The Emerging Payments Association Asia (EPAA) and Monash University Malaysia have formalized a three-year research partnership through a memorandum of understanding, aiming to tackle pressing challenges in the Asia-Pacific payments ecosystem. Signed at Monash's campus in Malaysia, the agreement unites the industry's leading advocacy group with the university's Monash FinTech Lab to deliver actionable insights on quantum-safe cryptography, stablecoins, scams and fraud prevention, and cross-border remittances.
This collaboration emerges at a pivotal moment for the region, where digital payments are exploding amid regulatory flux and technological disruption. By channeling academic rigor into policy-relevant analysis, the partnership seeks to fortify the region's financial infrastructure against these headwinds.
BRIDGE BETWEEN ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY
At the heart of the pact is a commitment to translate cutting-edge research into practical tools for payments policymakers, regulators, and businesses. Professor Nafis Alam, Head of the School of Business at Monash University Malaysia, was involved in the signing ceremony.
Camilla Bullock, Chief Executive Officer of the EPAA, highlighted the need for forward-thinking solutions. "APAC's payments landscape is world-leading, but new technologies are creating policy challenges that no single institution can address alone," said Camilla Bullock, Chief Executive Officer of Emerging Payments Association Asia. "Priority areas such as quantum-safe cryptography, scams and fraud, cross-border remittances and the emergence of stablecoins require collaboration across all parts of the ecosystem." "By joining forces, EPAA and Monash FinTech Lab will offer informed, coordinated leadership that can bridge the gap between innovation and policy and build shared capability across the ecosystem," said Bullock. The EPAA positions itself as the voice of innovation in a region that processes more real-time payments than any other globally.
Monash University Malaysia's FinTech Lab, housed within the School of Business, brings world-class expertise to the table. Established to foster interdisciplinary research in financial technology, the lab focuses on financial technology and regulation. This new alliance amplifies its impact by embedding industry feedback loops, ensuring outputs align with real-world needs.
FOCUS ON CRITICAL THREATS
Quantum-safe cryptography tops the research agenda, as quantum computers loom on the horizon, threatening to crack current encryption protocols that underpin global payments. The partnership will explore post-quantum algorithms tailored for high-volume payment networks, drawing on Monash's strengths in computational finance.
Stablecoins, another cornerstone, have surged in adoption across Southeast Asia. Joint studies will assess stablecoin viability for cross-border use, proposing frameworks to enhance stability without stifling innovation.
Fraud prevention remains urgent. The collaboration will develop AI-enhanced detection models and behavioral analytics, tested against regional datasets. Cross-border remittances will benefit from efficiency analyses.
BUILDING FUTURE CAPACITY
Beyond research, the pact emphasizes skills development through workshops, executive training, and forums uniting industry leaders, academics, and regulators. These initiatives aim to cultivate a new generation of payments experts attuned to digital transformation. The partnership also covers skills development for the sector to help prepare future payments professionals in the region as regulators and businesses respond to rapid change in digital finance.
The EPAA's role amplifies this effort. Partnering with Monash elevates its research arm, providing evidence-based advocacy amid geopolitical shifts and fintech unicorns like Grab and Gojek reshaping the landscape. "Payments across the Asia Pacific region are evolving rapidly, creating new opportunities as well as complex policy and regulatory challenges," said Andreas Deppeler, Professor of Practise at Monash University Malaysia's School of Business and Co-Director of Monash FinTech Impact Lab. "This makes close collaboration between industry and researchers essential to understand the implications for consumers, businesses and regulators." "By working together with the EPAA, we aim to strengthen policy development, build technical capability and help prepare the next generation of payments professionals to support APAC's global competitiveness," Deppeler added.
This alliance underscores a broader trend: academia-industry symbiosis as essential for navigating payments' future. The collaboration brings together an industry association whose members span multiple parts of the payments market and an academic team focused on financial technology and regulation. It reflects a broader push across the Asia Pacific to connect technical research more closely with policy as payment systems become more complex. Its outcomes are also intended to support a resilient, well-governed payments system across the Asia Pacific. The agreement places particular emphasis on making academic work more relevant to the practical policy questions facing market participants and supervisory bodies. For the Emerging Payments Association Asia, the link-up extends its role in policy debate beyond industry representation.
Stakeholders anticipate initial outputs, including whitepapers on quantum threats and stablecoin governance. These efforts will prove instrumental in safeguarding growth while mitigating risks. The partnership will support joint capability-building work, which may include bringing together senior industry figures, academics and regulators around specific payments issues affecting the region.