Circle Asia Technologies, a credit-led neobank in Southeast Asia, has announced a strategic collaboration with digital payments leader Visa and technology platform Pismo to introduce Vietnam’s first AI-powered PayLater card. This initiative, slated for a phased rollout in early 2026, aims to expand credit access and enhance financial inclusion for millions of consumers in the country.
The AI-powered PayLater card is designed to address Vietnam’s low credit card penetration by offering a seamless way for users to build credit with instant approval, make payments globally, and manage their finances. It also bypasses the traditional requirement of a bank account. Utilizing AI modeling, Circle Asia Technologies can determine risk and underwrite a customer with an active virtual credit card, featuring flexible installment options as part of Circle PayLater, in under five minutes. The program is supported by a strategic collaboration with a large Vietnamese commercial bank to ensure compliance and market scale.
Arnab Ghosh, Founder & CEO at Circle Asia Technologies, stated, “Our mission is to deliver a seamless, rewarding and inclusive financial experience for Vietnamese consumers. Circle is fundamentally redesigning the financial experience for consumers in Vietnam. We believe that by starting with a truly modern credit product, we can build a deeper, more valuable relationship with our customers than traditional banks or debit-focused neobanks ever could. Working with Pismo and Visa enables us to innovate rapidly and offer unmatched convenience and security.”
Varun Dudeja, Head of Business Development, APAC at Pismo, commented, “Our collaboration with Circle and Visa underscores how uniting modern core processing technology with trusted global payments capabilities enables new, more transparent, and more accessible consumer experiences. This collaboration further accelerates the momentum toward a smarter and more inclusive digital financial ecosystem.”
Julie Hsiao, Head of Value-Added Services, Southeast Asia, Visa, added, “At Visa, we believe innovation in payments is key to unlocking financial inclusion and empowering consumers. Our collaboration with Circle and Pismo brings together advanced AI technology and Visa’s trusted global network to deliver secure, seamless, and personalized payment experiences for the Vietnamese market. We are proud to support Vietnam’s digital transformation and help set new standards for transparency, convenience, and security in financial services.”
Pismo provides an API and microservices-based platform that supports continuous innovation and resilient performance. Acquired by Visa in 2024, Pismo maintains its network-agnostic approach, continuing to work with multiple card networks. The integration of Pismo’s technology with Visa’s global infrastructure is facilitating the modernization of core banking and payment capabilities through cloud-native APIs, enabling financial institutions and fintechs to scale and offer advanced value-added services rapidly.
