Hi fintech friends,

We opened this week with China’s antitrust probing into Trip.com right before the Chinese New Year travels start. Trip.com said it is cooperating, with potential fines of 1%–10% of prior-year sales. Many read this as a reminder that Beijing's regulatory gaze hasn't softened on Big Tech—even after Alibaba's 2021 mega-fine. We will continue to watch this and let me know your take on this.

Now, continue to this week's China fintech roundups.

Financing & Acquisition

• WeLab raised $220 million in Series D (debt + equity), the largest Asian digital banking round of 2025, to scale in Southeast Asia.
• VelaFi raised $20 million in Series B with Alibaba Investment participating, bringing total funding to $40 million.
• PhotonPay secured “tens of millions” in Series B led by IDG Capital to expand stablecoin rails and its regulatory footprint.

Product & Partnership Launches

• Airwallex deepened its partnership with Arsenal by powering their Stadium's payments, streamlining premium matchday transactions and reducing costs.
• PhotonPay collaborated with ClearBank to offer UK virtual accounts, GBP collections, and payouts, gaining indirect access to Faster Payments, BACS, and CHAPS. They've also launched a Vietnam local account.
• PingPong Payments partnered with Australian fintech Zip to add BNPL option for merchants.
• Visa enabled Apple Pay for eligible China-issued Visa cards overseas for in-store, in-app, and online purchases.
• Sony and HK fintech Bolttech launched warranty products in Hong Kong.
• Ant International teamed up with Google on Universal Commerce Protocol to enable AI in-chat shopping with secure payments and merchant control.
• UnionPay International and Samsung Wallet launched an all-in-one NFC/QR mobile payments in Hong Kong, enabling UnionPay cardholders to pay via NFC or QR.

👍 👎 Have feedback or news to share?

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