ShardLab joins StoreHub in payments & rewards push

ShardLab has invested in StoreHub and agreed a joint venture with the commerce and payments platform, linking it to StoreHub's network of more than 20,000 merchant locations across Southeast Asia and Japan.

The agreement brings together a fintech venture studio backed by Hashed and a regional merchant software and payments provider with a large footprint in retail and food and beverage. StoreHub processes more than 200 million transactions a year, with annual transaction value of about USD $3.5 billion across Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Japan.

Both groups said the joint venture will explore new payments and rewards products for merchants and consumers in Southeast Asia. They did not disclose financial terms or provide details of the first products to be launched.

The move gives ShardLab access to an established merchant base as it seeks to test financial technology products in day-to-day commercial settings rather than through limited pilots. For StoreHub, the partnership adds an investor and product development partner with links to Hashed and SCBX, the parent of Siam Commercial Bank and one of Thailand's largest financial groups.

ShardLab was set up through a partnership between Hashed and SCBX to build products at the intersection of newer technologies and financial services. Its investment in StoreHub marks a step into a broader commerce network, where new payment or rewards models can be trialled with merchants and consumers on an existing platform.

Regional focus

Southeast Asia has drawn sustained attention from fintech groups because of its large mobile-first consumer base and uneven access to traditional banking services. Against that backdrop, the region offers a suitable market in which to test alternatives in payments and customer rewards.

StoreHub has built its business around point-of-sale software, payments, loyalty tools and online ordering for merchants. Its customer base spans small and medium-sized businesses in sectors such as restaurants and retail, giving the venture access to businesses that handle frequent, everyday consumer transactions.

The tie-up also comes as StoreHub continues a broader overhaul of its products around artificial intelligence. That effort sits alongside the payments and rewards project and reflects wider competition among commerce software providers to offer merchants more automation in staffing, ordering and operations.

Wai Hong Fong, Chief Executive Officer of StoreHub, outlined how the company views the partnership and its broader product strategy.

"StoreHub has spent over a decade building the commerce and payments infrastructure that merchants across Asia use to run their businesses every day. ShardLab and Hashed have spent years at the forefront of payments and rewards technology, and this partnership is about bringing that work to real merchants at scale. Anything we build together must pass the same test that everything at StoreHub passes: does it help merchants sell more? The larger shift within StoreHub continues alongside this: we are rebuilding our product around AI, so that a three-person restaurant can operate with the capability of a thirty-person one," said Wai Hong Fong, Chief Executive Officer of StoreHub.

Merchant network

For ShardLab, the appeal lies in direct access to a merchant distribution network across multiple Asian markets. That is likely to matter in a segment where many payments and loyalty concepts face a difficult path from technical proof of concept to regular consumer use at scale.

Hojin Kim, Chief Executive Officer of ShardLab, said the arrangement would allow the company to move from limited testing to broader deployment.

"We have spent the past few years testing how new payments and rewards technologies can improve everyday consumer experiences. StoreHub gives us something fundamentally different: a distribution network of more than 20,000 real-world merchant locations. This partnership is about moving from pilots to scale and building products that create measurable value for both consumers and merchants," said Kim.

Hashed is best known as an investor in blockchain and related technology sectors, while SCBX has been building exposure to digital finance and adjacent technology businesses. The StoreHub deal suggests both are seeking more direct routes into consumer-facing financial services through operating platforms that already serve merchants at scale.

The companies said they would announce specific products and initiatives under the joint venture at launch.