“We’re seeing increasing demand for virtual card payments, which our platform is perfectly suited for,” said John Mitchell, E6’s co-founder and CEO. “We’re also seeing an increase in demand for our virtual account, and we’re expected to have growing penetration around these two products in Hong Kong throughout the rest of the year.”

“We know there’s a push from the regulators to see more innovative working capital solutions deployed to SMEs, and we have a product that takes the concept of ‘buy now, pay later’ [BNPL] but industrialises it and makes it fit for purpose for commercial banks to offer to SME customers,” Muse-McKenney said, adding that there is some “good traction” taking place in the market, and E6 is looking to officially launch the new product in the second half of this year.

BNPL is a short-term instalment loan that allows customers to make purchases and pay for them later, without being charged interest.

“The problem across the region is that payments technology needs to be modernised,” said Mitchell. “Asia-Pacific is growing for E6, and some of the new payment products require technology that’s not readily available in the markets that we’re entering, whether that’s around contactless QR code payments, or interoperability between payment schemes.”

Both executives also highlighted Japan as “high on the list” for the start-up.

“Japan is a particularly compelling market for E6,” said Mitchell, adding that E6 has been on the ground in Japan since 2017. With positive macroeconomic trends and a fintech-friendly regulatory environment in Japan, financial institutions are investing in modernising their payment infrastructure, he added.

Ant Group adds 14 foreign payment apps in access boost for Hong Kong merchants

“Financial institutions in Asia have had more direct competition from fintechs, and thus they have had to wake up sooner and are more advanced in their thinking in terms of the digital experiences they need to create,” said Muse-McKenney.

“The payments innovation landscape in Asia, the idea of faster payments, is a really progressive agenda that’s being pushed, and so banks and financial institutions more broadly are at the forefront of payments innovation, whereas within [Europe, the Middle East and Africa] and North America, they’re more catching up.”

While also steadily expanding in Europe and North America, Asia remains E6’s largest market from both a revenue and accounts perspective, since the company was founded in 2015, Mitchell said.

Hong Kong SMEs more confident of growth than their Singapore, mainland peers

E6 in late April announced a partnership with Singapore-licensed financial institution DCS Card Centre that will allow fintech companies to issue their own branded credit cards through E6’s customer interface.

Powered by E6’s card issuance technology, the solution reduces the process needed to launch a new credit card from up to six months to a matter of weeks. It also incorporates access to a virtual account that allows for top-ups with fiat currency through bank transfers, or with digital assets via DCS tokens, which are directly issued by DCS.

With a presence in more than 35 countries, E6 completed its most recent financing round in March 2023, raising US$48 million from investors led by Avenir. E6’s other existing backers include HSBC, Mastercard, SBI Investment Co and Anthos Capital.

AUSTIN, Texas — Diego Rubio and Jáder Obrian scored first-half goals and Brad Stuver notched his second straight clean sheet as Austin FC blanked the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 on Saturday.

Austin (4-3-3) jumped in front in the 7th minute when Rubio took a through ball from Obrian and drilled a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom left corner of the net. It was Rubio’s third goal of the season and the second assist for Obrian.

Obrian made it 2-0 in the 19th minute with his second netter of the campaign. Obrian used an assist from Alexander Ring on a fast break to send a right-footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner.

Brad Stuver finished with four saves — three in the first half — for Austin, which has won four of its last five matches. Stuver has posted three shutouts this season.

John McCarthy stopped three shots for the Galaxy (5-2-3), who entered play having won four of their last five matches to move to the top of the Western Conference.

Austin won by holding Dejan Joveljić and Riqui Puig in check. Joveljić entered play with three goals and three assists in five career appearances — one start — against the club. Puig had two goals and an assist in two career starts against Austin.

The Galaxy scored 21 goals in their first nine matches with 13 coming in the second half. LA was shut out for the first time this season and falls to 3-2-1 on the road.

Austin picked up its second victory over the Galaxy, improving to 2-4-1 in the all-time series.

Austin travels to play the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday. The Galaxy head to Seattle to take on the Sounders on Sunday.

LA Galaxy (5-1-3, first in the Western Conference) vs. Austin FC (3-3-3, seventh in the Western Conference)

Austin, Texas; Saturday, 1:45 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Los Angeles +135, Austin FC +167, Draw +260; over/under is 3.5 goals

BOTTOM LINE: A game after shutting out the Houston Dynamo 1-0, Austin plays the LA Galaxy.

Austin is 3-2-2 against Western Conference opponents. Austin is 3-2 in one-goal matches.

The Galaxy are 5-1-2 against Western Conference opponents. The Galaxy rank third in the Western Conference with 50 shots on goal, averaging 5.6 per game. The Galaxy are also second in MLS play with 20 goals.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams.

TOP PERFORMERS: Sebastian Driussi has scored two goals with one assist for Austin. Guilherme da Trindade Dubas has two goals.

Dejan Joveljic has scored five goals with two assists for the Galaxy. Joseph Paintsil has four goals and three assists.

SEASON SO FAR: Austin: Averaging 1.3 goals, 2.3 shots on goal and 3.9 corner kicks through nine games while allowing 1.4 goals per game.

Galaxy: Averaging 2.2 goals, 5.6 shots on goal and 5.2 corner kicks through nine games while allowing 1.6 goals per game.

NOT EXPECTED TO PLAY: Austin: Leo Vaisanen (injured).

Galaxy: Eriq Zavaleta (injured).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.