payments digital-payments fintech

Payment Brief — 2026-08-18

Posted on August 18, 2026 at 07:47 PM

Payment Brief — 2026-08-18

Top Stories

1. GoTyme Becomes the Philippines’ First Digital Bank to Offer Apple Pay

  • Source: TNGlobal · August 18, 2026
  • Summary: GoTyme Bank has enabled Apple Pay for its customers in the Philippines, making it the first Philippine digital bank to support Apple’s wallet-based payments service. Customers can add GoTyme debit cards to Apple Wallet for contactless, in-app and online payments, with tokenisation replacing the underlying card number with a device-specific credential. The launch expands mobile-wallet functionality for GoTyme’s roughly 10 million customers.
  • Why It Matters: The move shows how digital banks are increasingly competing on payment experience rather than banking products alone. It also highlights the growing importance of tokenised credentials and cloud-native issuer processing as mobile payments become mainstream in Southeast Asia.
  • URL: https://technode.global/2026/08/18/gotyme-becomes-first-philippine-digital-bank-to-offer-apple-pay-to-10-million-customers/

2. Philippine Digital Payments Reach 64.69% of Retail Transaction Volume

  • Source: BitPinas · August 18, 2026
  • Summary: New data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas shows electronic payments represented 64.69% of overall retail transaction volume in 2025, up from 57.45% in 2024. QR Ph processed 2.47 billion transactions worth ₱1.16 trillion, overtaking debit and credit cards by transaction count for the first time. Person-to-merchant payments accounted for 74.31% of digital transaction volume.
  • Why It Matters: The Philippines is moving from digital-payment adoption to digital-payment dominance. Interoperable QR infrastructure and lower transfer costs are creating network effects that favor wallets, account-to-account payments and merchants operating across multiple payment providers.
  • URL: https://bitpinas.com/fintech/bsp-digital-surge/

3. Afriex Expands Cross-Border Payments Infrastructure Through Global Innovations Bank

  • Source: TechAfrica News · August 18, 2026
  • Summary: Cross-border payments infrastructure provider Afriex has partnered with Global Innovations Bank to strengthen sponsor and settlement banking for its B2B Payments API. The partnership is designed to improve settlement speed, regulatory coverage and access to Global USD Accounts for businesses moving money across more than 35 countries. Afriex says it processes more than $600 million in annual payment volume.
  • Why It Matters: Cross-border fintech competition is increasingly shifting from front-end money-transfer apps toward underlying banking and settlement infrastructure. Strong sponsor-bank relationships can become a key differentiator for payment companies seeking to scale internationally while maintaining regulatory coverage and operational resilience.
  • URL: https://techafricanews.com/2026/08/18/afriex-strengthens-cross-border-payments-infrastructure-with-new-gib-partnership/
  • Source: Fintech News Philippines · August 18, 2026
  • Summary: Bank of the Philippine Islands has waived PESONet fees for corporate transfers made through the Pay Non-BPI feature of its BizLink platform. The waiver applies to transfers to other banks and follows BPI’s broader removal of InstaPay and PESONet fees across several consumer and business channels. The bank positioned the move as a way to reduce recurring payment costs for businesses.
  • Why It Matters: Lower account-to-account transfer pricing could accelerate the migration of corporate disbursements away from checks and higher-cost payment methods. Competitive pressure on payment fees is also likely to push banks toward monetising value-added treasury, liquidity and workflow services rather than basic transfer transactions.
  • URL: https://fintechnews.ph/73183/banking/bpi-waives-pesonet-fees-bizlink/

5. PointsKash Secures Up to $100 Million in Strategic Capital for Payments Expansion

  • Source: FinTech Futures · August 18, 2026
  • Summary: US fintech PointsKash has secured an expanded strategic capital commitment of up to $100 million from Hawk Capital Advisors. Up to $35 million is earmarked for the initial phase through October 2026, with a further $65 million potentially available in 2027 subject to operating and commercial milestones. The company plans to deploy the capital across its KashPoints kiosk network, PK Pay mobile platform, merchant expansion and payments infrastructure.
  • Why It Matters: The financing reflects continued investor interest in payment infrastructure aimed at underserved consumers rather than purely premium digital banking segments. The staged capital structure also shows investors increasingly tying fintech expansion funding to measurable commercial and deployment milestones.
  • URL: https://www.fintechfutures.com/venture-capital-funding/pointskash-commitment-100m-hawk-capital

6. Bakkt Names New CFO as It Builds AI-Enabled Financial Infrastructure

  • Source: FinTech Futures · August 18, 2026
  • Summary: Bakkt appointed Matt White as chief financial officer, succeeding Karen Alexander. White will oversee financial operations as the company develops what it describes as technology-enabled financial infrastructure spanning digital assets, cross-border payments and AI-enabled financial services. Bakkt is positioning payments infrastructure alongside agentic AI and blockchain capabilities.
  • Why It Matters: The appointment reflects a broader convergence between payments infrastructure, digital assets and AI-native financial services. For payment companies, the strategic opportunity is moving beyond transaction processing toward programmable financial infrastructure that can support automated workflows and emerging machine-driven commerce.
  • URL: https://www.fintechfutures.com/job-cuts-new-hires/bakkt-appoints-matt-white-cfo

Executive Takeaway

The strongest payment signal today is the acceleration of account-based and mobile payments in emerging markets. The Philippines provides a particularly clear example: digital payments now represent nearly two-thirds of retail transaction volume, while QR interoperability and falling transfer fees are reducing friction for both consumers and businesses.

At the infrastructure layer, Afriex’s banking partnership and Bakkt’s positioning point toward a broader shift: payments are increasingly becoming programmable financial infrastructure rather than standalone checkout products. The strategic battleground is moving toward settlement connectivity, tokenisation, cross-border liquidity, APIs and increasingly AI-driven financial workflows.

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