MariBank’s plan to turn ecosystem banking into profit

MariBank is increasingly tapping the ecosystem of its parent Sea as it charts a path to profitability in Singapore. It is using data from ecommerce platform Shopee to grow its lending business while laying the foundations for a regional banking group based out of the city-state.

Access to Shopee’s data has given the digital bank an advantage in assessing creditworthiness for some SMEs, says Natalia Goh, CEO of MariBank.

Photo credit: jafriyalbule / Shutterstock

For instance, access to a merchant’s sales figures on Shopee gives MariBank “more data points on how we can underwrite them and manage risk,” Goh tells The Business Times.

Maribank is not the only digital bank leaning on ecosystems to differentiate itself from traditional lenders. Anext Bank, a wholesale digital lender backed by Ant International, references point-of-sale data from Antom, its merchant solutions unit, to extend unsecured credit to merchants.

See also: The one Grab digital bank that’s actually profitable

About half of MariBank’s SME customer base now comes from outside the Sea ecosystem.

One group that the digital bank is targeting is businesses that have been operating for less than three years. About 17% of its lending to SMEs is being channeled to such firms, which often struggle to access financing due to a lack of revenue or credit history.

On the consumer side, MariBank offers a higher interest rate to users who are also members of the ShopeeVIP subscription program. The bonus is applied automatically through back-end integration between Shopee and MariBank, says Goh.

She adds that 80% of MariBank customers have linked their bank accounts with Shopee. About 60% of the bank’s credit card users who make payments on Shopee have used the installment plan exclusive to cardholders.

“We’re trying to embed banking within customers’ everyday lives and make it seamless and easy for them,” the CEO says.

MariBank’s assets under administration have grown about 40% to S$4.2 billion (US$3.2 billion) as of December 31, 2025, with 30% of its customers also holding an investment account with the bank.

MariBank CEO Natalia Goh / Photo credit: MariBank

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Path to profit