💳👛 Can This Thai E-Wallet Make It in Malaysia?

GM. This is micro digest, the daily newsletter that gives you a bird's eye view of SEA tech.

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Here's what we got for you:

• 🌊 The SEA - TrueMoney - The Thai e-wallet launched in Malaysia

• ⛵ SEAppets - Joel Neoh departs Fave as CEO

• 💰 SEA Deals  

• 🖼️ AI Image of the day

• 🐣 Tweet of the day

Markets 📈

I'm from Malaysia and here in Malaysia, most people use TnG or Grabpay as their e-wallet of choice. But there are always one or two friends who are still living under a rock and just won't use it. They prefer cAsH... 🤢

Well if the local e-wallets couldn't change their minds, maybe this Thai one could.

That's right I'm talking TrueMoney because they just expanded to Malaysia. 

📈 The E-wallet Stats

• Over the years, the number of e-wallet players in the region has exploded. While some e-wallets were unable to keep up with the competition, others managed to upgrade their offerings

• A Juniper Research study from 2021 revealed that the number of e-wallet users in the region is about to skyrocket - a 311% increase from 2020 to an estimated 440 million users by 2025

• Indonesia is currently leading the pack, with the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia following closely behind

• Talk about useless stats - Indonesia has the largest population in SEA of course they would have the most e-wallet users

💳 Who is TrueMoney?

• TrueMoney is a Thai fintech brand providing e-payment services in Southeast Asia

• It is part of Ascend Group and the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), Thailand’s largest private company.

• TrueMoney's e-wallet currently operates in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines.

• It's also offering its own unique remittance service, allowing cross-border money transfers between certain countries

🚀 TrueMoney recently launched in Malaysia but why?

• Well it looks like their goal is not to compete with the local brands instead, they have a bigger goal in mind - to complete their payment ecosystem and enable cross-border payments within SEA

• That said their main agenda right now is still to grow in Malaysia and be an effective e-wallet in the future

• While it's still too early to say for Malaysia, the e-wallet is apparently already a hit in Cambodia thanks to its cross-border payment capability. Too bad this feature is still not available in Malaysia

It's nice that TrueMoney has a remittance feature for users in certain countries but here's the thing: Strike just expanded to the Phillippines, one of the world's largest remittance markets and it's not just allowing cross-border from certain countries. People can now convert bitcoin into local currency and send it to anyone in the world faster and cheaper using the Lightning Network. The Bitcoin Standard is coming.

SEAppets ⛵

1. Fave Founder & CEO Joel Neoh is set to depart the company by early March 2023. Fave offers QR payments and loyalty programmes and was recently acquired by Pine Labs for US$45 million in 2021. It has achieved its highest transaction volumes and will continue to expand its collaborations with banks and financial institutions. Neoh remains involved in the tech ecosystem as an investor and mentor.

2. Zetrix, a Malaysian layer-1 public blockchain platform, is collaborating with Universiti Malaya and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology on a research project to commercialize blockchain technology. This project is part of the government-to-government program between China and Malaysia and has the potential to improve global trade and create advantages for both countries. It also includes a system that could prevent fraud in supply chain processes using blockchain technology.

SEA Deals 💰

1. Gimo, a payroll services company headquartered in Vietnam, has raised USD $5.1 million in its Series A round of funding led by TNB Aura. Other investors include Integra Partners, Resolution Ventures, ThinkZone, Y Combinator, and Blauwpark Partners. It was founded in 2019 by Quan Nguyen Anh, and has raised a total of USD $7.5 million.

2. Based in Singapore, Aspire, a provider of an all-in-one finance operating system for businesses in Southeast Asia, has raised a USD $100 million oversubscribed Series C round led by Lightspeed Ventures and Sequoia Capital SEA. It plans to use the funding to enhance its product offering, expand its regional presence, and add more talent across Southeast Asia. Established in 2018, it provides businesses with international payments, corporate cards, and payable and receivable management. It has recently tripled its annualised total payment volumes to USD $12 billion and has raised over USD $200 million in total funding.

AI image of the day 🖼️

Star Wars-inspired trucks 

Tweet of the day 🐣

Tell that to my Gen-Z colleague who quit because she wasn't feeling the vibe.

That's a wrap for today. See you all tomorrow! 👋

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