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Banking in Vietnam has transformed from when I first arrived in the country almost a decade ago.
Cash was very much still king back then, and to say accessing a bank’s products and services back was difficult would be understating it. It felt like I had to bring a briefcase full of documents and sign 12 sheets of paper to do anything.
Now, all the major banks in the country offer a plethora of services that you can avail with a few taps on their apps. However, there’s still a lot more to be done to financial inclusion in Vietnam and Southeast Asia as a whole – areas where it’s hard for working-class folks to access credit.
Credit payment platform Yup is betting that it can fill that gap in the region, starting with Indonesia. The Jakarta-headquartered firm has lofty goals and wants to be known as the “Nubank from Southeast Asia,” referring to the Brazil-based pioneering digital bank.
Today we look at:
- Banking, spelled Yup
- Intudo’s new funds worth US$125 million
- Other newsy highlights such as Huawei calling for theft and fraud charges against the Chinese firm to be dropped and Flipkart and Amazon execs facing questioning in India.
Premium summary
Yup says yes to financial inclusion
Image credit: Timmy Loen
With a market cap of around US$72.9 billion, Nubank is the global standard bearer for digital banks. Yup wants to emulate its success here in Southeast Asia.
The credit payment platform established by Singapore-based startup Finture has a long way to go to reach those lofty heights, but it has a plan.
- Gap in the market: Yup started out in 2021 by offering only a physical credit card, but it now has services like e-wallets, insurance, and buy now, pay later. The firm is currently focusing on serving working-class customers with stable incomes in Indonesia, which are typically underserved by traditional banks.
- Profit push: Donny Zhang, founder and CEO of Finture, expects Yup to turn a profit next year, though it’s currently in the red. He told Tech in Asia that Yup handles close to 20 million transactions annually, with around US$200 million in total payment volumes each year.
- Growth goals: Finture has plans for Yup to enter Hong Kong, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Zhang believes the company can target similarly underserved customers in the Philippines and Vietnam, where many young people can’t apply for a regular credit card.
Read more: Yup aims to be the ‘Nubank from SEA,’ but the road ahead is long
Funding into Intudo
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