SotaTek, a provider of AI-driven workflow automation and agentic AI solutions, has released new insights and industry guidance on how banks across Southeast Asia can transform merchant onboarding using next-generation AI technologies. As digital banking adoption accelerates in the region, onboarding millions of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) efficiently and compliantly has become a critical competitive differentiator for modern financial institutions.
Unlike traditional banks that rely on card-network partnerships or legacy merchant-acquirer pipelines, digital-first banks in Southeast Asia increasingly depend on merchant onboarding as a core revenue engine. Each transaction from onboarded merchants drives income, yet many banks still struggle with manual processes, high drop-off rates, poor onboarding experiences, and limited onboarding specialists to support merchants who may not be tech-savvy. SotaTek's new framework, detailed in a press release on NewMediaWire, highlights how agentic AI, voice AI, and intelligent workflow orchestration can reduce friction, shorten onboarding time, and widen market reach.
According to SotaTek, the next generation of onboarding technology relies on agentic systems that can reason, guide, adapt, and self-correct across complex onboarding journeys. These systems act as a guided onboarding concierge, assisting merchants step-by-step, validating inputs and documents in real-time, and adapting explanations based on the merchant's digital literacy level. This reduces dependency on human onboarding specialists. "Many digital banks have fewer than 100 onboarding specialists but serve millions of potential merchants," said Meng Khong Tong, CEO of SotaTek US and Asia, as quoted in the release. "By combining agentic AI with OCR, behavioral signal detection, and intelligent workflow design, banks can deliver a personalized, human-like onboarding experience at scale."
The framework is particularly relevant for banks in Malaysia and Singapore, which operate in heavily regulated environments. Any AI deployment must be auditable, explainable, and integrated into cloud-native stacks such as AWS and Databricks. SotaTek continues to explore new applications of agentic AI in digital banking, working with ecosystem partners to co-design proof-of-concept solutions and accelerate time-to-market. More information about SotaTek and its solutions is available at SotaTek's website.
