WorldFirst SEA

WorldFirst SEA Welcome to WorldFirst, we help SMEs, business owners and merchant with their foreign exchange payments and collections. Every payment has a story.

Our mission is to make it easier to do business anywhere! We know that moving your money around the world means a lot more than just changing pounds to euros, or dollars to yen. Maybe it's collecting your first e-commerce payout. Perhaps it's about your brand new business paying that first supplier overseas - how exciting! Or finding a better way to manage multiple currencies as a global business

- less headache please. Whatever your story, we are here to help. We'll go out of our way to make that happen, and will make sure every payment has a happily ever after.

The Edge Malaysia reported Malaysia's digital economy is on track for 30% of GDP by 2030. The message is clear, going di...
01/09/2026

The Edge Malaysia reported Malaysia's digital economy is on track for 30% of GDP by 2030. The message is clear, going digital is the growth strategy.

Malaysia's MSMEs grew 5.7% in 2025. The national economy grew 5.2%. That's the fourth year running Malaysia SMEs have outpaced the country.

The growth isn't staying local either. MSME exports rose 10.5% to MYR 214.5 billion in 2025, on top of a 31.3% jump the year before.

Here's what doesn't show up in the GDP headline. The moment a Malaysian exporter starts shipping to a buyer on Amazon, Etsy or Alibaba, they stop getting paid in ringgit. They get paid in USD. And if the account that's supposed to receive that USD takes weeks to set up, or the payment has to clear through a chain of correspondent banks first, the seller loses time and margin before the money even lands.

That's the part WorldFirst was built to close. Malaysian exporters get a USD receiving account the same day they complete KYC, so they can start collecting payouts from global customers and global marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy, Alibaba without waiting on a bank to catch up with how fast they're growing.

The growth is already happening. What decides how much of it an exporter actually keeps is how fast they can get paid once the sale is made.

Selling cross-border and still waiting on your bank to sort out USD payments?
Get Started with World Account: https://www.worldfirst.com/my/product/

Read more:
https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/814902
https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2026/07/30/msmes039-gdp-grew-57-in-2025-outpaced-overall-economy--dosm

The Bosses United Congress Cup brought together SME business owners from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and ...
31/08/2026

The Bosses United Congress Cup brought together SME business owners from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Japan for a shared celebration of competition and community. Different nationalities, one shared passion: football 🏆⚽.

As title sponsor of the Bosses United Congress Cup, we didn't want to just watch from the sidelines. So this time, we brought our own teams to the field from across Ant International: WorldFirst, ANEXT, Bettr, and Alipay+ Legal & Compliance, lacing up alongside the bosses we're proud to support.

Because the truth is, we're just as mad about football as they are. On the pitch and off it, we share the same vision. (Fun fact: WorldFirst has won the Ant International football tournament two years running!)

It comes down to a simple belief: ambition, discipline and teamwork turn potential into victory, whether on a pitch or in a company. The Congress Cup felt like a natural extension of that spirit, just with SME bosses on the field this time.

By closing ceremony, that spirit filled the room. Congratulations to Bosses United Malaysia on the win, and to every Bosses United team that competed. SMEs make up the vast majority of businesses across Asia. When they thrive, so do the communities around them. That's a vision WorldFirst proudly shares with Bosses United.

Looking forward to more collaborations, and onto Congress Cup 2027!

Merdeka Day marks independence built not in a single moment, but through years of negotiation, diplomacy, and a shared s...
31/08/2026

Merdeka Day marks independence built not in a single moment, but through years of negotiation, diplomacy, and a shared sense of unity. Unity wasn't just the result; it was part of what made independence possible.

That spirit shows up in our work too. At our TRX office, we sit alongside all kinds of Malaysian busiensses and communities, and no two operate quite the same. Understanding those differences, and earning trust across them, is part of the job. It's also shown us just how much Malaysia's diversity shapes the way business gets done here — and why real localisation matters.

This Merdeka Day, we're bringing more of that gotong-royong spirit into how we support malaysian SMEs: work closer, listen harded, and build what businesses here actually need.

Selamat Hari Merdeka!

Singapore’s semiconductor exports just posted their best month in years. NODX rose 24.2% in July, after a 20.8% jump in ...
26/08/2026

Singapore’s semiconductor exports just posted their best month in years. NODX rose 24.2% in July, after a 20.8% jump in June, marking 11 straight months of growth. Enterprise Singapore has raised its full-year forecast from 3%-5% to 14%-16%.

But this isn’t a broad export recovery. Growth is heavily concentrated in electronics, led by markets deeply embedded in the semiconductor value chain: the US, South Korea, and Taiwan.

The main driver is AI infrastructure. The US saw growth in disk media, PCs and telecom equipment; China in specialised machinery, non-monetary gold and integrated chips. Basically, hyperscalers need more chips, memory and servers, and Singapore is helping fill that demand. Meanwhile, less AI-exposed exports are shrinking by double digits, including pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals and food preparations.

If your business operates anywhere in this supply chain, from sourcing and logistics to distribution and financing, you’re likely moving money across multiple currencies. WorldFirst's World Account lets you collect, hold, earn, convert, and pay in multiple local currencies from a single login — with no setup fees, no collection fees, and no minimum balance required, plus competitive FX rates from as low as 0.3%.

New to WorldFirst? Enjoy 5 free payments and 50% off FX upon account verification: https://www.worldfirst.com/sg/campaign/new-user-vouchers-2026/

Read more: https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapores-key-exports-rise-24-2-due-to-strong-ai-demand-but-miss-forecasts

What does it take to run a 7 to 9 figure e-commerce business on AI?That was the question in the room at AI Scaling Live ...
24/08/2026

What does it take to run a 7 to 9 figure e-commerce business on AI?

That was the question in the room at AI Scaling Live Singapore, organised by Scale Insights alongside Million Dollar Sellers, the community for e-commerce owners scaling from 7 to 9 figures. Operators flew in from Southeast Asia, the US and ANZ. Business owners mostly trading in more currencies than they would like.

Our Country Manager for Singapore, Shawn Shen, opened with his own experience of change management and where AI has fitted into it since. Then how AI is working inside the WorldFirst business, and what that means for sellers trying to maximise each dollar across their international operations.

Two things came through from the day.
1. AI implements at scale, but the taste has to be yours. Competitor research, supplier evaluation, the proposition to customers, the visuals, the copy. Hand all of that over and you get the same average output as a million other sellers. AI also only runs well on systems you have already designed. Write the SOPs first, then bring in the agent.

2. Same logic on the money side. One single login, one single ledger to collect, hold, earn, convert and pay across markets, so nobody is reconciling four banks at month end. World Card, WorldFirst's multicurrency corporate card, with 0% FX fees on any transaction and 1.2% unlimited cashback. Interest on daily balances too, so cash sitting between restocks is doing something.

We are also delighted to have reconnected with Teresa Widodo from TikTok on stage, on how brand content is rewriting the seller playbook.

Thank you Leslie Chong, Ivan Ong and the Scale Insights team, and everyone who spent the weekend with us.

The sellers who win the next few years will not be the ones with the best prompts. They will be the ones who knew what they were building before the agent showed up.

Are unnecessary double conversions built into your current payment setup?Open a World Account for free and take control ...
20/08/2026

Are unnecessary double conversions built into your current payment setup?

Open a World Account for free and take control of currency handling across all your international transactions.

Start now: https://www.worldfirst.com/my/register-category/

Our Southeast Asia team came together in Ho Chi Minh City for our team offsite.Getting everyone into one room took a bit...
18/08/2026

Our Southeast Asia team came together in Ho Chi Minh City for our team offsite.

Getting everyone into one room took a bit of planning, but somehow, everyone pulled it off. The effort set the tone for the whole trip.

Some of us had been on the same weekly call for months without ever meeting in person, so seeing each other face to face felt a little like meeting a long-lost penpal. We ran a team bingo through a cafe apartment, 18 flights of stairs, up and down, with plenty of laughing on the way. We also took on a cooking challenge, Vietnamese dishes most of us had never tried making. On top of it, our colleagues in Vietnam shared what they see day to day in their market, which became a talking point for everyone to swap notes.

The stairs and the food were the fun part. Getting to know each other properly was the real win.

Trust is what makes a team a good one to work in. It means giving each other the benefit of the doubt, asking for help without thinking twice, and getting good ideas moving sooner.

Thank you to everyone who made the time, and to the people at home who cheered us on. Let's keep going!

Content-led commerce is how Singapore scales. 1,500+ sellers, creators and ecosystem partners at TikTok Shop Summit are ...
14/08/2026

Content-led commerce is how Singapore scales. 1,500+ sellers, creators and ecosystem partners at TikTok Shop Summit are already betting on it.

At the WorldFirst booth, one theme kept coming up: scaling fast on TikTok Shop also means navigating currency swings, cross-border payouts, and rising ad spend. Sellers want less time on that, more time on the content and creators that drive growth.

One way we're helping: sellers who bind their World Card to TikTok Ads payments can enjoy 5.2% cashback on ad spend, for a limited time only. If you're running TikTok Ads, this is worth setting up before the promo period ends!

Grateful to TikTok Shop Singapore for bringing the ecosystem together. Here's to more collaboration ahead. 🙌

đź”— Get your 5.2% cashback: https://www.worldfirst.com/sg/product/pay/world-card/

Dm us "TikTok Ads" and we'll send you a step-by-step guide on binding your card.

13/08/2026

A coffee roaster in Penang didn't plan to become a matcha brand at first 🍵

But when global demand shifted, Forest Cloud shifted with it. What started as a specialty coffee roastery in George Town has grown into a farm-direct matcha company — rebuilding supply chains from Japan to China to keep up without losing quality.

In this video, the Forest Cloud team shares how they navigated the matcha boom, expanding to other regions, and how they're building a health-conscious brand through events with partners like Lululemon.

đź’¬ "We use WorldFirst to pay our suppliers which makes our collaboration much smoother. Payments in and out are almost hassle free, and really efficient."

🎥 Watch the full story.

Address

128 Beach Road, #20-01 Guoco Midtown
Singapore
189773

Opening Hours

Monday 09:00 - 18:00
Tuesday 09:00 - 18:00
Wednesday 09:00 - 18:00
Thursday 09:00 - 18:00
Friday 09:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+6568054370

Website

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