Later today, timed to coincide with the start of Hong Kong FinTech week, the Emerging Payments Association of Asia will be given its next local launch. This follows on from its low-key Australian launch last week, during Sibos in Sydney, with former banktech executive John Ryan named as the first director general of EPA Asia. EPA has been active in Europe and Africa since 2004 and has more than 130 members. Speaking to Banking Day at Sibos, Ryan said that EPA Asia was positioning itself as "the forum where participants in the payments network come together to further the industry for everyone's benefit." The EPA identified fragmentation of markets, discrepancies in local regulation of the payment industry and the need to work towards standardisation and harmonisation, as reasons for setting up operations in this region. Australia qualifies as an "emerging" payments player courtesy of its fledgling New Payments Platform. The other starting EPA Asia members will be Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.