At SFF 2025, Tencent pushes interoperable payments and AI stack

Table of Content

At the Singapore FinTech Festival 2025, Tencent framed a single narrative for its payments and cloud technologies – building interoperable rails, AI-enabled financial services, and biometric experiences that work across borders. The company’s teams from Tencent Financial Technology, Weixin, and Tencent Cloud outlined how these parts are meant to operate as one ecosystem. Tencent also supported the event technically, powering the real-time livestream of all six main stages with low latency. The focus throughout: make cross-border interactions simpler while keeping fraud risk in check.

What was announced: payments interoperability moves

Tencent highlighted several concrete steps intended to extend reach and simplify acceptance flows for users and merchants operating internationally.

• TenPay Global joins China’s Cross-Border Interconnection Payment Gateway (CPG) alongside Weixin Pay – now collaborating with over 40 wallets in more than 10 countries and regions and holding strategic partnerships in Singapore with DBS Bank, GrabPay, ShopeePay, Starryblu, Bank of China, and EVONET GLOBAL.
• TenPay Global Checkout – a new option for Weixin Mini Program merchants selling in global markets to accept local digital wallets, real-time payment networks, and credit/debit cards through a single integration.
• Western Union partnership – introduced via a co-branded flagship store in Singapore’s Chinatown, aiming to enable omni‑channel remittance flows through Mini Programs within the Weixin ecosystem.

Interoperability and AI: how the stack fits together

Executives described a shift from simple transaction enablement to seamless, everyday experiences built on shared infrastructure. At the keynote panel “Building an Intelligent Financial Stack,” Tencent’s Forest Lin underlined practical use cases, noting tools that help small merchants with AI menu scanning and QR ordering to streamline operations, and the deployment of multiple machine learning models to maintain low fraud rates on Weixin Pay. Lin also referenced work on a “world model” for payment systems as part of ongoing anti‑fraud efforts.

“Every day, we’re looking for use cases that could improve our users’ lives,” said Forest Lin, Corporate Vice President of Tencent and Head of Tencent Financial Technology.

On payment rails, Daniel Hong emphasized the upside and trade‑offs of AI‑driven interoperability.

“AI can improve current interoperability, acting as a translator and bridge between different systems; however, it may also create new fragmentation problems and challenges,” said Daniel Hong, Vice President of Tencent Financial Technology.

Tencent Palm: biometrics and on-site deployments

Tencent demoed Tencent Palm’s O4 recognition module and the PCI‑certified PalmDa POS terminal, showing payment, registration, and accessibility scenarios. The solution is live in Singapore at Resorts World Sentosa’s Adventure Cove and at Singapore Institute of Technology campuses in partnership with CATES.

Read also our article: Hunyuan 3D goes worldwide: AI 3D creation for games and VFX

“Tencent’s Palm Solutions show how innovation can make payments faster, safer, and more intuitive,” said Etienne Ng, Country Manager, Singapore & Regional Director, Southeast Asia, Weixin Pay.

Cross‑border travel and merchant acceptance

Visitors at SFF explored use cases for travel to mainland China, either by linking cards to Weixin Pay or by using home wallets directly. Tencent also pointed to new ties with SGQR+ in Singapore, DuitNow QR in Malaysia, and PromptPay in Thailand – allowing local merchants to accept payments from Chinese travelers with broader reach and simplified operations.

Tencent Cloud on scaling AI for finance

On the panel “China: Scaling AI Across FinTech and Embedded Finance,” Tencent Cloud’s Powell Li discussed how the country’s ecosystem‑led approach – spanning super‑apps and cross‑border financial networks – informs AI‑enabled financial infrastructure.

“Scaling AI in financial services demands a strong ecosystem and robust infrastructure,” said Powell Li, Vice President and Head of Tencent Cloud Computing Products.

Event tech: SFF livestream delivery

Tencent’s media technologies backed the global livestream of SFF 2025, serving viewers across the six main stages with low latency and smooth playback. The company positioned this as part of the same stack approach that underpins payments and cloud tools.

Watch the official session video

Video link (YouTube):

Final takeaway – why this matters

Interoperability is the headline – from TenPay Global’s CPG participation to integrations with SGQR+, DuitNow QR, and PromptPay. For users and merchants, the practical upshot is more payment options across borders and a stack that leans on AI for security and efficiency. If you move, spend, or get paid internationally, these pieces are designed to make that feel closer to a single system rather than a patchwork of separate networks.