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Powered by local rails, the partnership enables fast, low-cost transfers in more than 40 currencies.
HONG KONG, Dec. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Aspire, the leading all-in-one finance platform for modern businesses, is taking its mission to build a truly connected financial ecosystem further with the launch of fast, low-cost international payments in Hong Kong. Powered by Wise Platform, Wise's global payment infrastructure for banks and enterprises, the new integration enables customers to send money in more than 40 currencies, including to countries like Singapore, the United States, Australia, Japan and Korea — directly from the Aspire platform.
Building on a successful partnership that began in Singapore in 2019, Aspire is now extending its Wise Platform-powered cross-border payments experience to customers in Hong Kong, offering fast transfers and low transaction costs within the same interface they already use for payments, cards, and expense management.
"Cross-border payments are the backbone of global commerce, and for businesses in Hong Kong, speed and cost efficiency can make all the difference," said Andrea Baronchelli, CEO and Co-founder of Aspire. "By embedding Wise's infrastructure directly into Aspire, we've created a truly connected experience — where cards, payments, expenses, and global transfers all work seamlessly together. This expansion to our partnership is a major step toward our vision of building the most connected financial operating system for modern businesses."
"In a major hub, like Hong Kong, where companies operate across borders every day, offering a best in class cross-border experience is essential and a key requirement for any business looking for a financial partner. Aspire has been a key partner since 2019 and enabling them to expand and offer the same cross-border experience across their merchants demonstrates the value of Wise Platform. We're proud to be providing Aspire with the speed, transparency, and end-to-end payments control their customers expect from a partner," said Samarth Bansal, APAC General Manager, Wise Platform.
The partnership marks another milestone in Aspire's rapid growth in Hong Kong. Since launching in 2024, Aspire has recorded 3x growth, driven by startups and SMEs seeking a modern, connected alternative to traditional banking.
The new international payments feature is now live for all Aspire customers in Hong Kong.
About Aspire
Aspire is the all-in-one finance platform for modern businesses globally, which has helped over 50,000 companies save time and money with international payments, treasury, expense, payable, and receivable management solutions - accessible via a single, user-friendly account. Headquartered in Singapore, Aspire has 500+ employees across nine countries, clients in 30+ markets and is backed by global top tier VCs, including Sequoia, Lightspeed, Y-Combinator, Tencent and Paypal.
About Wise Platform
Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world's money. Over the last decade, Wise has built an entirely new network for the world's money.
Thanks to Wise Platform, banks and large companies can leverage Wise's technology and embed the best way to send, receive, and manage money internationally into their existing infrastructure. With a wide variety of partners worldwide, Wise Platform saves banks and businesses time and money by allowing them to seamlessly bring fast, cheap, transparent and convenient cross-border payments to their customers.
Powered by local rails, the partnership enables fast, low-cost transfers in more than 40 currencies.
HONG KONG, Dec. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Aspire, the leading all-in-one finance platform for modern businesses, is taking its mission to build a truly connected financial ecosystem further with the launch of fast, low-cost international payments in Hong Kong. Powered by Wise Platform, Wise's global payment infrastructure for banks and enterprises, the new integration enables customers to send money in more than 40 currencies, including to countries like Singapore, the United States, Australia, Japan and Korea — directly from the Aspire platform.
Building on a successful partnership that began in Singapore in 2019, Aspire is now extending its Wise Platform-powered cross-border payments experience to customers in Hong Kong, offering fast transfers and low transaction costs within the same interface they already use for payments, cards, and expense management.
"Cross-border payments are the backbone of global commerce, and for businesses in Hong Kong, speed and cost efficiency can make all the difference," said Andrea Baronchelli, CEO and Co-founder of Aspire. "By embedding Wise's infrastructure directly into Aspire, we've created a truly connected experience — where cards, payments, expenses, and global transfers all work seamlessly together. This expansion to our partnership is a major step toward our vision of building the most connected financial operating system for modern businesses."
"In a major hub, like Hong Kong, where companies operate across borders every day, offering a best in class cross-border experience is essential and a key requirement for any business looking for a financial partner. Aspire has been a key partner since 2019 and enabling them to expand and offer the same cross-border experience across their merchants demonstrates the value of Wise Platform. We're proud to be providing Aspire with the speed, transparency, and end-to-end payments control their customers expect from a partner," said Samarth Bansal, APAC General Manager, Wise Platform.
The partnership marks another milestone in Aspire's rapid growth in Hong Kong. Since launching in 2024, Aspire has recorded 3x growth, driven by startups and SMEs seeking a modern, connected alternative to traditional banking.
The new international payments feature is now live for all Aspire customers in Hong Kong.
About Aspire
Aspire is the all-in-one finance platform for modern businesses globally, which has helped over 50,000 companies save time and money with international payments, treasury, expense, payable, and receivable management solutions - accessible via a single, user-friendly account. Headquartered in Singapore, Aspire has 500+ employees across nine countries, clients in 30+ markets and is backed by global top tier VCs, including Sequoia, Lightspeed, Y-Combinator, Tencent and Paypal.
About Wise Platform
Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world's money. Over the last decade, Wise has built an entirely new network for the world's money.
Thanks to Wise Platform, banks and large companies can leverage Wise's technology and embed the best way to send, receive, and manage money internationally into their existing infrastructure. With a wide variety of partners worldwide, Wise Platform saves banks and businesses time and money by allowing them to seamlessly bring fast, cheap, transparent and convenient cross-border payments to their customers.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Aspire launches fast, low-cost international payments in Hong Kong, expanding partnership with Wise Platform
ALULA, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the official opening of Desert X AlUla 2026, the landmark fourth edition of the international, open-air biennial exhibition. Arts AlUla, in collaboration with Desert X, welcomes visitors to experience a stellar line-up of Saudi and international multi-generational artists whose site-responsive earthworks, sculptures, and installations will engage in a powerful dialogue with the awe-inspiring landscapes and layered heritage of AlUla.
As a premier destination rich in ancient history and breathtaking nature, AlUla, located in Northwest Saudi Arabia, solidifies its position on the global stage as a dynamic, emerging land art destination with Desert X AlUla, the region's first public art biennale, and a key highlight of the AlUla Arts Festival.
The 2026 edition of Desert X AlUla brings together 11 acclaimed artists whose diverse works reflect a wide spectrum of ideas, materials, and traditions. From monumental kinetic sculpture to sound-based explorations above and below ground, each commission is deeply rooted in relationships to AlUla's distinctive environment, further cementing Desert X AlUla's reputation as a globally significant platform for site-responsive land art.
Desert X AlUla runs until February 28, 2026, as a cornerstone of the annual AlUla Arts Festival. Curated by Wejdan Reda, Zoé Whitley, with artistic direction by Neville Wakefield, and Raneem Farsi, its fourth edition explores 'Space Without Measure.' Inspired by Kahlil Gibran, the theme fosters contemplation of imagination within AlUla's natural settings. The exhibition, set in the desert canyons of AlUla, serves as a pre-opening programme for Wadi AlFann, offering a pivotal glimpse into AlUla's plans to create a permanent land art 'Valley of the Arts.'
Hamad Alhomiedan, Director of Arts & Creative Industries at the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), said: "At Desert X AlUla 2026, audiences will engage with art that deeply converses with AlUla's unique landscapes and rich heritage. These compelling commissions highlight AlUla's dynamic transformation into a major global destination, where ancient and contemporary expressions converge. This exhibition is part of our broader revitalisation of AlUla as a culturally rich destination to live, work and visit and integral to positioning AlUla in the global dialogue of contemporary art and as a precursor to monumental projects like Wadi AlFann."
Participating artist/artworks are:
- Sara Abdu, A Kingdom Where No One Dies: Contours of Resonance
- Mohammad Alfaraj, What was the Question Again?
- Mohammed AlSaleem, The Thorn, AlShuruf Unit, The Triangles, Flower Bud, and Al Ahilla (courtesy of Royal Commission for Riyadh City)
- Tarek Atoui, The Water Song
- Bahraini-Danish, Bloom
- Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Imole Red
- Agnes Denes, The Living Pyramid
- Ibrahim El-Salahi, Haraza Tree
- Basmah Felemban, Murmur of Pebbles
- Vibha Galhotra, Future Fables
- Héctor Zamora, Tar HyPar
For further information, please contact:
Sabrine.Shaw@bursonglobal.com
AlUlaArtsFestival@bursonglobal.com
Multimedia gallery:
High-resolution photos of all 11 artists and their artworks can be found here.
About AlUla and Arts AlUla
Located 1,100 km from Riyadh, in North-West Saudi Arabia, AlUla is a place of extraordinary natural and human heritage. The vast area, covering 22,561km², includes a lush oasis valley, towering sandstone mountains and ancient cultural heritage sites dating back thousands of years to when the Lihyan and Nabataean kingdoms reigned.
The most well-known and recognised site in AlUla is Hegra, the principal southern city of the Nabataean Kingdom and Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site. AlUla is also home to ancient Dadan, the capital of the Dadan and Lihyan Kingdoms and considered to be one of the most developed 1st millennium BCE cities of the Arabian Peninsula, and Jabal Ikmah, an open air library of hundreds of inscriptions and writings in many different languages. AlUla Old Town Village, a labyrinth of more than 900 mudbrick homes was developed from at least the 12th century and has been revitalised as the vibrant hub for visitors and residents.
The creation of Arts AlUla within The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) is a commitment to crafting the next chapters in a millennia of artistic creation – celebrating cultural inheritance and shaping a future inspired by artists built be artists. The work of Arts AlUla seeks to preserve this legacy: fuse the old with the new; the local with the international, keeping the arts central to the spirit of AlUla as a place of extraordinary natural and human heritage.
Wadi AlFann, meaning 'Valley of the Arts,' will be a global cultural destination for land art, unveiling from 2028 onwards, where era-defining works by artists from around the world will be permanently sited in the monumental landscape of AlUla, the extraordinary desert region of north-west Saudi Arabia.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Desert X AlUla 2026: monumental land art exhibition opens in the ancient oasis of AlUla
