SotaTek, a provider of AI-driven workflow automation and agentic AI solutions, announced new insights and guidance on transforming merchant onboarding for digital banks in Southeast Asia. The framework addresses the challenge of onboarding millions of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) efficiently and compliantly, as digital banking adoption accelerates across the region. According to SotaTek, merchant onboarding has become a critical competitive differentiator and a core revenue engine for digital-first banks, yet many still rely on manual processes with high drop-off rates and limited onboarding specialists.
The proposed solution leverages agentic AI systems that can reason, guide, adapt, and self-correct across complex onboarding journeys. Unlike scripted bots or static RPA, these systems act as a guided concierge, assisting merchants step-by-step, validating inputs and documents in real-time, and adapting explanations based on the merchant’s digital literacy. This reduces dependency on human specialists, many digital banks having fewer than 100 onboarding specialists to serve millions of potential merchants.
“By combining agentic AI with OCR, behavioral signal detection, and intelligent workflow design, banks can deliver a personalized, human-like onboarding experience at scale,” said Meng Khong Tong, CEO of SotaTek US and Asia. “These systems don’t just respond - they anticipate, guiding each merchant through a journey tailored to their readiness, needs, and digital literacy. Even non-tech-savvy merchants can get started confidently, with AI adapting to their pace and preferences.” The framework also emphasizes the importance of auditable and explainable AI deployments, particularly in heavily regulated environments like Malaysia and Singapore, where integration with cloud-native stacks such as AWS and Databricks is essential.
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. The company, a subsidiary of Sota Holdings, operates across the US, Australia, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore, specializing in AI, blockchain, and software development. For more information, visit https://www.sotatek.com/. The original press release is available at https://www.newmediawire.com.
