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Kakao Pay joins $20m series A in Malaysian fintech firm Paywatch
Paywatch, a fintech firm based in Kuala Lumpur providing earned wage access (EWA) and employee benefits, has closed its series A funding round with US$20 million from investors including Malaysia’s Artem Ventures and South Korea’s Kakao Pay.
This brings Paywatch’s total funding to over US$50 million, factoring in earlier equity and credit facilities.
Paywatch plans to use the new capital to expand its platform with additional products such as cross-border payments, insurance, and employee rewards.
Earlier participants in the round included New York-based Third Prime and US institutional investors.
Paywatch operates in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong, offering services that let employees access their earned wages before payday.
The company has processed over US$200 million in EWA transactions since its founding in 2020.
Kakao Pay and Paywatch also intend to collaborate on enterprise solutions for Southeast Asian and South Korean markets.
🔗 Source: Paywatch
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Paywatch’s bank ties signal a different regulatory path
- Paywatch works with established banks such as Hong Leong Bank (a major Malaysian lender) 1. Partners include OCBC (Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, a Singaporean bank) and UOB (United Overseas Bank, a Singaporean bank). That makes it the only multi-country bank-backed Earned Wage Access (EWA) provider 1.
- It holds an electronic financial business license in South Korea 2. The EWA solution is licensed, recognised in Malaysia and Hong Kong 3. That keeps it within formal rules while some rivals face scrutiny.
- The company charges a fixed withdrawal fee tied to ATM fees at about US$0.21 4, which makes it a transparent option versus payday loans or credit card cash advances. It serves more than 500,000 employees and processes over US$4 million a month 1.
Frontline software in Asia can grow with wage flexibility
- Payroll and Human Resources Information System (HRIS) platforms for manufacturing, hospitality, plus retail in Southeast Asia can add EWA to stand out 1. Attrition runs at 17.5% in the Philippines and 15.1% in Indonesia 1.
- Time and attendance software has the real-time hours data EWA needs, which creates an easy integration. Paywatch co-founder Patrick Hew said financially empowered employees stay longer 3.
- Cross-border platforms serving migrant worker corridors can layer EWA into remittance tools, as Paywatch builds via Visa Direct (Visa’s real-time push payments network) 1. This helps reach unbanked or underbanked users at an estimated 78% in the Philippines and 77% in Indonesia 1.
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