BigPay gets financial injection from SK Group

BigPay gets financial injection from SK GroupBIGPAY, an airasia Digital portfolio company, has announced that it has finalised up to US$100 million in financing from South Korean conglomerate, SK Group.

In a statement, the company said that this is the first time any portfolio company within airasia Digital has secured financing of this size.

The financing from one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates and tech innovator further strengthens AirAsia’s digital endeavour as it accelerates the scope of growth for its digital businesses, including logistics and financial services, it added.

“Our mission is to become a leading challenger bank across Southeast Asia,” said Salim Dhanani, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of BigPay.

“We’ve established ourselves in Malaysia as one of the leading providers of digital banking services, and we want to expand our product sets, along with growing the model to new markets.”

Salim said Thailand and the wider Asean is next, but the company will be launching key products before that, including digital personal loans, transactional lending and an offering for micro small and medium enterprise.

Founded in 2017, BigPay is present in both Malaysia and Singapore.

Its current offering includes a prepaid debit card which can be used to spend anywhere Visa or Mastercard is accepted, local and international money transfers, micro-insurance, bill payments and a budgeting tool.

BigPay has also launched a series of products for its users focused on long-term financial health and accessibility, it said.

AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said, “I am excited for this great partnership with SK Group and for their belief in BigPay’s mission to bring inclusivity to financial services.

“This is the first investment into one of our portfolio digital companies and a testament to our digital growth story - we don’t anticipate it being the last.”

Chief representative of SK Malaysia, Jung Kyu Kim said, “We are happy to join forces with BigPay as we’ve had a keen interest in fintech and digital banking for a long time.

“SK Group will be able to make a significant contribution to BigPay in both technical and consumer service aspects given our experience and resources.”

The announcement comes on the back of BigPay announcing its application for a digital banking license, where it reiterated its commitment to build a connected financial future for Malaysian consumers and entrepreneurs.

 

Related Stories :

 
 
Keyword(s) :
 
Author Name :
 
Download Digerati50 2020-2021 PDF

Digerati50 2020-2021

Get and download a digital copy of Digerati50 2020-2021