How AI Transforms Payments: Not What You Expect
Asia leads with digital wallets and AI adoption.
Thanks for reading the “Cashless” newsletter, an insider’s view on Asia’s fintech, CBDC, and AI for anyone striving to understand “the Asia Century.” I’m Rich Turrin, and these are my hard-hitting insights designed to educate and inform. Subscribe to get these emerging trends directly in your inbox every Sunday. Every week, I scan thousands of articles to find only the best and most valuable for you. Subscribe to get my expertly curated news straight to your inbox each week. Free is good, but paid is better.
Topics:
How AI Transforms Payments: Not What You Expect
Mobile Wallets Fuel the World's "Cashless" Boom with Asia Leading
Fintech’s Resurgence: Capturing 50% of Alt. Lending, 45% of Int'l Payments
AI at Work: Global South Outpaces West, India Takes First
Bonus Read: Cyber, Quantum, AI Risks Reshape Global FinServ
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Welcome back!
Today’s art is from the “Op (optical) Art” movement, whose compositions “attack the eye” and may leave the viewer feeling dizzy. Just as some of today’s stories may make readers feel dizzy due to challenges in their perspective.
AI will transform payments, right? Yes, but not quite how you think. In this first story, which changes perspective, we explore the limits of AI. While AI will alter how you access your payment systems, it won’t alter the underlying payment rails.
Asia appears in two of our stories today and is likely to leave some feeling dizzy because they both show how Asia just loves to adopt digital technology.
But why is Asia so in love with technology? The reason is simple: most people in Asia associate digital technology with economic growth and an improved quality of life.
The first story shows how mobile wallets are fueling the world’s “Cashless” boom with Asia in the lead, while the second shows how AI at work is being used more in emerging economies (Asia) than developed economies.
It is people’s relationship to technology that determines whether they’ll use it, and Asia has shown a willingness that the West lacks. This will have profound implications for tech adoption as we look to the future.
Fintech’s bubble days are in the past, but its best days are still ahead of it!
A new report from HSBC highlights how fintech is attracting new capital and that “first-generation” fintech companies are having a significant impact on the financial services sector.
Finally, an important “Bonus Read” that shows how AI, quantum, and cyber risks are “deeply interconnected.” It’s not just one risk you need to manage, but the interaction of the three. Now that should “attack the eye.”
Thanks once again for reading. I appreciate each and every one of you taking the time to open your inbox for me!
Rich
PS
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How AI Transforms Payments: Not What You Expect
AI reshapes access to payment rails, not the rails themselves.
Stripe presents a solid report on how AI is changing payments, showing how all that is old is new again.
Many expect AI to revolutionize payments with GenAI, but most of the AI in this report is machine learning (ML), which has been used for these applications for years and is now being marketed as “new.”
Mobile Wallets Fuel the World's "Cashless" Boom with Asia Leading
Pymnts Intelligence surveyed 216,679 consumers in 11 countries and found that consumers are abandoning cash for digital wallets.
The shift is underway, and within the survey group, 35% of online and 21% of in-store purchases are now made with digital wallets, representing a 10% and 5.2% increase, respectively, over the past two years.
Read on to see how far the West is behind Asia’s cashless leader, China…..
Fintech’s Resurgence: Capturing 50% of Alt. Lending, 45% of Int'l Payments
Fintech's dark days are behind it with new money and purpose.
HSBC released an overwhelmingly positive report on fintech, describing a “resurgence” and documenting how it is taking market share from alternative lending, consumer payments, and B2B payments.
This report from HSBC is great news, showing that fintech’s dark days are behind it, new money is coming to market, and how it is a real force for incumbents to contend with.
Read why fintech is a game-changer. Even in markets, it doesn’t dominate….
AI at Work: Global South Outpaces West, India Takes First
Broad adoption in emerging markets shows optimism.
BCG’s latest survey of 10,635 respondents in eleven nations showed that nations in the Global South are leading in AI use in the workplace, a repeat of similar surveys.
I am always intrigued by AI surveys because it isn’t enough to simply build an AI, people have to use it to receive its many benefits.
Read why developing nations that are adopting AI faster than the West…
Bonus Read
Cyber, Quantum, AI Risks Reshape Global FinServ
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) sees the threat of cyber, quantum, and AI risks as reshaping global financial services, and they are right!
Their report matters because it shows how these threats are "deeply interconnected."
While I've run reports highlighting each of these risks independently, this one goes further in acknowledging they're all related.
The report is beautifully produced, and I recommend checking out the charts for each section for an overview.
The report also argues that, as these threats are borderless, there is a need for increased international cooperation on the regulatory front.
The most alarming aspect of the report is that rising geopolitical tensions are escalating global security threats.
These tensions reduce international cooperation, fragmenting our world and stifling coordinated deterrence.
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The Agentic Oversight Framework
This is a great paper from “XXX” the AI company that works in AI deployments for AML/KYC and fraud. So while I consent they have a vested interest in showing success, the results are stunning.
The Future of Global Fintech: From Rapid Expansion to Sustainable Growth
This story from the XXX is a companion to today’s third story about “Fintech Resurgence.” The XXX shows how, while the boom days are over for fintech, it is now in what it calls a period of “sustainable growth.”
The Fearless Future: 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer
PWC with a report that contradicts the commonly held belief that AI will make workers worth less.
And that’s just three of SIX PDF reports. You’re also missing the infamous Chart of the Day, which today covers: The US Dollar’s Very Bad Year.
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