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ASEAN FINTECH FORUM (AFF)

Live events, real conversations, and an always-on intelligence hub
shaping ASEAN's BFSI agenda.

Rising regulatory expectations, legacy infrastructure bottlenecks, emerging AI risks, fraud escalation,
and talent shortages are reshaping how leaders operate.

AFF provides the alignment, clarity, and collaboration needed to navigate this turbulence with confidence.

AFF exists to

Turn Real Friction Into Regional Progress.

AFF Real Friction

AFF brings together policymakers and senior BFSI leaders to confront emerging prioirities directly, translating tension points into practical next steps, shared frameworks, and collaborative pathways that can scale across markets.

Powered by Sabio World’s signal-driven intelligence, AFF is building the region’s most trusted platform for actionable insight, practical dialogue, and measurable outcomes.

Clarity

Real signals, not noise. You get insight from regulators, banks, and market data.

Connection

Access to the people shaping ASEAN finance — decision-makers, not just speakers.

Conversations

Candid, practical dialogue that turns friction into next steps.

Where Insight

Becomes Action

Through year-round engagements, curated roundtables, executive dialogues, and data-driven market intelligence, AFF enables stakeholders to build shared understanding and take coordinated action.

Curated Roundtables

Real signals, not noise. You get insight from regulators, banks, and market data.

Executive Dialogues

Problem-solving sessions for navigating operating model, risk, and technology choices.

Market Intelligence

Signal-driven insight from Sabio World powering decisions with precision.

AFF Real Friction

The Five Forces

Reshaping Finance in 2026

Across ASEAN, BFSI leaders are navigating powerful cross-currents every day.
  • 1 Trying to modernise without pulling core operations off balance
  • 2 Managing access while holding back rising financial crime
  • 3 Working across borders while meeting each sovereign’s regulatory demands
  • 4 Pushing AI forward while keeping the human safe
  • 5 Chasing new growth paths without drifting from ethical anchors

These currents don’t run in isolation. They collide, intensify, and eventually form the structural forces reshaping the region. Each force carries its own pressure, its own risks, and its own momentum for change.

These are the Five Forces that steer every AFF keynote, roundtable, workshop, insight paper, and partnership initiative.

Market Forces
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Regulatory & Regional Partnerships

Regulatory & Regional Partnerships

Stronger collaboration across borders, regulators, and financial institutions.

Regulatory & Regional Partnerships

Financial Inclusion

Driving sustainable access while managing safety, trust, and digital risk.

Regulatory & Regional Partnerships

New Payment Rails & Embedded Finance

Real-time, interoperable, and embedded financial infrastructure at scale.

Digital Banking & AI Development

From cloud to AI governance — defining the next operating model for BFSI.

Islamic Finance

Strengthening Shariah-compliant models through digital transformation.

They act as a shared navigational lens, helping leaders read the tides, understand the undercurrents, and make the decisions that move ASEAN finance forward.

How the Five Forces Were Shaped.

The Council plays a crucial role in validating these forces, ensuring the tensions reflect current regulatory expectations, market realities, and emerging priorities from across
the region. Their collective input forms the foundation of the annual Council Perspectives 2025–26 report, a snapshot of how ASEAN BFSI priorities have shifted from last year to this year. This independent viewpoint helps keep AFF balanced, credible, and aligned with what senior leaders truly care about.

COUNCIL PERSPECTIVES 2025–2026

How 2025 Outcomes Reshaped the 2026 Priorities

Download the Report