IMBA Wallet has launched prepaid wallets for AI agents.

For a 33-year-old bank employee surnamed Jung raising a 3-year-old son in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo District, coming home from work feels like starting a second shift. She uses a reduced working hours program for parents to leave work an hour or two early. Once her mother-in-law, who looks after the child while the couple are at work, heads home, Jung handles child care alone until her husband returns. “As soon as I get home, I feed my son dinner, bathe him and play with him. By then, my husband is home,” she said. “While he plays with our son, I finally get to shower, wash the dishes and tidy up. Then it’s time to put our son to bed.” Jung gets her first chance to sit down on the sofa after her son falls asleep, past 10 p.m. “Even though I leave work early, it feels like I work overtime every day,” she said. “My husband does quite a lot of child care, but our son tends to seek me out more, and I feel that a larger share of the housework naturally falls to me.” Government figures released Monday show that an uneven division of domestic duties persists among young working pa

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs last week joined Trinity Airways and Sono Pet Clubs & Resorts for a two-day pet adoption program, combining government support for retired detection dogs with private-sector assistance in event planning, accommodation and training. The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency under the ministry provided guidance on adoption procedures and answered prospective owners’ questions. Trinity Airways, formerly T’way Air, organized the program, held Saturday and Sunday, while Sono Pet provided spaces for families and dogs to interact and rest, along with professional training support. Held at Sono Pet’s Vivaldi Park in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, the program brought together three retired quarantine detection dogs and three prospective adoptive families selected through a screening process, according to the agency. The dogs were two English springer spaniels, aged 7 and 9, and a 9-year-old beagle. Activities included running together, treasure hunts and walks, giving participants opportunities to interact with the dogs. A trainer specializing

Finda, a loan comparison platform, is set to acquire a savings bank, in what would be a first for a Korean fintech company, as it looks to build an artificial intelligence (AI)-native bank, industry officials said Monday. The Financial Services Commission's subcommittee approved Finda's application to acquire Daewon Savings Bank on Friday. The regulator is set to make a final decision at its regular meeting Wednesday. Finda signed a deal in June to acquire all of Daewon Savings Bank's shares for about 12 billion won ($9 million). The acquisition would allow the company to move beyond matching borrowers with lenders and offer financial services directly, including loans and deposits. Once the deal receives final approval, Finda plans to appoint a new CEO through board and shareholder meetings. The fintech firm aims to turn the lender into an AI-native bank, relying on digital services rather than a traditional network of branches. It plans to draw on AI technology and loan-comparison data it has collected since 2019 to expand its online lending business nationwide, the firm said. The compa

Hyundai Rotem, a defense affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, said Monday it will acquire Hyundai Wia's defense business for 358.4 billion won ($252 million) to strengthen its weapons production capabilities. Hyundai Rotem said in a regulatory filing that it plans to acquire Hyundai Wia's defense business, which manufactures key components for Korea's K9 self-propelled howitzers and K2 main battle tanks. The acquisition is expected to boost Hyundai Rotem's competitiveness in the global market by bringing more of its weapons production capabilities in-house, particularly for its flagship K2 tanks. In August 2025, the company signed a $6.5 billion follow-up contract to supply K2 tanks to Poland. Five months later, it reached a comprehensive agreement with Peru to supply 195 ground weapons systems, including 54 K2 tanks. For Hyundai Wia, the sale is part of broader restructuring efforts to shift its focus toward future mobility technologies, including vehicle electrification and software-defined vehicles (SDVs). The company plans to use the proceeds from the sale to invest in new growth areas,

A global event aimed at exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation can deliver practical development gains kicked off its three-day run in Seoul on Monday, the science ministry said. The Global AI & Digital Summit, co-hosted by the ministry and the World Bank Group — a family of five institutions that makes leveraged loans to developing countries —brought together government officials from some 60 nations, as well as development partners, private sector leaders and researchers. This year marks the first time the summit was held outside of the United States, the ministry added. The event will begin with an AI and Digital Ministerial meeting, co-chaired by Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon and Kim Sang-bu, the vice president for digital and AI at the World Bank Group, followed by policy forums and exhibitions from participating companies. Korea has been hosting the AI and digital ministerial meeting since 2005, with the most recent gathering held last year on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum. Second Vice Science Minister Ryu J

A Singaporean who will argue over a 50-cent difference in cashback at a hawker centre may have no idea what their savings account pays. New research suggests that person is the norm. Some 89 per cent of Singapore residents hold spare cash, according to a survey of 1,000 people conducted by research firm Milieu. Among […] The post Points beat percentages: Why three in four Singaporeans think their spare cash is underperforming appeared first on e27.

Many Singapore companies offer a peculiar kind of workplace benefit: one that exists mostly in the HR handbook. Managers will tell you it is there. Employees, asked the same question, will tell you they have never come across it. That gap sits at the centre of the Jobstreet by SEEK Singapore Workplace Culture Study 2026. […] The post Singapore employers say they offer burnout support. Half their staff say they’ve never seen it appeared first on e27.

Global financial ecosystems present a fascinating landscape today, as virtual currencies are in a modest recovery phase. Bitcoin leads this upward trajectory, up 0.94 per cent over the past 24 hours. The premier cryptocurrency trades at exactly US$82,204.31. This price action slightly outperforms a broadly flat digital asset sector. The total cryptocurrency capitalisation registers a […] The post Will the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting crush the bullish push toward the US$84,000 target? appeared first on e27.

Southeast Asia has spent the last decade trying to turn its obsession with play into businesses. Some bets worked spectacularly, some blew up just as spectacularly, and a surprising number of the best ones never raised much venture money at all. The Web3 gaming boom of 2021 is the cautionary tale everyone remembers: blockchain games, […] The post Beyond play-to-earn: 14 Southeast Asian gaming and sports-tech startups still in the game appeared first on e27.

Young workers in Singapore are not waiting for their employers to roll out AI. They are already using it, often on personal devices and often without anyone watching. According to “What Gen Z Workers Want 2026”, a study commissioned by Deel and conducted with YouGov and ThinkerTank, 49 per cent of Singapore workers aged 18 […] The post Gen Z is bringing its own AI to work. Singapore’s SMEs need rules, not bans appeared first on e27.

Workplace conflict rarely arrives as a clean set of facts. By the time we decide that a manager is undermining us, a colleague is being deliberately difficult, or someone on the team cannot be trusted, we have usually spent some time interpreting what happened. We have noticed particular behaviours, connected them with earlier experiences, filled […] The post When AI takes your side in a workplace conflict appeared first on e27.

Southeast Asia has spent the past decade moving rapidly towards a more connected future. Fibre networks have replaced much of the region’s older copper infrastructure, smartphones have become the primary gateway to services, and communications, payments, government functions and commerce have increasingly shifted online. That transition has brought enormous benefits, but it has also created […] The post Faster, smarter, but more fragile? Rethinking communications resilience in Southeast Asia appeared first on e27.