Tencent Leverages Cutting-Edge Technology and Partnerships to Lead a New Era of FinTech Innovation

At the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) 2024, global internet and technology giant Tencent, pushed the boundaries of innovation in fintech and digital transformation with a host of engagements, partnership milestones, and the unveiling of future-ready solutions.

Joining thousands of attendees at the annual event, Tencent showcased how it is leveraging decades of consumer and enterprise technology expertise to collaborate with industry players, tapping into opportunities in the financial industry, and delivering innovative business solutions that foster sustainable growth for financial institutions and ecosystem partners in the region.

Building a resilient and agile infrastructure is essential for financial institutions seeking to thrive in the digital era" said Dowson Tong, Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Executive Officer, Cloud and Smart Industries Group, Tencent, during the event’s "AI and Cloud: Powering the Economies of Tomorrow" keynote fireside chat. "AI-powered tools like advanced authentication and fraud detection require a foundation of reliable infrastructure to operate effectively and foster a more secure automated financial environment. In addition, by leveraging trends like video, content, super app and AI, atop a robust Cloud stack, we can drive meaningful innovation and unlock transformative opportunities across industries, with a growing financial services ecosystem"

The global AI in fintech market is expected to expand from USD 13.5 billion in 2024 to USD 58.7 billion by 2034, reflecting a robust CAGR of 15.9%. The keynote fireside, which opened the three-day event,  reflects this growing demand from consumers and enterprises alike in the applications and potential of cloud and AI solutions in the field of fintech. By leveraging AI-driven tools like Digital Humans, Super-App-as-a-Service, ultra-high accuracy eKYC, high performance distributed database TDSQL, and Risk Control Engine, Tencent financial cloud technologies have successfully enabled over 10,000 enterprises across 20 countries across the globe.

Tencent also won the Thematic – AI, Quantum Champion Award under the SFF FinTech Excellence Awards 2024, which spotlights groundbreaking initiatives that harness new technologies to revolutionize industry practices and enhance financial services delivery.

This accolade underscores Tencent’s commitment to advancing secure, user-friendly innovations in digital payments. Our latest innovations reflect our dedication to enhancing everyday convenience through seamless and reliable solutions, while maintaining the highest standards of privacy and data security. This is a testament to our ongoing efforts to bring transformative technology to consumers and businesses alike" said Xia Kai, Head of Tencent Palm Product Innovation.

The showcase at SFF marks Tencent’s debut of its advanced palm recognition technology, Tencent Palm, in Singapore. This was unveiled through Tencent and Visa’s partnership to introduce the palm recognition technology for digital payments. The service will be rolled out by Visa, with cardholders from participating banks in Singapore, including DBS, OCBC and UOB, being a part of this pilot program.

This partnership was one of many insightful engagements with industry leaders and ecosystem partners that took place at the festival, which included exclusive Tencent-led workshops at the Elevandi Insights Forum, and various panel sessions represented across Tencent’s businesses such as Tencent Cloud, Tenpay Global, and Weixin Pay.

Daniel Hong, Vice President of Tencent Financial Technology, highlighted Weixin Pay’s innovations in enhancing payment accessibility, particularly by reducing costs for small and micro merchants while advancing cross-border payment interconnectivity.

Wenhui Yang, General Manager at Tencent Financial Technology Asia Pacific and CEO of Tenpay Global (Singapore), also discussed the role of AI-powered risk control strategies in protecting users from fraud risks and spotlighted the importance of technology in ensuring secure payment systems.

Innovative technologies like Tencent Palm, Tencent Cloud AI Digital Human, and Tenpay Global Remittance were on display at the Tencent booth’s interactive areas, which welcomed key representatives from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Bank of Thailand (BoT), and more.

Consumer behavior and expectations have vastly changed due to the ubiquity of mobile phones and other accessible technologies. Financial institutions must now expand their online services and re-architect their business systems to meet the needs for services anytime anywhere, and the ever-increasing volume of online transactions. As we advance toward a future of accessible and inclusive financial services, we are hopeful that our collective efforts will help shape a secure and innovative digital ecosystem for the industry" said Tong.