Steve Shen, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Waffo, joined an elite panel at “Growth in Action: How Merchants Thrive in Future e-Commerce,” an industry forum hosted by HSBC that convened technology leaders and retail giants to dissect the new logic of digital growth — one increasingly driven by AI, social commerce, and a re-engineering of global payment architecture.
Three pillars of modern payment infrastructure
Against a backdrop of fragmented payment channels and escalating fraud risk, Shen outlined a vision of payments as a “trust coordination layer,” centered on three shifts: digital wallets and real-time settlement redrawing the global map of money; AI-driven payment security turning data into the primary tool for protecting margins; and cross-border transparency moving from a back-office concern to the bedrock of sustainable growth in emerging markets.
From community to global monetization
Shen challenged the traditional linear model of expansion, proposing a phased leapfrog path for AI and SaaS startups: validate with a community, monetize globally from day one, and let localized payment infrastructure — rather than local entities — carry compliance, tax, and settlement.
The forum closed with a shared conclusion: in the next cycle of digital commerce, payment stability and security are no longer operational details. They are the growth strategy.