Eight fintech startups from Southeast Asia have been named among this year’s Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list, recognized for capturing investors’ attention, securing substantial backing, and achieving significant success.
These companies, which represent countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea, are tackling challenges in sectors such as lending, banking, and business finance, leveraging innovative business models and cutting-edge technologies to boost efficiency and enhance accessibility across the financial services industry.
Today, we take a look at the nine fintech startups from the region that made it onto the list, highlighting their value propositions and recent achievements.
Paywatch (Malaysia)
Founded in 2020, Paywatch is a fintech company offering a debt-free earned wage access (EWA) solution, commonly known as on-demand pay.
This solution allows workers to access a portion of their earned salary in real time, before the end of their payroll cycle.
By providing immediate access to wages, Paywatch aims to help reduce employees’ reliance on high-interest loans, alleviate household debt, and improve financial management.
At the same time, its fully automated system enhances employee retention and productivity, leading to significant cost savings for businesses related to hiring and training.
Paywatch, which operates across Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and South Korea, has recorded notable growth, processing over US$58 million in salaries to date and posting monthly disbursements of nearly US$8 million. The company expects to exceed US$120 million in disbursed salaries by the end of the year.
Paywatch secured US$30 million in funding in June, underscoring its growth and expansion potential.
Last year, the company was recognized as the top Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) startup at the Fintech Frontiers Awards by Fintech News Malaysia. This year, it is the only Malaysian fintech company featured on Forbes Asia’s 100 to Watch 2024 list.
Lista (Philippines)
Founded in 2021, Lista is a fast-growing financial management app in the Philippines, providing innovative solutions for both personal and business finances.
The company aims to empower Filipino micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and individuals by offering an easy-to-use app designed to enhance financial management.
The Lista money management app offers a range of features designed to help users manage their finances. These include customizable budgeting options that allow users to plan their budget on a weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly basis.
Through partnerships with credit bureaus, the app also provides access to users’ credit scores, enabling them to explore opportunities for credit cards, loans, and other financial products. It also includes a marketplace where users can compare credit cards and insurance plans tailored to their needs.
In addition, Lista features a receipt scanner that converts paper receipts into digital records for seamless tracking, and a cash flow sync function that securely consolidates all accounts in one place.
Lista claims over 1 million registered users and more than 2.5 million downloads. The startup has secured more than US$5 million in funding so far.
Zed (Philippines)
Zed is a forthcoming credit card service in the Philippines that plans to offer a unique, fee-free approach to credit aimed primarily at young professionals, particularly those new to credit or without an extensive credit history.
Unlike traditional credit cards, Zed will not charge interest, annual fees, or foreign transaction fees. Instead, the company plans to generate revenue from a portion of the network fees paid by merchants for each transaction made with its card.
Zed’s innovative offering will include a no-fee credit card with features such as no hidden charges for international use, zero-interest on purchases for up to 31 days, and an advanced app with real-time transaction monitoring and security features like card freezing and unlimited virtual cards for secure online transactions.
The solution will determine credit limits based on the user’s current and potential future income, rather than relying on traditional credit scores. Additionally, Zed will provide unlimited virtual cards for safer online transactions, enhancing security for its users.
As of August 27, 2024, more than 86,000 individuals had signed up in the Zed waitlist. This year, the startup raised US$6 million in seed funding and secured a license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to operate as a non-bank credit card issuer.
Fluid (Singapore)
Based in Singapore, Fluid is a cutting-edge business-to-business (B2B) buy now, pay later (BNPL) solution, designed to help suppliers finance buyers’ purchases right at the point of checkout or when negotiating contractual terms.
By replacing traditional payment methods like invoice factoring, which are often outdated and cumbersome, Fluid offers a seamless, efficient, and flexible payment option for both buyers and suppliers.
This innovative approach allows suppliers to unlock funds tied up in accounts receivable while increasing basket sizes and attracting new buyers.
The platform integrates effortlessly into marketplaces, e-commerce websites, ERP, and accounting systems, delivering a consumer-grade experience that distinguishes it from traditional digital lenders and invoice financing companies in the B2B sector.
Fluid secured in February 2024 a US$5.2 million Series A funding round, bringing the company’s total funding to US$7 million. With this fresh capital, Fluid plans to expand its product offerings, attract larger suppliers from diverse industries, and grow its risk and engineering teams to support its expansion.
HitPay (Singapore)
Founded in 2016, HitPay is a versatile payment platform based in Singapore, specifically designed for SMEs.
The platform offers no-code tools that allow businesses to create customizable payment links and send professional invoices without requiring any coding skills.
It supports a wide range of local and international payment methods, including credit and debit cards, digital wallets like PayNow, GrabPay, and ShopeePay, as well as bank transfers.
It also provides seamless integration with popular e-commerce platforms and developer-friendly application programming interfaces (APIs) for more advanced setups.
HitPay operates on a pay-per-transaction model, with no rental or subscription fees, so businesses only incur costs when they make a sale.
HitPay secured in June a major payment institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), enabling it to offer merchant acquisition and domestic and cross-border money transfer services.
This license enhances HitPay’s ability to provide accessible commerce tools for SMEs, opening new cross-border growth opportunities throughout Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Jenfi (Singapore)
Jenfi provides flexible funding solutions to digital-native businesses in Southeast Asia, allowing them to scale their marketing, inventory, and growth campaigns.
The company offers non-dilutive capital of up to US$1 million, which enables businesses to grow without giving up equity.
Jenfi uses a proprietary risk assessment engine that evaluates both a business’s creditworthiness and its marketing growth efficiency. Unlike traditional lenders that focus primarily on financial statements, it integrates seamlessly with various data sources such as accounting software, payment gateways, e-commerce platforms, online marketplaces, and digital advertising platforms.
This integration provides Jenfi with real-time data on a company’s revenue growth and marketing return on investment, enabling continuous monitoring and fast underwriting decisions. The platform’s automated underwriting allows for same-day decision-making and fund disbursement, streamlining the lending process.
Jenfi has already deployed over US$25 million to more than 600 companies, including notable names like Gushcloud, Ralali, Hello Health, Lamer Fashion, Buy2sell, and Mystifly.
With a US$6.6 million raised in a Pre-Series B funding round in May 2023, Jenfi aims to enhance its technological capabilities and further improve the speed and accuracy of its credit underwriting and risk assessment
Tazapay (Singapore)
Established in 2021, Tazapay is a leading fintech company specializing in cross-border payment solutions.
The company provides a seamless platform for international transactions, allowing businesses to transact easily in over 173 countries, supporting global business accounts in over 60 currencies, and offering an array of card and local payment options.
With a network of local collection methods in over 85 markets, Tazapay makes cross-border payments as cost-effective as domestic ones.
The platform emphasizes security and compliance, ensuring robust transaction protection, adherence to global and local standards, chargeback management, and fraud prevention. Additionally, Tazapay offers optimized foreign exchange management with competitive rates to enhance financial efficiency.
Founded by veterans from companies like Stripe, PayPal, and Grab, Tazapay raised in February 2023 a successful US$16.9 million Series A funding round, with significant investment from prestigious institutions such as Sequoia and the PayPal Alumni Fund.
Roojai (Thailand)
Roojai, an insurtech startup founded in 2016, offers simple, affordable online insurance products including vehicle, critical illness, accident, and travel coverage. The company focuses on providing user-friendly services with a digital-first approach, making it easy for customers to get quotes, purchase insurance, and manage their policies online.
Roojai has been expanding aggressively across Southeast Asia, launching in Indonesia in 2022 and acquiring local insurance aggregator Lifepal in 2024. The startup claims it experienced robust growth during its fiscal year 2023 starting April 2022 and ending March 2023, collecting over THB 1.3 billion (US$36 million) in premiums, up 20% year-over-year (YoY). It also says its number of customers increased by 15%.
According to CB Insights, Roojai has raised US$69 million in funding, its latest round being a US$42 million Series B secured in March 2023. The company said it would use the proceeds to accelerate its growth in Thailand, fuel its expansion across Southeast Asia, and pursue acquisition opportunities.
Featured image credit: edited from freepik
