RECENT STORIES:

Addressing digital sovereignty in a data-driven world
Boqii Holding Limited Announces Update on Substitution Listing and 1-f...
Seegene Launches STAgora™, a New Platform for Infectious Disease Analy...
New Survey Finds Employers Keen on Hiring Business School Graduates as...
Altri to Acquire a Majority Stake in AeoniQ™ to Scale World’s Fi...
JinkoSolar’s EAGLE® G6R Residential PV Module Named Sustainable ...
LOGIN REGISTER
DigiconAsia
  • Features
    • Featured

      Does ROI really matter in AI?

      Does ROI really matter in AI?

      Thursday, June 19, 2025, 2:57 PM Asia/Singapore | Features
    • Featured

      Reinventing insurance IT: A case study in digital transformation

      Reinventing insurance IT: A case study in digital transformation

      Friday, June 13, 2025, 11:22 AM Asia/Singapore | Features, Newsletter
    • Featured

      Siemens Digital Industries Software users share their transformation journeys

      Siemens Digital Industries Software users share their transformation journeys

      Thursday, June 5, 2025, 4:27 PM Asia/Singapore | Case Studies, Features, Newsletter
  • News
    • Featured

      Agentic AI projects face high cancellation risk as experts urge caution over hype and costs

      Agentic AI projects face high cancellation risk as experts urge caution over hype and costs

      Tuesday, July 1, 2025, 4:52 PM Asia/Singapore | News, Newsletter
    • Featured

      US security agencies urge migration to memory safe programming

      US security agencies urge migration to memory safe programming

      Monday, June 30, 2025, 1:37 PM Asia/Singapore | News, Newsletter
    • Featured

      Windows 10 users to enjoy a one-year reprieve from forced upgrade

      Windows 10 users to enjoy a one-year reprieve from forced upgrade

      Friday, June 27, 2025, 2:39 PM Asia/Singapore | News, Newsletter
  • Perspectives
  • Tips & Strategies
  • Whitepapers
  • Awards 2023
  • Directory
  • E-Learning

Select Page

FSI innovations & FinTechTips & Strategies

Three key drivers in SEA’s financial services industry to watch 

By DigiconAsia Editors | Thursday, February 8, 2024, 12:19 PM Asia/Singapore

Three key drivers in SEA’s financial services industry to watch 

Developments in boosting cross-border transactions, embedded finance schemes and core banking modernization will shape SEA’s financial services industry’s fortunes: analysts.

According to EY analysts, the financial services sector in South-east Asia (SEA) will increasingly be characterized by instant cross-border payments, embedded finance and core banking modernization.

In the asset management sphere, the launch of the Variable Capital Company (VCC) 2.0 system will allow Single Family Offices to use the VCC as an evergreen investment vehicle. “VCC 2.0 and the continued growth in wealth and family offices will position Singapore as the wealth capital of Asia,” according to Mriganko Mukherjee, EY’s Asean Wealth & Asset Management Leader.

But while the innovation opportunities are profound, inter-operability and cross-sector convergence will introduce new financial crime and payments risks.

Key #1: Cross-border transactions

In some places, such transactions had been hampered by the high cost, slow speed, lack of transparency and security concerns associated with remittances. This year, more progress in collaborations in real-time payments, application programming interfaces (APIs) and blockchain control are set to take shape. 

Adopting ISO 20022 messaging standards will help to overcome interoperability challenges, providing consistent messaging globally for data flows across the industry. 

One key area on the agenda this year will be the increase in fraud being driven by real-time payments, which afford little time for authentication. In response, institutions will increasingly make use of integrated fraud services, where transactions can be screened and (if necessary) blocked in close-to-real-time. 

Multiple risk mitigation strategies are also likely become commonplace, with biometrics and behavior authentication used alongside passwords and multi factor authentication. 

Generative AI (GenAI) is expected to drive advances in identity fraud, with deep fakes increasing the likelihood of crime and rendering current Know Your Customer controls ineffective. In response, financial services CISOs will need to add the same technology to the cybersecurity armory. Investigation “copilots” will improve the consistency of decisions across volumes of data previously unmanageable for humans alone. Large language models (LLMs) will be used for transaction look-backs to significantly speed up transaction reviews by extracting relevant information, identifying transaction patterns and flagging suspicious activities.

Financial services firms will be training their own LLMs to increase responsiveness and agility. 

Key #2: Embedded-finance developments

Non-financial-services firms will increasingly be embedding financial services in their core value propositions. This embedded finance (EmFi) is expected to drive cross-sector convergence as finance components are invisibly integrated into customers’ purchasing experiences. 

EY analysts predict that ‘embedded wealth’ could soon be disrupting the dynamics of wealth management. Retail banks, for example, may offer “brokerage-as-a-service” as a value-add for customers with savings accounts. Equally, financial health platforms, which are already adding savings services, could similarly package investment services into their portfolios.

Payment firms will capitalize on embedded payments by developing integrated payment solutions leveraging data and AI, and providing value-added services. Insurance and lending will be the largest categories among the EmFi product spectrum, often bundled together, the analysts predicted.

Also, insurers are expected to integrate Insurance-as-a-Service into mobile apps and websites to attempt to become a core element alongside retailers and marketplaces. 

This year, the most pervasive form of embedded lending is likely to be Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), with instalment products integrated into retail platforms. In SEA’s emerging markets, where a high percentage of customers struggle to secure traditional credit, BNPL providers can offer a financial lifeline. EY analysts therefore expect banks to use EmFi, in the form of BNPL, to promote financial inclusion.

Key #3: Core banking modernization 

This year, the rise of open APIs is expected to create a connected network of financial institutions, software suppliers and fintech communities. 

By further combining APIs with organizational structures such as low and no-code platforms, modular technology architecture and microservices, financial institutions will be able to innovate faster and more cost efficiently.

According to Seah Li Yun, EY’s Asean Banking & Capital Markets Leader: “Advanced technology such as GenAI, while in its early stages of adoption, will continue to be a growth accelerator as it optimizes processes and empowers the strategic delivery of customer focused solutions to drive new revenue growth.”

The year ahead

 EY analysts believe that real-time payments, GenAI, embedded finance and core banking modernization are not merely trends but essential pillars for staying ahead in the industry. 

By leveraging these technologies and concepts, financial institutions can enhance customer experiences, streamline operations and unlock new revenue streams, the analysts believe. 


Share:

PreviousHong Kong’s Cybersecurity Fortification Initiative 2.0 can boost financial sector resilience
NextAre SMEs in Singapore having a head start in digitalization?

Related Posts

Payment providers collaborating to meet the needs of a global workforce

Payment providers collaborating to meet the needs of a global workforce

March 7, 2023

Mizuho Financial Group embraces supercomputer-supported generative AI

Mizuho Financial Group embraces supercomputer-supported generative AI

June 20, 2023

Riding the hyper-connectivity wave requires collaboration, security and trust   

Riding the hyper-connectivity wave requires collaboration, security and trust   

December 16, 2024

Thailand launches ASEAN’s first 5G smart hospital

Thailand launches ASEAN’s first 5G smart hospital

December 17, 2021

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Awards Nomination Banner

gamification list

PARTICIPATE NOW

top placement

Whitepapers

  • Achieve Modernization Without the Complexity

    Achieve Modernization Without the Complexity

    Transforming IT infrastructure is crucial …Download Whitepaper
  • 5 Steps to Boost IT Infrastructure Reliability

    5 Steps to Boost IT Infrastructure Reliability

    In today's fast-evolving tech landscape, …Download Whitepaper
  • Simplify Payroll Setup for Your Small Business

    Simplify Payroll Setup for Your Small Business

    In our free guide, "How …Download Whitepaper
  • Overcoming the Challenges of Cost & Complexity in the Cloud-first Era.

    Overcoming the Challenges of Cost & Complexity in the Cloud-first Era.

    Download Whitepaper

Middle Placement

Case Studies

  • How Nissin Foods turned tangled, siloed data into smooth-as-noodles actionable assets

    How Nissin Foods turned tangled, siloed data into smooth-as-noodles actionable assets

    The trick is to unify …Read More
  • Agentic AI automation prescribes better healthcare for Speedoc (Singapore) patients

    Agentic AI automation prescribes better healthcare for Speedoc (Singapore) patients

    Innovative technology enhances clinical workflows, …Read More
  • Mitigating high inflation with high tech: Fairprice Group (Singapore) taps cloud and AI

    Mitigating high inflation with high tech: Fairprice Group (Singapore) taps cloud and AI

    Given Singapore’s high standard of …Read More
  • Zuno General Insurance blazes new trails in reforming driver behavior in India

    Zuno General Insurance blazes new trails in reforming driver behavior in India

    A crash-detection feature in the …Read More

Bottom Sidebar

Other News

  • Boqii Holding Limited Announces Update on Substitution Listing and 1-for-160 Reverse Split

    July 2, 2025
    SHANGHAI, July 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ …Read More »
  • Seegene Launches STAgora™, a New Platform for Infectious Disease Analytics

    July 1, 2025
    Real-time analytics that empower clinical …Read More »
  • New Survey Finds Employers Keen on Hiring Business School Graduates as AI Integration Accelerates

    July 1, 2025
    GMAC’s latest corporate recruiters survey …Read More »
  • Altri to Acquire a Majority Stake in AeoniQ™ to Scale World’s First Industrial Production of Climate Positive Textile Yarn

    July 1, 2025
    ZÜRICH and PORTO, Portugal, July …Read More »
  • JinkoSolar’s EAGLE® G6R Residential PV Module Named Sustainable Product of the Year by Green Builder® Media

    July 1, 2025
    SHANGRAO, China, July 1, 2025 …Read More »
  • Our Brands
  • CybersecAsia
  • MartechAsia
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertising & Reprint Policy
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe
  • Manage Subscriptions
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2025 DigiconAsia All Rights Reserved.