Project Nexus, backed by the Bank for International Settlements, is tying together the national instant payment systems of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines through a common cross-border framework, allowing participants to connect once to reach the broader network and cutting delays and costs associated with correspondent bank routing. ^[1] Five new themed tourism routes connecting Hangzhou, Chendaohe, and Huangshan were officially announced to target the South Korean market. ^[2] The 'Famous Mountains, Famous Waters, Famous Cities' Hangzhou, Chendaohe, and Huangshan Tourism Exposition was held in Seoul, South Korea on September 3. ^[3] Singapore is studying a second generation of PayNow, including a proposal to bridge PayNow and NETS QR so consumers can scan and pay across different schemes, with a pilot targeted for the end of 2026. ^[4] Thailand's PromptPay was clearing more than 74 million transactions a day by mid-2025, with signups topping 81 million earlier that year. ^[5] Unnamed Indian officials are reportedly in discussions with Ant International about linking Alipay+ with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for cross-border transactions, which would connect one of the world's largest instant payment systems with a platform spanning more than 100 markets and 1.8 billion accounts. ^[6] The event was jointly hosted by the Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism and the Huangshan Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism. ^[7] The new routes utilize the Hangzhou-Huangshan high-speed rail to link the three regions, allowing tourists to experience urban scenery, lake ecology, and mountain landscapes in a single trip. ^[8]