Capital One outlined plans to move more credit card spending onto Discover’s network, allowing it to capture network revenue otherwise paid to Visa or Mastercard. In the UK, proposals to open iPhone contactless technology could give banks and fintechs more scope to compete with Apple Wallet. StraitsX’s expanded Visa partnership offered digital wallets another route into everyday card spending.

Asian digital finance businesses also sought capital for expansion, with GCash parent Mynt listing in the Philippines and Sea planning an IPO of Monee. Their growth ambitions contrasted with Truist’s sale of specialist consumer loan portfolios, while Brazil considered tighter lending safeguards amid concerns about household debt.

Read more on the week's key developments:

1. Capital One sets out gradual credit card migration to Discover network

Capital One outlined plans on 20 October to increase credit card spending on Discover’s network through Discover-branded cards, new Capital One cards and conversions of existing accounts. Chief executive Richard Fairbank said the bank was testing which customers and products to move and when. Credit migration would be gradual, accompanied by investment in global merchant acceptance. Global Payment Network transaction volume rose 25% year on year to approximately $191 billion, mainly following its completed debit migration.

Routing more transactions through Discover would allow Capital One to capture network revenue otherwise paid to Visa or Mastercard. Separately, it expected to finish moving existing Discover card accounts onto Capital One’s technology platform in the first quarter of 2027. Legacy Discover card loans fell about 3% year on year during a temporary restraint on loan growth, while domestic card loans excluding Discover grew about 6%.

2. UK regulator proposes opening iPhone contactless payments to rival wallets

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) proposed on 20 October to open Apple’s iPhone near-field communication (NFC) technology to competing businesses. Apple would have to support host card emulation, an alternative way to enable contactless payments, alongside its existing secure element access. Proposed pricing principles were expected to produce substantially lower access fees. Citing UK Finance, the CMA said contactless accounted for 39% of UK payments in 2025. The consultation closes on 17 November.

The proposals could allow banks and fintechs to offer tap-to-pay through their own applications, including payments directly from bank accounts. Apple’s 2024 commitments to open NFC access in the European Union enabled Vipps to launch a rival payment app within six months, followed by PayPal, Klarna, Curve and BBVA. No competing wallet-type product has launched under Apple’s UK access arrangements. Providers would still need to persuade customers to switch from established wallets.

3. DBS connects PayLah! to Taiwan’s QR network

DBS launched cross-border quick response (QR) payments in Taiwan on 21 October, allowing more than three million PayLah! users to pay at over 250,000 merchants, about two-thirds of the Taiwan QR Code (TWQR) merchant network. The first Singapore bank to connect customers to TWQR, DBS brought to market an initiative announced in April between Singapore’s NETS and Taiwan’s Financial Information Service Co. Users can view the Taiwan dollar amount, exchange rate and Singapore dollar total before paying. PayLah! is also available to users without a DBS/POSB bank account.

DBS said cross-border QR transaction volumes reached 2.5 times their year-earlier level, while unique users doubled. Taiwan joins its coverage of Indonesia’s QRIS, Malaysia’s DuitNow and Thailand’s PromptPay. These links help banks retain customers’ overseas payment activity within their own apps. Full participating TWQR acceptance is expected in 2027, alongside reciprocal access for customers of DBS Taiwan to pay at participating Singapore merchants.

4. StraitsX partners Visa to expand stablecoin-backed card issuing globally

Singapore-based StraitsX announced on 15 October a partnership with Visa to expand its stablecoin-backed card issuing capabilities beyond Asia to more than 100 markets, subject to regulatory, compliance and Visa requirements. The infrastructure enables fintechs and wallets to offer cards connecting stablecoin balances with Visa’s merchant network. StraitsX said its existing Asian card programmes had reached annualised gross transaction value exceeding $6 billion.

Existing programmes include OKX Card and RedotPay’s Singapore card programme, which allow customers to spend digital asset balances at Visa-accepting merchants worldwide. The OKX programme supports Apple Pay, enabling contactless purchases without a separate stablecoin checkout. These cards already offer international spending; the expansion broadens where StraitsX can support issuance. Wallet providers can offer customers everyday card spending without building their own merchant acceptance networks.

5. GCash parent Mynt lists in Philippines’ largest IPO

Mynt, the parent of Philippine digital wallet GCash, listed on 20 October following the country’s largest initial public offering (IPO), at a valuation of approximately PHP 442 billion ($7 billion). Mynt said the base offering raised approximately PHP 53 billion ($842 million), rising to PHP 60.9 billion ($967 million) if the overallotment option is exercised in full. Most shares were sold by existing shareholders, leaving Mynt with approximately PHP 10.6 billion ($168.3 million) in gross primary proceeds.

Mynt planned to use its net proceeds primarily to expand digital financial services, alongside product development and general corporate purposes. Its subsidiary, Fuse Financing, provides consumer and small-business credit through GCash. Fuse gives Mynt an existing lending business to expand alongside a wallet serving 41.5 million monthly active users in the quarter ended June. The IPO also demonstrated GCash’s distribution reach, with 140,725 users investing approximately PHP 1.1 billion ($17.5 million) through the app.

6. Bank Muamalat joins Malaysia’s push for lower-cost basic credit cards

Malaysia’s Bank Muamalat formally launched its Awwal Credit Card-i on 20 October at the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum, offering a 14% annual effective profit rate, no annual fee and non-compounding charges, meaning profit is not charged on accumulated profit. Applications opened that day following the card’s introduction in July. The launch follows a government-backed initiative for basic credit cards with financing rates capped at 14%. Alliance Bank, Maybank Islamic and CIMB Islamic already offer such cards.

The 14% rate is below the lowest tier of Malaysia’s standard credit-card finance-charge structure, which permits maximum annual rates of 15%, 17% or 18% depending on repayment history. Other issuers are combining lower rates with changes to how charges accumulate. Alliance Bank’s Visa Basic card stopped charging interest on carried-forward finance charges from 1 October, while Maybank Islamic’s Nadi card offers a fixed 14% rate and non-compounding charges.

7. Sea plans IPO of digital financial services business Monee

Singapore-headquartered Sea Limited was planning a public listing of its financial services arm Monee, according to an internal memo from founder Forrest Li sent on 20 October and reviewed by Reuters. Monee offered wallets, payment processing, credit and banking services across Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Brazil. No valuation, offering size or timetable was reported.

Monee was already primarily a lending business. Second-quarter revenue rose 59% to $1.4 billion, while outstanding consumer and small and medium-sized enterprise loans grew 62.5% to $11.1 billion, including $1.1 billion funded by other financial institutions through its platform. Its ratio of loans more than 90 days overdue remained at 1.0% from the preceding quarter. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew 13% to $288 million, substantially slower than revenue. A listing would allow investors to assess these lending and profitability trends separately from Shopee and Garena.

8. Synchrony’s co-branded card spending rises 23%

US consumer finance company Synchrony Financial reported on 20 October that third-quarter co-branded card spending rose 23% year on year, accounting for 53% of total purchase volume. Overall purchase volume increased 8% to a third-quarter record of $49.7 billion. Net earnings fell 17% to $892 million as provisions and operating expenses increased, although the net charge-off rate improved to 4.79% from 5.16%. Higher provisions principally reflected a reserve build against a release a year earlier.

Chief executive Brian Doubles said spending outside partner stores grew by double digits, supported by new programmes, product upgrades and broader spending across existing cards. Quarterly highlights included refreshed Venmo credit card rewards, CareCredit Pay Later and a planned Stripe integration for health and wellness financing at online checkouts. Operating expenses increased 10%, while net interest margin narrowed 12 basis points to 15.5%.

9. Brazil considers tighter consumer lending rules amid household debt concerns

The Central Bank of Brazil was preparing measures to address rising household indebtedness, including stricter disclosures and more rigorous assessments of borrowers’ finances, Reuters reported on 20 October, citing two people involved in the discussions. It was examining international models linking unsecured credit limits to income, including Singapore’s. Measures were expected to be introduced gradually, with higher capital requirements unlikely in the initial package. The central bank declined to comment.

The review comes as digital channels make loans easier to market, approve and disburse. Income-linked limits would place explicit constraints on loan sizes alongside lenders’ own credit assessments. Singapore provides one precedent through limits applied by individual financial institutions, although Brazil had not announced whether it would adopt a similar approach.

10. Truist sells specialist consumer loan portfolios to sharpen business focus

US bank Truist reported third-quarter results on 16 October, reflecting the sale of its $5.5 billion Regional Acceptance Corporation (RAC) indirect auto loan portfolio for $5.2 billion. It also disclosed an agreement signed on 14 October to sell $7.7 billion of unsecured consumer loans, representing substantially all assets of its LightStream lending platform, to Carlyle Group.

Truist described LightStream as a non-core, loan-only business earning below its return target. The sale, expected to close in the fourth quarter, would generate approximately $7.2 billion in net proceeds to repay wholesale borrowings. It was expected to release approximately $850 million of common equity Tier 1 capital and reduce the annual net charge-off ratio by seven basis points. The completed RAC sale was expected to reduce that ratio by about 10 basis points annually.