Alipay+ fans Ant Group’s SEA ambitions

In The Top Up this week, we discuss Ant Group’s new payments push in SEA and what the recent string of MAS approvals means for fintech players. [Read from your browser]( The Top Up 💵 Welcome to The Top Up! Delivered every Wednesday via email and through the Tech in Asia website, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories and trends in fintech. If you’re not a subscriber, get access by [registering here](. Written by Samreen Ahmad Journalist Hello {NAME} I have been meaning to send a baby shower gift to a friend in Sweden, but it has turned out to be harder than I'd thought. My go-to ecommerce website, Amazon India, does not ship products directly to Europe. I also did not like the limited options for baby apparel on Amazon Sweden. All I came across were flower- and cake-gifting websites. I suppose that despite the so-called ecommerce boom, cross-border shopping is still a relatively unexplored opportunity. In India, things are definitely still at an early stage: Flipkart parent Walmart, for instance, is exploring a [marketplace feature]( to enable Indian manufacturers to sell in the US and Canada. Amazon is also running its [flagship global selling program]( for exporters across India. Cross-border payments, on the other hand, seem to be further along. Tech giants and even national governments in Southeast Asia are [exploring]( this vertical, especially as people resume international travel. One such player is Ant Group, whose new payments system, Alipay+, allows domestic e-wallets to work across borders. In this week’s Big Story, my colleague, Melissa, dives into the potential of Alipay+ and finds out if it could script a successful chapter for the Chinese fintech giant in Southeast Asia. In the Hot Take, I look at the recent bouquet of license approvals from Singapore’s central bank and how they can advance fintech players' plans. – Samreen  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIG STORY [Behind Ant Group’s revived SEA ambitions]( The firm has dialed up efforts to grow its cross-border network Alipay+, indicating that digital payments in Southeast Asia is again a priority.  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE HOT TAKE  Mass approvals by MAS and what they mean for these fintech firms Here’s what happened: - Buy now, pay later major Atome has obtained a license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to offer [regulated payment services]( in its home market. - It’s not the only one. Circle Internet Financial, a global digital financial technology firm, also got in-principle [approval]( for a major payments institution license from MAS. - In addition, [Wise]( has received a capital markets services license from the city-state’s central bank. Here’s our take: The approval from MAS lets these fintech players diversify their offerings. For instance, Atome, a BNPL and lending firm, can now offer regulated payment services such as account issuance, domestic and cross-border money transfers, as well as merchant acquisition services. Read more: [Atome’s 2021 profits nearly triple as revenue sources shift]( Atome’s main sources of revenue come via its lending business, especially its Indonesian peer-to-peer lending subsidiary, Kredit Pintar, but with BNPL facing challenges globally, the MAS approval gives firms in the sector potential revenue streams. Digital payments in Southeast Asia, despite seeming like a red ocean by this point, is still set to be a [US$1 trillion opportunity]( by 2025, which players like neobank Funding Societies are poised to take advantage of. Cross-border money transfers open an avenue for Atome to explore cross-border BNPL - a segment as yet [unexplored even globally](. See also: [Funding Societies swipes right on payments in SEA]( Similarly, US-headquartered Circle, which is a principal operator of USD Coin (USDC), is already set to establish its main hub in Singapore. The MAS approval allows Circle to offer digital payment token products and cross-border and domestic transfer services in the city state. Wise, on the other hand, will invest further in its stable of cross-border payment services through its new investment product, Assets. The product allows users to earn returns from the cash they hold in their Wise-powered multi-currency accounts. While the licenses are a welcome step for fintech players, they also appear to further the city-state's ambitions to become Asia’s leading international financial center. Indeed, MAS recently launched the [Financial Services Industry Transformation Map 2025]( to do just that. It also brings into mind the country’s long-drawn competition with Hong Kong to become Asia’s top financial center - both were among the top five fintech ecosystems globally in 2021, according to a [Startup Genome report](. But their approaches are different. Hong Kong, for one, is exploring pilot projects on [“virtual assets and their application in financial markets.”]( For example, Hash Blockchain recently [received]( a full license to operate a virtual-asset-trading platform in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Singapore is focusing on more traditional, non-crypto areas such as foreign exchange, wealth management, and insurance, MAS noted in its media release. That doesn’t mean the city-state is ignoring cryptocurrency, of course - besides Circle, Coinbase has also received an [in-principle approval]( last month from MAS to provide digital payment token services. But Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has also [criticized]( Singapore’s crypto regulations, saying that while the country wants to be a Web3 leader, it has also been cagey about crypto trading. (After the [FTX saga]( that seems unlikely to change.) Another issue that is unlikely to change is Singapore’s small, increasingly competitive market - particularly relevant for players like Grab, which just launched its [digibank in the city-state](. “Opening up to new digital players is all well and good but it does not mean they will be profitable,” an industry analyst told Tech in Asia. That shows just how crucial it is for Singapore to become a regional - if not global - fintech hub. At the same time, as neighboring Indonesia has shown, fintech - whether [traditional]( or [Web3]( - is not an industry that governments want to necessarily outsource. – Samreen --------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW Check out Tech in Asia’s coverage of the fintech scene [here](. 1️⃣ [ASEAN central banks sign MOU to boost cross-border payments]( The partnership includes the central banks of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. 2️⃣ [Temasek-backed debt financing firm to invest in PharmEasy parent]( Over the next few years, EvolutionX aims to provide amortizing term debt facilities with ticket sizes of US$20 million to US$50 million. 3️⃣ [India-based lender banks $60m from SIG, others]( Bessemer Venture Partners and Citi Ventures also participated in Lentra's series B round. 4️⃣ [Antler, Kae Capital back $1.5m round of India-based fintech firm]( Bold Finance was also backed by several angel investors. 5️⃣ [Vietnam’s F88 secures $60m loan, eyes IPO by 2024]( F88 currently has 800 locations across the country, and aims to increase that number to 1,400 locations by 2024.  --------------------------------------------------------------- FYI [Paytm on path to profit, says CEO]( The company is optimistic about the prospects of its lending business as loans disbursals grew 161% year on year.  --------------------------------------------------------------- That’s it for this edition - we hope you liked it! Do also check out previous issues of the newsletter [here](. Not your cup of tea? You can unsubscribe from this newsletter by going to your “edit profile” page and choosing that option in our preferences center. In the meantime, if you have any feedback or ideas, feel free to get in touch with Terence, our editor-in-chief, at terence@techinasia.com. See you next week! P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Too many emails? Switch to a different frequency or get new content through our [preference center]( or [unsubscribe](. You can also break our hearts and remove yourself from all Tech in Asia emails over [here](  Copyright © 2022 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 63 Robinson Road, Singapore 068894