Unstoppable: The Future of Fintech in APAC, Tokenization and Agentic AI

Sadly gamification is an example of fintech for bad, not good.

The German artist Paul Klee (1879–1940) harbored a life-long passion for Alpine subjects, often painting whimsical mountain landscapes. In a watercolor entitled Kleine Winterlandschaft mit dem Skiläufer (Small Winter Landscape with a Skier) Klee playfully depicts a skier moving through a wintery forest in his signature abstract style.

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Topics:

• Unstoppable: The Future Of FinTech In APAC

• Tokenization: Mastercard Wants in at $30T, or $3T

• Agentic AI Turbocharges Banks and The Do-It-For-Me Economy

• AI In FinServ: Learn to Love The Burn Of Rapid Reinvention

• Gamification: A New Form Of Predatory Finance

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Hello, you wonderful readers!

This week, we have five separate stories that traverse every slope of our skiing-inspired artwork by Paul Klee.

Asia’s Fintech is unstoppable

To start, we’ll stay true to this newsletter’s theme of Asia with an excellent report on the future of FinTech in APAC. It’s a great read, but I caution readers that a macro view of APAC may paint an overly glowing picture of the region. How different are Fiji, Vietnam, and Singapore, all classified as APAC?

Yes, FinTech is flourishing in Asia, which is part of APAC, but with such significant differences within APAC, you need to look micro, not macro, at the region. Read more on APAC’s FinTech and why it’s unstoppable: HERE

Tokenization a game-changer worth $3-$30trn

Next, we look at tokenization, which I’ve written about regularly and contend will be a game-changing technology. I’m not alone and major players like MasterCard a co-author if this week’s report continue to see potential in the market.

What’s interesting is that the market estimates for tokenization are all over the place. Read why at $3 or $30 trillion it’s too big a market for incumbents to ignore: HERE

Agentic AI without the hype from CitiGPS

This week a great read on Agentic AI from CitiGPS. This is one of the best reports on Agentic AI I’ve ever read, and I can’t recommend it to you strongly enough. Citi does a great job of pointing out Agentic AI’s risks and problems which is refreshing given how many articles seem to over-hype Agentics. Look at Agentic AI’s challenges: HERE

AI is putting big tech in charge of finserv

The WEF has a great report on AI that tells financial services (finserv) that they need to love reinventing their companies for AI. Really? It’s a fun read but misses the most important macro trend finserv faces.

Finserv is now totally dependent on big tech, giving it more power than ever over finance. This is huge and see why AI is different than any technology that came before it: HERE

Gamification: fintech for bad

Gamification is in the news for all of the wrong reasons. Instead of being “fintech for good” it is being used as a tool in predatory finance. By turning buying stocks into a game fintechs induce “predatory practices that disproportionately exploit vulnerable users, including those with limited financial literacy, women, and younger participants.”

Gamification was once seen as a path to democratization and education is now being used to bilk the vulnerable. If that doesn’t make you ill nothing will: HERE

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