As tokenised payments and fraud detection tools advance in 2026 and become increasingly one connected part of the enterprise finance stack, it has become fundamental for finance teams to add these among the concoction of priorities.
Studies have found that in 2026, fraud is moving beyond its traditional pattern and enterprise teams are tasked to deal with account takeover, synthetic identities, business email compromise, payment redirection, and cross-border fraud, among others.
Against this backdrop, tokenisation and fraud detection serve not only as just IT or security investments, as these open the door for change in the responsibilities of Finance, treasury, accounting, FP&A, internal audit and risk.
Treasury teams are increasingly needing to understand payment risk at transaction level, as payment orchestration and fraud management are increasingly becoming treasury concerns, not just payment-operations concerns.
Moreover, reconciliation gets more complicated—and potentially better—as tokenisation creates an interesting accounting problem. Finance therefore needs strong payment-to-cash reconciliation and transaction lineage.
In dealing with such shifts and innovations, finance professionals must find the balance between transaction security and minimised financial and compliance risk/
Eng Sheng Guan, CEO at Fiuu, believes Finance teams are being asked to manage two priorities at once: they need to reduce fraud and compliance risk, but they also cannot afford to lose legitimate transactions to unnecessary friction.
He stresses the importance of tokenisation and stronger fraud tools, explaining “tokenisation reduces exposure
to sensitive payment data by replacing it with secure tokens, which helps strengthen security without adding extra effort for the customer.”
He believes that more advanced fraud detection tools also allow businesses to be more targeted.
“Instead of applying broad controls that slow everything down, they can focus on intervention where the real risk is.”
Eng says this balance matters because every false decline or unnecessary interruption comes at a cost, whether in lost revenue, customer frustration, or added operational follow-up.
For him, the goal is not just to add more protection, but to make security work more intelligently in the background so businesses can reduce risk while keeping the payment experience smooth.
Scalable payment infrastructure
In terms of how a scalable payment infrastructure contribute to stronger financial visibility, cash flow management, and regional expansion across APAC markets, Eng notes on how it gives finance teams something very practical: clarity.
“If payment flows are split across different providers, channels, and markets, visibility gets patchy very quickly. Reporting takes longer, reconciliation gets heavier, and cash flow becomes harder to manage with confidence.”
He believes a more unified setup makes it easier to see where revenue is coming from, when funds are settling, and how liquidity is moving across the business.
“That becomes even more important across APAC, and especially in Southeast Asia, where every market has its own payment mix, settlement cycle, and operating requirements.”
“Expansion should give you growth, not less control.”
Eng Sheng Guan, CEO, Fiuu
Leveraging unified payment platforms
Finance leaders are in need to leverage unified payment platforms to simplify reconciliation, reduce operational complexity, and improve treasury efficiency.
Eng thinks a unified payments platform helps finance teams spend less time stitching data together and more time actually managing the business.
“Instead of reconciling across multiple providers, formats, and reports, they can work from a more consistent view of payment activity.”
He explains this usually means less manual work, faster reconciliation, and fewer exceptions to chase down.
“The treasury benefit is just as important. When finance leaders have better visibility over inflows, outflows, and settlement timing, forecasting gets sharper, and liquidity decisions become easier to make.”
Further, Eng points out this also support faster month-end closing and better working capital planning because finance teams are not waiting on fragmented reports to understand the cash position.
“For me, that is the real upside. It is not just about making operations neater. It is about giving finance leaders better control over the moving parts that matter.”
Opportunities
As Southeast Asia’s digital economy accelerates, opportunities arise for finance teams to use payment data and transaction insights to drive smarter strategic decisions and growth planning.
Eng says payment data is one of the most underused sources of business insight, as it tells businesses not just what customers are buying, but how they prefer to pay, which channels are working, and where friction may be affecting conversion.
For CEOs and finance teams, this makes payments more than a back-end function. It becomes a live source of commercial intelligence.
He cited the Philippines as a good example of how quickly behavior is shifting. “According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, digital payments accounted for 57.4% of total monthly retail payments in 2024, while the number of merchants accepting QR Ph grew 148.7% year on year.”
Eng says those numbers are useful because they show where customer behaviour is moving, which payment rails are gaining ground, and where businesses may need to adapt.
“Used well, payment data can shape expansion strategy, channel priorities, product decisions, and growth planning in a much more grounded way. It helps leadership move from assumption-led planning to evidence-led decision-making.”
Payment innovation
Amid the advancements, technological innovations undoubtedly help finance leaders improve customer conversion, support omnichannel growth, and manage costs more effectively in an increasingly digital economy.
Considering this, Eng believes the commercial impact of payment innovation is often underestimated.
“At the front end, it helps improve conversion by reducing friction at the point where a customer is ready to pay. At the operating level, it helps businesses create a more consistent experience across online, offline, and mobile channels.”
As for the finance perspective, Eng says it gives better visibility into transaction flows, payment costs, and performance.
That matters even more in Southeast Asia, where payment behaviour is highly fragmented from market to market. Eng highlights, “the goal is not simply to add more payment options. It is to make sure the business can support omnichannel growth in a way that stays efficient, manageable, and commercially sound as it scales.”
For the Fiuu CEO, that is how finance leaders should look at payment innovation: not as a feature discussion, but as part of building a more scalable and financially disciplined business.
