Asia tackles wallet fraud; Egypt boosts digital finance

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Three of Asia’s leading payment service providers have forged a partnership to improve the protection of digital wallets amid a surge of payment fraud by bad actors in the region.

• AI-powered alliance for e-wallets
• APAC giants vs. fraud
• Digital wallets empowering Egypt
• Digitalization move gains pace

The alliance, dubbed Digital Wallet Guardian Partnership, comprises Singapore-based Ant International, AlipayHK, and Malaysia-based TNG eWallet. The collaboration between these three payment behemoths will leverage EasySafePay 360, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered account protection solution.

EasySafePay 360, the first phase of the partnership, will provide digital wallet service providers in the region with a plug-and-play solution to prevent account takeover by bad actors. The solution leans on an automated approval system for user verification that offers high accuracy without compromising efficiency.

Furthermore, users of the EasySafePay 360 solution will have access to a money-back guarantee as an added layer of protection. Ant International disclosed that it will provide full compensation on all authorized transactions, demonstrating its faith in EasySafePay 360’s capabilities.

Digital wallet service providers keen on integrating EasySafePay 360 into their operations can access customizable tools to smooth the process. After integrating the solution, consumers can make payments without being redirected to a separate browser or mobile application for payment confirmation.

The trio disclosed that seamlessly eliminating the redirection requirement has the potential to improve merchant conversion rates by 10%. To achieve its objectives, the trio will also use emerging technologies, knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and stakeholder engagement.

“We safeguard our 4.5 million active users with 24/ AI monitoring, customizable protections, and regular anti-fraud tips,” said AlipayHK CEO Venetia Lee. “By advancing our multi-layered security and working with partners on risk management, we’re committed to making digital payments in Hong Kong both secure and convenient.”

Leading the way with digital payments

Given Asia’s standing as the fastest-growing region for digital payments, fraud cases stemming from the region make up 42% of global reported incidents. TNG Digital CEO Alan Ni disclosed that the collaboration by three of Asia’s payment giants is key to reducing fraud incident rates.

Amid dwindling cash usage across Asia Pacific (APAC), Hong Kong has emerged as the launchpad for digital payments in APAC, underscored by numerous service providers setting up shop in the Special Administrative Region.

Furthermore, Thailand is making keen strides in the ecosystem with a digital asset payment sandbox for tourism. Meanwhile, Mastercard’s (NASDAQ: MA) latest study disclosed that Gen Alphas are the leading demographic for digital payment adoption in APAC, outperforming Gen Zs and Millennials.

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Egypt witnessing flourishing fintech ecosystem

While the regulator predicts the approval will lead to a surge in digital wallet adoption, the NTRA has unveiled ambitious plans to improve the local digital wallet landscape. It disclosed the planned rollout of watertight regulatory frameworks for digital payment service providers, specifying licensing procedures and minimum operating standards.

Amid the push for a regulatory playbook, the NTRA has urged mobile payment service providers to apply precautionary controls on digital wallets. Despite supporting the push for a cashless economy, Egypt’s telecommunications regulator is keen on reducing fraud while stifling the operations of bad actors via heightened Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) guidelines.

So far, initial attempts at a cashless economy have yielded early results with digital wallet adoption rates surging by double-digit percentages over the last year. In a recently published report by the NTRA, the total number of digital wallets in Egypt stood at 46.3 million, with transaction value over the last 12 months sitting at EGP943 billion ($19.6 billion).

Digital wallets surged 29% over the last year, while transaction volumes spiked by a staggering 80%. The report revealed major consumer preferences with digital payments, with transfers between wallets representing 54% of all transactions in Q2 2025.

20% of digital wallet transactions represented mobile balance recharge, with deposits making up 19%. The report noted that Egyptians turned to digital payments for utility bills, shopping, and donations.

In terms of mobile wallet distribution, Vodafone Cash held the lion’s share of the market at 55%, while E&Cash and Orange Cash held 21% and 19%, respectively. Meanwhile, WePay increased its share to 5%, keen on catching up to industry leaders. However, the report highlighted the possibility of new players disrupting the existing order with a raft of innovative products.

Moving the needle to lead the region

Egypt has made keen progress with its digitalization objectives, increasing the size of its bet on emerging technologies. The country is also targeting a central bank digital currency (CBDC) rollout by 2030 in an effort to improve financial inclusion metrics for citizens.

While digital payments represent the easiest initial step, the North African country has launched a comprehensive plan to become the regional leader in AI. After moving up seven places in the Global AI Index in less than a year, Egypt’s AI strategy is eyeing utility in governance, environment, and human resources.

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