Sea, GoTo overtook Grab in ASEAN fintech space 2021, says report

SeaMoney (a unit of Sea Group) and GoTo overtook Grab in the fintech space among ASEAN countries in 2021 primarily because the latter does not have an ecommerce entity, according to a new Morgan Stanley report.

Photo credit: Morgan Stanley

The report noted that the growth in fintech revenue in the region was driven by Indonesia. Overall financial inclusion in the region, however, is still low compared to China and the US.

But categories such as digital banking and e-wallets present a huge opportunity to Southeast Asian super app players, the report said. It also estimated that e-wallet penetration is expected to overtake cash transactions in the region by 2025.

Morgan Stanley expects over 6% of e-wallet users to take loans and 12% of companies to take digital loans by 2025. As of now, ShopeePay, Ovo, and Go Pay currently dominate Indonesia’s e-wallet space.

In the ecommerce space, Sea Group’s Shopee has remained the top player in the region, since its debut in 2017. Shopee has even overtaken Lazada.

Photo credit: Morgan Stanley

Shopee has expanded its foothold in Indonesia’s ecommerce space and even overtaken Tokopedia despite entering the market late. According to the report, free shipping and its hyperlocal and mobile-first approaches played a big role in catapulting Shopee to the top.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley found that Grab may have missed the bus in the fintech space but has continued to perform well in its core offerings: mobility and delivery.

The report points out that Grab’s gross transaction value (GTV) in mobility is higher than GoTo’s in Indonesia. However, Grab appears to be losing market share in Singapore.

In the delivery space, Grab’s GTV in deliveries has overtaken GoTo in Indonesia 2021. It is also the market leader in Vietnam, with a nearly 41% market share.

Notably, both delivery and mobility spaces overall were hurt by the Covid-19 restrictions and are now eying a comeback.