The radical transformation of global finance driven by financial technology ( fintech ) over the past decade was reflected on by Axel Weber, former Deutsche Bundesbank president, UBS ex-chairman and current Global Finance & Technology Network ( GFTN ) international advisory board member, during his opening speech on Tuesday at the 10th edition of the Singapore FinTech Festival ( SFF ).

This shift, Weber notes, has catalyzed fresh regulatory responses and is laying the groundwork for a future shaped by artificial intelligence ( AI ), digital currencies and collaborative innovation.

“Fintech turned finance from no speed to light speed,” he says. “Money has gone digital. Banking has become digital for everyone, everywhere, all the time.”

Highlighting global breakthroughs, Weber points to the role of fintech in advancing financial inclusion. “In Kenya, M-Pesa [a branchless bank] made it possible to send money through a flip phone, no bank branch, no suit needed. In China, WeChat Pay and Alipay turned social media into super wallets.”

The impact of AI on wealth management was also underlined by Weber, quipping: “Financial planners never sleep, they never panic, and they don’t charge you for taking you out for dinner.”

Looking ahead, ambient, invisible and real-time embedded finance, Weber predicts, will become the new normal, displacing legacy infrastructure.

“The next decade of fintech will make the last look like dial-up internet and floppy disks,” he shares. “Finance will soon be invisible, embedded in everything. Fintech has started a rebellion […] but it’s ending as a partnership. Banks are learning to innovate, start-ups are learning to comply and regulators are starting to relax.”

Weber’s keynote was followed by a fireside chat between DBS chief executive Tan Su Shan and Singapore’s deputy prime minister Gan Kim Yong, with both highlighting Singapore’s enduring edge in fintech, built on trust, agility and a national commitment to continuous upskilling.

“Singapore’s trust and reliability are key differentiators in the digital world,” Gan argues. “That’s what makes us a trusted hub for digital flows. Our goal is not just to regulate fintech, but to shape the global conversation, develop frameworks and remain a platform for innovation. We are small, but that makes us nimble. We can move fast, make decisions quickly and experiment safely.”

Reflecting on DBS’s decade-long AI journey, Tan underscores the foundational importance of data governance. “We started almost 10 years ago [...] but the key thing we found was making sure your data is governed. You need to create a data lake. [...] Otherwise, everyone's going to use the same data in different ways.” Today, DBS, she offers, runs over 1,500 AI models generating “a billion nudges to personalize customer engagement”.

Looking ahead, she envisions a future in which “AI agents will do all the mundane work, read documents, check data, so that we can spend more time creating long-term, meaningful relationships with our customers.”

To ensure ethical AI deployment, the bank, Tan explains, follows a clear framework. “We use the acronym Pure to describe data, which must be purposeful, unsurprising, relevant and explainable. These are our principles for responsible AI.”

DBS’s internal large language model ( LLM ) initiative was also referenced by Tan: “We created DBS GPT, our own LLM for internal use. I think we can have a Singapore GPT too. Everyone should learn at least basic AI.”

Fintech revolution matures – Visa, GFTN Capital

The private sector has also made bold moves. For example, global digital payment company Visa has unveiled three major innovations that signal a leap forward in regional digital commerce.

First, Visa is expanding its intelligent commerce platform across the Asia-Pacific region, ushering in an era of agentic commerce, where AI-powered agents shop and pay on behalf of users. This includes new security protocols and pilot programmes to support widespread adoption.

Second, Visa announced a partnership with fintech firm Nium to pilot stablecoin settlements over supported blockchains. The initiative aims to enable near real-time cross-border settlements, significantly accelerating digital money movement for financial institutions.

Third, Visa is rolling out its scan-to-pay QR code payment solution across Asia-Pacific by partnering with leading banks, digital wallets and payment providers, bringing greater ease and flexibility to millions of consumers and merchants.

As well, Singapore-based GFTN Capital also made headlines with two major announcements. As the growth-equity arm of GFTN, a Monetary Authority of Singapore-backed non-profit that connects regulators, institutions and tech leaders, GFTN Capital is focused on directing capital towards high-growth fintech ventures.

Its first move is a US$200 million Global Innovation Fund launched in partnership with SBI Holdings and SBI Ven Capital to support next-generation fintech start-ups and expand innovation corridors across Asia and beyond.

Second, GFTN Capital announced a strategic alliance with Accion, the global non-profit focused on financial inclusion, to support fintechs serving underserved communities. The partnership will also co-host the 2026 Responsible Finance Forum in Singapore.

Both initiatives mark a milestone in GFTN Capital’s mission, it says, “to align capital with purpose and foster a more inclusive and sustainable global financial ecosystem”.

In another major development, GFTN unveiled the beta launch of Alfin, an AI-powered research engine tailored for the fintech sector.

Developed to meet the demand for trusted, explainable and analyst-grade intelligence, Alfin integrates GFTN’s proprietary insights, verified public data and user inputs to deliver actionable financial intelligence in real time.

Targeting regulators, financial institutions and innovators, Alfin is designed to make sense of complex market signals, link innovation to regulation and support smarter decision-making. The full platform will launch in early 2026.

With bold policy leadership, deep public-private partnerships and a clear focus on AI, inclusion and cross-border connectivity, the 10th edition of SFF signals that the fintech revolution is evolving, not into disruption, but into a coordinated, global transformation.