Global payment technology provider Waffo Group Limited (“Waffo”) has signed a strategic partnership agreement and received an equity investment from the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (“HSBC”), to accelerate the development and expansion of next-generation Alternative Payment Method (APM) solutions globally, offering localized, trusted payment methods to business clients.
By leveraging Waffo’s aggregation layer, HSBC enhances its acquiring infrastructure with greater flexibility to serve diverse markets. Waffo contributes modular payment technology, deep local compliance, and rapid deployment capabilities across fast-growing digital sectors such as AI, SaaS, gaming, and digital content.
This strategic partnership marks a significant step forward in advancing global payment infrastructure. HSBC and Waffo will continue to collaborate and innovate across technology, compliance, products and services to support businesses entering new markets — helping unlock global growth through reliable, localized payment solutions.
Waffo offers unified API access to over 430 local payment methods across 50+ countries, covering e-wallets, QR payments, bank transfers, BNPL, and other widely used options. With strong coverage in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, and East Asia, Waffo enables global businesses to simplify payment integration and unlock local monetization at scale.
“We are pleased to announce our partnership with Waffo. Together, we are committed to developing a scalable, compliant, resilient ecosystem.” said Lewis Sun, Global Head of Domestic and Emerging Payments at HSBC. “This collaboration represents a pivotal addition to HSBC’s comprehensive merchant solutions and strengthens our Digital Merchant Services (DMS) infrastructure, ensuring seamless integration, superior service delivery and providing joint engagement with our clients.”
“As businesses globalise and the demand to serve international customers rises, a modern payments platform with advanced technical capabilities and robust connectivity to diverse payment rails is essential for providing a reliable and seamless checkout experience.” said Louisa Zhang, Head of Ventures, Asia at HSBC. “We are hopeful that this strategic investment and partnership with Waffo will position HSBC at the forefront of payment infrastructure developments and accelerate our digital commerce rollout in new markets.”
This collaboration reflects strong alignment in vision,” said Frankie Fan, Co-Founder and CEO of Waffo. “We’re excited to partner with HSBC to solve the last-mile challenges in global payments and help businesses enter new markets with speed, trust, and scalable local infrastructure.
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About Waffo
Waffo is a leading global payment infrastructure provider offering unified access to 430+ local payment methods across 50+ countries and regions, with a strong focus on emerging and high-growth markets. Waffo empowers AI, SaaS, and digital entertainment businesses to drive successful monetization in global markets. The company holds a Hong Kong MSO license, and is PCI DSS v4.0 Level 1 certified.
About HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of HSBC, is headquartered in London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 57 countries and territories. With assets of US$3,214bn at 30 June 2025, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.