scalable growth.

SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026 returns to spotlight AI, robotics, and urban resilience: SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026 returns April 27-29 at Tokyo Big Sight, spotlighting AI, robotics, resilience and entertainment, with 700-plus startups, global investors and expanded programmes shaping sustainable, human-centric cities worldwide.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

APAC is not a single market, and connectivity is where most businesses feel the impact first: Enterprises expanding across APAC often assume connectivity is stable, but fragmentation exposes weaknesses early. Quiet disruptions undermine execution, slowing cloud and AI scaling and threatening growth.

Why Bitcoin fell from US$100k to mid US$60k amid macro uncertainty: Bitcoin has plunged nearly 50% from its US$100,000 peak, flashing early bear-market signals amid ETF outflows, extreme fear, derivatives stress and macro volatility, with US$60,000 support now critical.

Rethinking value in B2B services: Why real results don’t happen overnight: In B2B services, real value isn’t instant results but structured, transparent execution that builds capability, trust, and sustainable growth, shifting businesses onto clearer, system-driven trajectories beyond short-term metrics and hype.

Cruising the startup ocean: Navigating limits without slowing down: Navigating the startup world is chaotic and fast, shaped by limited resources, rapid decisions, and trust-based execution. Unlike corporates, startups thrive in uncertainty, where credibility and commitment drive progress beyond processes or perfect readiness.

Big in numbers, weak in value: The limits of MSME formalisation in Indonesia: Local MSMEs proved crucial during the 1997-1999 crisis, boosting GDP and exports despite declining numbers. Today, Indonesia hosts 65.45M MSMEs, yet many remain informal, low-productivity, and financially excluded, limiting real growth.

Financing the real economy: Why SEA needs capital that listens, not just lends: SEA’s innovation story overlooks SMEs powering the real economy. Many remain asset-rich but liquidity-poor. The solution lies in governed, trust-based financing structures designed for operational realities, resilience, and long-term impact.

Value creation: Why your best people can’t execute — and what I learned watching CEOs fail: The “three faces” theory explains identity strain in the AI era: people perform polished public selves, hide private doubts, and suppress authentic needs. Bots exploit this gap, mimicking credibility—while rigid work systems reward appearances over real execution.

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The crypto market’s modest advance of 0.51 per cent to a total capitalisation of US$2.3T over the last 24 hours represents more than a simple price fluctuation. It signals a market beginning to price in a fundamental shift in its operating environment. This move appears internally driven rather than a reflexive follow-through from traditional finance. Correlation data support this view.

The crypto market’s relationship with the S&P 500 is negligible at 0.8 per cent, while its tie to Gold is low at 15 per cent. This decoupling suggests capital is responding to crypto-specific catalysts, primarily a growing conviction that the United States regulatory landscape may finally be evolving. This moment feels familiar yet distinct. We have seen false dawns before, but the current momentum behind the CLARITY Act carries a different weight, one that markets are increasingly willing to bet on.

The primary engine of this cautious optimism is the rising likelihood that the CLARITY Act will become law. Prediction market Polymarket now reflects an 85 per cent chance of passage, a figure cited by industry leaders like Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who points to a potential timeline by April 2026. This is not merely a political statistic. It represents a potential removal of the single greatest overhang on institutional capital allocation.

A clear legal framework does more than just provide compliance checklists. It enables the construction of long-term valuation models that investors could not build under a regime of enforcement by litigation. The market is actively discounting this reduced uncertainty.

A critical perspective remains essential. Legislative odds can shift rapidly. True progress requires watching for concrete actions: official committee markups, bipartisan statements of support, and the actual text of proposed amendments. The next few weeks will provide crucial data points to separate genuine momentum from speculative noise.

While regulatory hopes provide the macro backdrop, capital is expressing its views with notable selectivity. The broader market’s slight gain masks a clear rotation into specific narratives. The Layer 1 category advanced 0.65 per cent, outperforming the aggregate.

Within that, infrastructure and artificial intelligence tokens demonstrated significant strength. Enso posted a gain of 35.74 per cent while Allora advanced 12.9 per cent. This pattern reveals a trader psychology that is opportunistic but not yet broadly confident. Participants are seeking alpha in defined thematic buckets rather than deploying capital indiscriminately. Sentiment data corroborates this cautious stance.

Also Read: Ethereum leads fragile crypto rebound as markets navigate holiday thin liquidity

The Fear and Greed Index, while improving from a reading of 8 to 11, remains firmly in Extreme Fear territory. This combination of selective bullishness and pervasive caution defines the current tape. It suggests a market building a foundation for a potential relief rally, but one that remains vulnerable to a shift in the regulatory narrative or a broader macro shock.

The near-term technical pathway for the market hinges on two clear levels. On the upside, the total market capitalisation faces immediate resistance at the 78.6 per cent Fibonacci retracement level of US$2.35T. A sustained break above this threshold could signal a meaningful short-term trend reversal, inviting further speculative interest.

On the downside, Bitcoin’s ability to hold the US$66,000 support level is paramount. A decisive break below this price could quickly reignite the bearish sentiment that fueled the market’s 27.5 per cent decline over the past month.

These technical levels are not arbitrary. They represent the collective memory of recent price action and the current balance between buyers and sellers. Monitoring daily closes relative to the US$66,000 to US$67,000 zone for Bitcoin, alongside updates to the CLARITY Act’s legislative progress, provides a practical framework for assessing short-term direction.

The market is asking a simple question: can regulatory optimism overcome technical overhead and fragile conviction

Also Read: Crypto market bleeds US$44B as US$78M Bitcoin liquidations spark panic

This crypto-specific drama unfolds against a backdrop of traditional market stress, which further highlights the asset class’s evolving independence. Major US stock indices declined on Thursday, February 19, 2026, with the S&P 500 slipping 0.28 per cent to close at 6,861.89. The drivers were classic macro headwinds: geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran pushed oil prices higher, with Brent crude settling at US$71.66 a barrel, a six-month high.

Concurrently, concerns over private credit liquidity resurfaced after a major fund halted redemptions, sending shares of alternative asset managers such as Blackstone and Apollo Global Management down by more than five per cent. This news struck at the heart of the US$1.8T private credit market.

Even better-than-expected labour data, which showed initial jobless claims falling to 206,000, well below the forecast of 227,000, could not offset these fears. The data briefly pushed the 2-year Treasury yield to 3.468 per cent, reflecting complex investor calculations about growth and inflation.

In this environment, crypto’s low correlation is not just a statistical curiosity. It represents a potential portfolio diversification benefit that institutional investors are beginning to seriously evaluate, provided the regulatory path forward becomes clearer.

The current market posture, therefore, is one of cautious optimism anchored by a tangible, though not yet realised, reduction in regulatory risk. For those of us who believe in the long-term promise of decentralised systems, the path forward requires more than just favourable legislation. It demands building infrastructure and applications that deliver undeniable utility.

The current price action is a hopeful signal, but the real work of integrating these technologies into the global financial fabric continues, independent of daily price fluctuations or political odds. The market’s next move will be a test of whether this foundational work is beginning to be recognised and valued by a broader set of participants.

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Southeast Asia’s AI future may be decided less by flashy breakthroughs and more by a quieter battleground: cybersecurity.

That was the underlying message emerging from the ASEAN Digital Outlook and the first findings from the AI Ready ASEAN Research, launched by the ASEAN Foundation with support from Google.org at the AI Ready ASEAN: 3rd Regional Policy Convening in Manila. Together, the reports offer a snapshot of how prepared the region is for AI, not just in terms of adoption, but in governance, infrastructure and public trust.

While AI tools are spreading rapidly across ASEAN, the region’s ability to secure its digital systems is struggling to keep pace. The ASEAN Digital Outlook highlights uneven levels of digital maturity and institutional capacity across member states, warning that persistent gaps in cybersecurity preparedness and responsible technology use remain. In a region where AI is increasingly embedded in finance, education and public services, these weaknesses could become a chokepoint for AI growth.

AI’s promise in Southeast Asia (SEA) is clear: greater productivity, improved public service delivery and a new wave of digital entrepreneurship. But as AI becomes more accessible, so too does its misuse. Deepfake-enabled fraud, misinformation campaigns, and online scams are already eroding trust in digital systems, and the risks will only increase as generative AI tools become cheaper and more sophisticated.

For businesses, the implications are immediate. AI adoption requires data, and data requires security. Without stronger safeguards, companies may hesitate to deploy AI at scale, especially in regulated sectors such as banking and healthcare. In markets where cybersecurity enforcement remains uneven, cross-border companies could face higher operational risk and more fragmented compliance requirements. For startups, a major data breach or fraud incident can be fatal, particularly when investor confidence is fragile.

Also Read: While S&P 500 struggles, crypto’s low correlation to gold and stocks attracts institutional attention

For governments, the stakes are even higher. Cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure, elections or national identity systems can quickly become regional crises. ASEAN’s interconnected economies mean vulnerabilities do not stay contained within national borders. A breach in one country can have ripple effects across digital trade networks and shared platforms.

The challenge is not simply technical. It is institutional. The reports suggest AI adoption is advancing faster than governance readiness, and that fragmented national approaches are limiting ASEAN’s ability to respond cohesively. This raises the likelihood of reactive policymaking — where regulations are introduced only after major incidents occur, potentially stifling innovation while failing to address root vulnerabilities.

Education is also a weak link. The AI Ready ASEAN Research points to a consistent gap between high AI usage and actual readiness, particularly in ethical understanding and institutional support. Students frequently emerge as early adopters of AI tools, but educators and parents report lower confidence and limited access to structured training. That imbalance matters because cybersecurity is as much about human behaviour as it is about technology. Without digital literacy and awareness, users become easy entry points for fraud and manipulation.

Yet the same findings also point to a possible advantage: ASEAN has a young, digitally active population that could be trained rapidly if the right systems are put in place. The question is whether the region can build resilience before AI-driven threats scale further.

This is where public-private collaboration becomes central to the region’s AI trajectory.

Also Read: The lean AI marketing stack every startup should build first

The involvement of Google.org signals a growing push for partnerships that can accelerate skills development and policy coordination. Private sector players are not only providing funding, but also shaping the tools and training frameworks that governments and institutions will rely on. In the near term, such collaborations may help close the gap in cybersecurity capacity through regional training programmes, shared threat intelligence initiatives and support for digital governance.

However, the rise of public-private cooperation also raises questions about long-term autonomy. If ASEAN’s AI readiness becomes dependent on external technology providers, the region risks reinforcing structural reliance rather than building sovereign capability. The balance will depend on whether these partnerships are designed to transfer knowledge and build local expertise — or simply expand market access.

Ultimately, the reports underline a hard truth: Southeast Asia’s AI future will not be determined by how quickly people adopt the technology. It will be determined by whether the region can secure the systems that AI depends on.

Without trust, AI cannot scale. And without cybersecurity, trust is the first thing to collapse.

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The Global Islamic Fintech Report 2024/2025, produced by DinarStandard and Elipses, reveals that OIC countries dominate the top 10, with Saudi Arabia leading for the first time, followed by Malaysia, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Pakistan.

Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia and Indonesia, has long been seen as a key hub for Islamic fintech. However, with OIC countries now dominating the top 10 rankings globally, a question emerges: Is Islamic fintech in Southeast Asia declining, stagnating, or still thriving? 

This post explores the trajectory of Islamic fintech, including regulatory efforts, challenges, and emerging opportunities particularly in areas such as digital assets and AI.

Evidence of Islamic fintech’s vitality in the region

Globally, the market size of Islamic fintech transaction volume is projected to reach USD 306 billion by 2028, growing at a 13.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) compared to the overall global fintech industry, where the Middle East, especially the Gulf countries, now leads the way with the most Islamic fintech startups.  

In the Islamic fintech sector, the report mentions that alternative finance leads in transaction volume globally, followed by payments, wealth management, fundraising, and deposits and lending, according to current industry statistics.

For Malaysia, as a regional leader with a robust regulatory framework, Islamic banks are also well-established in Malaysia, with traditional institutions thriving alongside emerging digital banks like AEON Bank, which offers Sharia-compliant financial services through innovative mobile platforms.

Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, continues to emerge as a key market for Islamic fintech and a leading hub, including alternative funding such as Shariah-compliant peer-to-peer lending, mobile banking, and financing tools tailored to underserved segments.

Also Read: How fintech startups are disrupting traditional banking models in Asia

Digital assets and AI are emerging as key growth sectors in Islamic fintech for 2025

As we move toward 2025, the report highlights that Islamic fintech startups involved in digital assets may be well-positioned to grow, driven by favourable regulatory policies due to growing interest and optimism. 

From digital sukuk to stablecoins, the tokenization of real world assets can help democratize Islamic finance. 

In Malaysia, KLDX, an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) platform regulated by the SC recently tokenised Shariah-compliant investment structures in the healthcare sector illustrate the growing potential of digital asset innovation within Islamic finance. By leveraging blockchain technology to fractionalise tangible assets into tradable digital tokens, platforms like KLDX aim to broaden market access and enhance inclusivity.

Beyond the private sector, the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) also announced a collaboration with Khazanah Nasional, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, to explore the issuance of tokenised bonds including tokenised sukuk with the goal of making such asset classes more accessible to retail investors. At present, participation for such instruments is only restricted to sophisticated investors.

However, these efforts may only be truly meaningful if access is extended to retail investors, rather than remaining limited to high-net-worth individuals. Doing so would better reflect the core principles of Islamic finance, particularly those of risk-sharing, equitable access, and financial inclusion.

Another emerging area within Islamic fintech is the integration of AI to enhance compliance and automation. AI-driven models and autonomous agents are being developed to deliver personalised financial solutions, perform preliminary Shariah screening, and generate real-time, data-informed advisory services. These capabilities can reduce compliance costs and support the alignment of Islamic finance principles with digital innovation.

More cross-border cooperation needed to maintain SEA as a leading Islamic fintech hub

Despite its continuous growth, Islamic fintech faces significant challenges. 

In addition to ongoing challenges in accessing capital cited in the earlier report, growing ambition of Islamic fintech startups to expand into new jurisdictions is increasingly hindered by regulatory fragmentation and the complexities of cross-border expansion. 

Earlier this month, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Fintech Association of Malaysia (FAOM) and Asosiasi Fintech Syariah Indonesia (AFSI) during the Fikratech Roundtable in Indonesia reflects growing cooperation between Malaysia’s Securities Commission (SC) and Indonesia’s Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK) in facilitating cross-border referrals of fintech businesses. 

Also Read: SEA fintech sees 31% funding rebound in H1 2025 amid early-stage decline

I believe that cross-border cooperation among regulators should include regulatory harmonisation to help reduce friction and foster an integrated Islamic financial ecosystem among neighbouring startups. Such initiatives will only be truly meaningful if accompanied by concrete efforts to improve regulatory ease and address market access challenges in both jurisdictions

While regulatory harmonisation across jurisdictions is still a work in progress, ecosystem enablers like the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) may also consider interim measures such as subsidising these expansion-related costs.

According to a 2023 report on Malaysia’s Islamic Digital Economy landscape by 1337 Ventures and MDEC, it was suggested that the government should consider supporting local Islamic fintech startups expanding into other markets by offsetting costs such as engaging a Shariah advisor, operational setup, and localising offerings to comply with domestic regulations. 

Final thoughts

Islamic fintech is not in decline in Southeast Asia. Instead, it is experiencing a new revival driven by innovation, regulatory support, and growing demand across emerging markets.

To sustain the momentum of Islamic fintech in Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia and Indonesia, targeted policy support is essential. Regional regulators, such as the SC and OJK should align their policy frameworks so that we can strengthen our position as a leading hub in the Islamic digital economy.

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In today’s digital-first economy, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region stands out as one of the most vibrant, diverse, and rapidly growing markets in the world. From e-commerce and digital subscriptions to SaaS and travel platforms, companies are increasingly seeing APAC as the frontier for their next phase of growth.

However, this ambition often runs into a critical operational hurdle: cross-border payments.

For merchants expanding across APAC, payments are no longer just a backend function — they’re a strategic enabler of scale, conversion, and customer experience. Yet, many businesses find themselves struggling with high transaction costs, regulatory complexity, and low success rates.

The APAC conundrum: One region, many markets

APAC is often treated as a single region, but in reality, it is a collection of highly heterogeneous markets, each with its own currency, language, regulations, payment preferences, and banking infrastructure.

Digital businesses in the region are growing rapidly and often look to expand into adjacent markets. A company that starts in Singapore may look to sell in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand within a year. A travel merchant serving Korean customers may want to tap into Japanese and Southeast Asian travellers.

But expansion at this pace creates a payments challenge that is both technical and regulatory in nature.

Why most transactions become “cross-border”

Unlike traditional multinational companies that establish a local presence in each country, most digital businesses operate with leaner setups. They may have an HQ in Singapore or Hong Kong, and serve other markets remotely via digital channels.

But without local entities in each market, transactions from consumers in Indonesia, Vietnam, or Malaysia are often processed via international acquiring, which classifies them as cross-border transactions.

This triggers multiple issues:

• Higher MDRs (Merchant Discount Rates) due to cross-border acquiring and foreign exchange conversions.
• Increased failure rates, as local payment methods or issuing banks are wary of non-local merchants.
• FX volatility, which makes revenue recognition harder and affects pricing strategy.
• Regulatory bottlenecks, especially around fund repatriation, tax compliance, and PCI/DSS certifications.

In short, what starts as a go-to-market strategy quickly becomes a financial and compliance puzzle.

Also Read: Growth-minded Singapore SMEs turn to fintech amid cost pressures: Airwallex survey

Navigating regulatory minefields

Each APAC country has its own framework for digital commerce, data localisation, and cross-border money movement. For instance:

• Indonesia and Vietnam have rules around onshore vs offshore acquiring and data storage.
• Thailand and Malaysia have specific requirements for fund repatriation and invoicing.
• India has complex tax and compliance laws like GST, TDS, and OPGSP guidelines for exporters.

Most merchants don’t have the legal or financial bandwidth to interpret and comply with each of these frameworks. It’s also not feasible for fast-growing companies to set up a local legal entity, get licensed, open local bank accounts, and negotiate with each acquiring bank — just to process payments efficiently in a new market.

The need for a regional payments strategy

To truly scale in APAC, merchants need to think beyond a local or even bi-lateral payment setup. They need a regional payments strategy — one that lets them:

• Accept local payment methods like QRIS in Indonesia, PayNow in Singapore, GCash in the Philippines, etc.
• Route transactions through domestic acquiring rails where possible to reduce MDRs and improve success rates.
• Manage multi-currency FX exposure and reconciliation.
• Stay compliant with local financial regulations without setting up local entities.

This is where the idea of payment orchestration is becoming mainstream. It’s no longer a niche capability – it’s foundational infrastructure. In recent years, orchestration tools have emerged to help businesses adapt quickly to local requirements while maintaining global control.

What is payment orchestration?

At its core, payment orchestration is a technology layer that abstracts the complexity of dealing with multiple acquirers, payment methods, currencies, and regulations. It gives merchants a single integration point through which they can access a full suite of payment services — while intelligently routing, optimising, and localising transactions in the background.

A good orchestration partner provides:

• Access to local and global acquirers across the region.
• Intelligent transaction routing, retry mechanisms, and fallback options to reduce failures.
• Regulatory shields, ensuring that merchants remain compliant with changing country-specific rules.
• FX optimisation, letting merchants settle in local or preferred currencies and minimise conversion losses.
• Data visibility and control, so merchants can track performance, identify issues, and make decisions faster.

Also Read: Mapping out Malaysia’s fintech regulatory landscape: A fintech founder’s guide

Put simply, orchestration doesn’t just solve for payments — it solves for scale. In my time at Juspay, I’ve seen firsthand how digital businesses leverage orchestration to go live faster, localise deeply, and improve conversion while staying compliant.

Real-world impact: How orchestration helps

Here are a few common scenarios:

Scenario one: A travel merchant based in Singapore wants to sell to Korean and Japanese consumers.

Without orchestration:

• Transactions are processed via a Singapore-based acquirer.
• Consumers face poor checkout experience without familiar local options.
• Transaction success rates drop, and MDRs are high (three to five per cent).

With orchestration:

• Checkout adapts to show local methods (e.g., Konbini in Japan, Tmoney in Korea).
• Transactions are routed via local acquiring rails.
• FX is handled automatically, and merchant settles in SGD or JPY.
• Compliance with local e-money and VAT laws is handled in the backend.

Scenario two: A SaaS company in India wants to sell across Southeast Asia.

Without orchestration:

• Multiple payment integrations are needed.
• Invoicing and tax compliance vary across each country.
• Refunds and chargebacks are hard to handle.

With orchestration:

• A unified interface offers coverage across SEA.
• Tax and invoicing compliance is automated via orchestration tools.
• Local and international cards, wallets, and UPI are supported with dynamic routing.

Final thoughts

Cross-border payments in APAC are inherently complex, but they don’t have to be a bottleneck for growth. With the right orchestration strategy, digital businesses can expand faster, reduce costs, stay compliant, and deliver better customer experiences.

The future of APAC commerce is borderless — and payments need to catch up.

If you’re building a business that wants to grow across APAC, it’s time to stop thinking of payments as a cost center. Instead, treat it as a strategic lever — one that, when orchestrated well, can unlock scale at speed.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

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