Omnipay, the Philippines' Largest Payment Giant, Partners Deeply with TBook: TraFi Embraces StableFi

Preface: Traditional Finance's "Blood Oath"

In 2025, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America—these Wall Street "titans"—have successively announced their entry into the stablecoin arena. But in a Manila conference room, a conversation of perhaps even greater historical significance is taking place.

On one side is Simoun S. Ung, President and CEO of Omnipay, the Philippines' largest payment infrastructure provider, who also serves as an independent director at Maybank Philippines and a member of the Philippine payment management authority—a "veteran" with 25 years of experience in the payments industry.

On the other side is Nick Young, Co-founder and CEO of TBook, former Head of AI Innovation at

JD.com, and a Stanford alumnus. This Web3 "innovator" is building what he defines as the "StableFi Layer for the digital workforce."

"When you see JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs—these titans of the financial street—jumping on the bandwagon," Simoun candidly states in the conversation, "you either stick your head in the sand like an ostrich and pretend it's not there, or you prepare your response—because these are the players who truly shape the financial landscape."

This isn't just a business meeting; it's traditional finance's "blood oath" to Web3.

The 2025 Inflection Point: When Merchants Started Demanding Crypto

"This never happened before 2025," Simoun reveals a striking fact. "We've been in merchant acquisition for a quarter century. But suddenly this year, merchants started saying: 'I want stablecoin settlement.'"

The transformation is remarkable. For years, stablecoins carried a stigma—associated with money laundering and criminal proceeds. "There was a real stigma from the traditional payments and banking side in terms as they looked at crypto and stablecoins," Simoun recalls.

What changed?

"Really the shift we felt was driven by the US," Simoun explains. "The US recently enacted a stablecoin law, providing a framework. Of course, you see the titans of the financial and banking industry jumping into it."

But the shift goes deeper than regulatory clarity. Merchants were willing to bear the cost of two currency conversions (fiat → stablecoins) just to access crypto settlement. When customers are that insistent, the market signal is unmistakable.

Why Did Omnipay Choose TBook?

The "Bilingual" Infrastructure Challenge

After evaluating numerous Web3 solutions in the market, Omnipay ultimately chose TBook. The reason is simple, in Simoun's words:

TBook understands our language. They know both the millisecond-level clearing speeds in traditional payment systems and the gas fees and Layer 1 choices in the Web3 world. This 'bilingual' capability is very rare in the market.

The fundamental mismatch between Web2 and Web3:

• Web2 clearing: Measured in milliseconds. "Anything beyond a few seconds, we would time out."

• Web3 transactions: Could take minutes depending on gas fees and which Layer 1 chain you use.

But here's the paradox:

• Web2 settlement: Batch processing, T+1 (next day)

• Web3 settlement: Near real-time

"Being able to marry these two inherently very, very different payment channels was actually more challenging than we had expected," Simoun admits.

TBook's StableFi Layer: Infrastructure That Powers Tokenized Capital Flows

TBook's StableFi Layer is designed as three interoperable layers that power tokenized capital flows across the digital workforce—solving the exact problems Omnipay faced when bridging Web2 and Web3.

Identity Layer

Captures verifiable digital footprints and incentivizes engagement across blockchain ecosystems.

• Incentive Passports: Decentralized IDs (DIDs) that record user contributions and credentials

• vSBTs (Verifiable Soulbound Tokens): Portable, tamper-proof proof of contribution—whether staking, swapping, or community engagement

• Scale: 900,000+ users have generated identity credentials

Intelligence Layer

Attributes value to user behavior, enabling programmable capital flows tied to verified contributions.

• WISE Credit Score: Translates user actions into a single reputation score across four dimensions—Wealth, Identity, Social, and Engagement

• Programmable Distribution: Custom vesting and distribution flows that link stablecoins and RWAs to verified user contributions

• Integration: 200+ project partnerships across DeFi, RWA, and creator economy

Smart Settlement Layer

Executes programmable distribution and vesting for tokenized assets across networks.

• TBook Vaults: Users claim stablecoins, RWAs, and tokens through web app or Telegram Mini App

• RWA Distribution: Large-scale distribution of real-world assets with custom vesting and compliance

• Crypto Cards: Instant off-ramping at point of purchase (Visa/Mastercard on TON)

• Proof of Scale: 9.8 million asset claims processed across 4.7 million users

The key innovation: TBook abstracts Web3 complexity—users tap or scan (Web2 UX) while TBook handles intelligent routing, compliance, and settlement (Web3 rails) in the background.

"Users don't need to know the difference between different stablecoins," Nick explains. "They just need to tap or scan. TBook does intelligent routing on the backend—selecting the optimal stablecoin and chain for settlement while maintaining Web2-level user experience on the frontend."

This is precisely what Omnipay needed: Infrastructure that speaks both languages fluently.

Why Banks Will Never Lead This Revolution

"I think most banks will be late to the party, to be honest," Simoun says bluntly. "It's just the nature of banks."

He offers a stark example: "For a bank to buy even hardware like a firewall—maybe a two-year process. For you and me, it would be talking to our CTO, agreeing on which one you want to get. It could be a two-minute conversation."

The innovation cycle disparity is staggering:

• Non-bank financial institutions: 2-minute decision

• Traditional banks: 2-year process (budgeting → procurement → risk committees)

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"So I think expecting banks to drive stablecoin or crypto adoption is probably not realistic," Simoun concludes. "Real innovation is going to come from non-bank financial institutions and Web3 infrastructure providers."

This is why partnerships like Omnipay-TBook matter—they represent the "agile force" within traditional finance.

The SME Cash Flow Crisis—And Stablecoins as the Solution

"Cash flow is the lifeblood of small medium enterprises," Simoun states. "We all run businesses. We understand that's what they live on."

The traditional payment system strangles SMEs:

• Credit card fees: 2-3% merchant discount rate

• Settlement cycle: T+1 or longer

• Point-of-sale costs: Real friction at merchant pace

For SMEs living transaction-to-transaction, these delays are existential.

The stablecoin value proposition:

"If we can't provide them financing, but we can provide them faster settlement, that's as good as financing or perhaps even better—there is no cost necessarily associated with it," Simoun explains.

The math is compelling:

• Traditional: Pay 2-3% fee + wait until tomorrow for funds

• Stablecoins: Pay minimal gas fee + instant settlement

"Now you can have some merchants say: 'If you pay me with stablecoins, I'll give you a discount because I want to be able to use those funds today. But if you pay me with Visa/Mastercard, I'm going to have to wait till tomorrow or the day after before I can use those funds.'"

That's a big difference for small medium enterprises.

In Manila, this isn't theoretical. Restaurant owners are already requesting stablecoin payment options specifically because instant settlement improves their cash position enough to offer customer discounts—turning savings into competitive advantage.

Regulatory Shift: From Stigma to Pragmatism

Nick asked a critical question: "You meet regularly with financial regulatory authorities—what's their attitude toward stablecoins?"

Simoun's answer reveals the dramatic 2025 pivot:

"It's changed dramatically this year, largely driven by what's happening in the US. Whether you like it or not, the US has dictated how the global financial system is structured. If the US moves in a certain direction, the rest of the world gets pulled along—whether you're in Indonesia, Canada, or the Philippines."

The regulatory approach that's emerging: Pragmatic pathways rather than blanket prohibitions.

When Omnipay proposed merchant stablecoin settlement, regulators didn't reject it. Instead, they explored a compliance structure: "The merchant just gives us a payment instruction to send fiat to a crypto exchange, then the exchange sends stablecoins to the merchant's wallet. We don't directly touch cryptocurrency—that was our way of testing the waters."

This "firewall" approach—using third-party exchanges as intermediaries—allows traditional financial institutions to offer crypto services without directly handling crypto assets.

"It became a learning experience for us," Simoun reflects. "From a legacy payment systems perspective, we had to unlearn and then relearn the Web3 logic."

Why Traditional Finance Is Finally Ready

The convergence of multiple factors explains why 2025 is the inflection point:

1. US regulatory clarity: Stablecoin law provides framework 2. Wall Street validation: JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs entering the space 3. Customer demand: Merchants actively requesting stablecoin settlement 4. Technical maturity: Infrastructure like TBook's StableFi Layer that bridges Web2 UX with Web3 rails 5. Proven use cases: From SME cash flow to remittances to global workforce payments

"When JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are making moves," Simoun reflects, "you can't stick your head in the sand like an ostrich. These are the titans that truly shape the financial landscape."

But here's the key insight: Traditional finance isn't adopting crypto instead of existing systems—they're adopting it alongside existing systems, taking the best of both worlds.

"How can we take the best of the legacy payment systems and the best of Web3 payment systems and marry them both?" Simoun asks. "How can we make it cheaper, safer for the segments we're looking to serve?"

The answer isn't choosing between Web2 and Web3—it's building infrastructure that bridges between them.

Nick frames this evolution: "Traditional work is 9-to-5, single employer, monthly salary. The future is globalized, project-based, micropayments—traditional banks can't solve this problem. In a few years, you won't be able to distinguish whether colleagues are human or AI agents, and the infrastructure needs to already be in place."

The Omnipay-TBook collaboration represents more than a business partnership—it's infrastructure that bridges two worlds that must learn each other's languages to build the future of finance.

About Omnipay

Omnipay is one of the Philippines' largest payment infrastructure providers with 25 years of industry experience. As a licensed electronic money issuer and remittance operator, Omnipay serves 75% of the Philippines' unbanked population and overseas migrant worker communities. The company has built its own complete technology stack from the data center outward, enabling rapid innovation and deployment. Omnipay's President and CEO, Simoun S. Ung, also serves as an independent director at Maybank Philippines and sits on the Philippine payment management authority.

About TBook

TBook is building the StableFi Layer for the digital workforce—a three-layer infrastructure (Identity, Intelligence, Smart Settlement) that powers tokenized capital flows. The platform currently serves over 4.7 million users, with over 900,000 users having generated WISE Credit Scores and 9.8 million asset claims processed. TBook has deep integrations with 200+ projects across DeFi, RWA, and the creator economy. Co-founded by Nick Young, former Head of AI Innovation at JD.com and Stanford alumnus, TBook bridges Web2 user experience with Web3 settlement efficiency.