International banking group Standard Chartered , in collaboration with Allen & Overy , has published a payment guideline outlining payment regulatory frameworks. The Guide to Payment Regulations summarises the prevailing structure and related licencing schemes for payments and e-money services.

The guide covers eight key markets in Asia and aims to help corporates and fintechs navigate the payments landscape. Moreover, it provides the various factors that impact their businesses as they expand globally. The markets included are Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, and Singapore, with plans for an updated version that will include another seven markets.

More information on the guide The regulatory guide also addresses the most common themes companies encounter when scaling up their business in their home markets or across borders. One of the themes included in the report explains whether licencing requirements are applicable for B2B ecommerce platforms. Due to continuous technological innovations and the growth of fintechs, the payments sector is one of the most unsettled domains within the financial services industry. As a result, regulations are constantly reviewed and modified to ensure that the financial ecosystem maintains security and safety.

Corporations and fintechs are required to follow these changes to be able to facilitate payment services across markets in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. As per officials from Standard Chartered, the technologisation of business models is increasing the growth in digital payments. To support the expansion, regulators are revising and introducing additional regulations to ensure a resilient business infrastructure. The launch of the guide aims to offer an interpretation of the most critical area that businesses consider when evolving their models or expanding to new markets.

Challenges in adhering to regulatory guidelines Influenced by the disruption that affected all industries in 2020, the financial services industry currently faces several challenges, including the rapid pace of change, the entry of non-traditional payment providers into markets, and the increase of digital currencies. According to KPMG Advisory, the regulatory regime has not yet adapted to the additional number of firms offering payment services. This resulted in an inconsistency in regulatory frameworks for entities and a need for requirements standardisation across jurisdictions. The COVID-19 pandemic increased the adoption of digital payment services, including digital banking, contactless card use, and mobile payments, with all branches seeing significant growth during this period. As companies continue to expand their payment product offerings, regulators will need to consider the risks linked to this development and alter the guidelines accordingly.

About Standard Chartered Standard Chartered activates in 53 of the world’s markets and serves clients in an additional 64. The company had several collaborations in recent months, including a partnership with Atome in July 2023. The bank’s objective is to combine its solutions with Atome’s suite of products in order to develop and offer Singapore customers mobile-first client payment tools and financial services. Furthermore, in May 2023, Standard Chartered collaborated with Wordplay to expand its market coverage of Straight2Bank Pay.

Both companies intend to enable new capabilities and offerings on the solution while delivering a suite of digital collections of products. .