29 Apr 2025

Driving digital banking forward in Asia: Insights from Money20/20 and Beyond

From Bangkok to beyond: GFT shares key insights and partnerships shaping the next generation of digital banking in Asia.
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Julie de Melo
Head of Marketing APAC
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Banking
Digital Transformation
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The financial services landscape across Asia is evolving at speed. At GFT, we are proud to help financial institutions lead that transformation, supporting them with innovation that delivers secure, frictionless, and scalable banking experiences.

Our participation at Money20/20 Asia in Bangkok this month reaffirmed our vision: not only as technology experts, but as strategic partners shaping the region’s financial future. Through direct conversations with clients, partners, and thought leaders, we reinforced our commitment to accelerating digital banking innovation across APAC.

 

During the week, we exchanged ideas with ecosystem players on the role of AI, cloud, and customer-first design in building tomorrow’s financial services. The pace of change is accelerating and so is the opportunity.

A pivotal moment for virtual banking in Thailand

Thailand is set to become a digital banking hotspot. With virtual banking licenses expected by June 2025 (Bangkok Post), new entrants and incumbents alike are preparing to capitalise on this landmark shift.

GFT is ready to support this evolution. Having delivered over 15 cloud-native virtual banks globally, we offer deep regulatory expertise and the technological know-how to meet diverse market needs. Each bank we build is tailored for resilience, scalability, and exceptional customer experience.

Demonstrating leadership at Money20/20

At Money20/20, GFT co-hosted two sessions alongside Engine by Starling, AWS, and PwC, offering practical insight into what it takes to build a modern digital bank.

 

"Digital first, human always" explores how financial institutions can differentiate through design-led thinking, rapid delivery, and modular tech stacks—key tenets of GFT’s approach.
 

"Supercharged growth: the Salt Bank story – 500K customers in 12 months" shared how Salt Bank, built with Engine by Starling, scaled rapidly in Romania. With over 500,000 customers in its first year, it illustrates what’s possible with the right platform and market-fit execution.


Read the full success story

Strategic partnerships driving success

GFT’s alliances are a core driver of our impact.

 

Our collaboration with Engine by Starling enables us to deliver full-scale banking platforms that launch fast and scale smoothly. Combined with the power of AWS, we offer cloud-native resilience and access to advanced services from AI to analytics.

 

Beyond technology, Money20/20 was also an opportunity to reconnect with marketing partners, current clients, and ecosystem leaders across Asia, strengthening collaboration and exploring new growth opportunities.

 

Together, GFT, Engine, and AWS form an integrated ecosystem that supports banks at every stage, from idea to go-live, and beyond.

Enabling the next generation of finance in Asia and more!

From Thailand and Vietnam to Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia and the Gulf, GFT supports financial institutions across diverse growth journeys. We bring regional understanding, proven delivery, and a focus on measurable outcomes.


Our areas of focus include:

 

We are proud to help clients navigate change and thrive.

GFT Banking Services VietnamJulie de Melo

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Head of Marketing APAC
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