Week 52: a brief look back at some of the fintech news that’s not always picked up.
First P2P lending platform in Vietnam declares itself profitable
It was a quiet week as the world welcomed the new decade, but over in Hanoi we heard that Vaymuon.vn has become profitable after two years of operation.
Vaymuon.vn says it is the first and largest P2P lending platform in Vietnam (known as Lendmo.asia in English). It has connected more than two million borrowers to over 400,000 individual lenders, with a monthly growth rate of 20% and a retention rate of 70%.
The company has also expanded into new regional markets, including Myanmar and Cambodia.
Vaymuon.vn was backed with seed investment from Nexttech Group in exchange for 20% equity. It intends to skip a Series-A investment round and head straight towards a Series-B at the beginning of 2020.
VayMuon.vn has continuously invested in IT systems and AI technologies to deploy automation in credit assessment and scoring.
Vaymuon.vn says it will closely associate with NganLuong.vn - Vietnam's largest pPayment gateway in terms of scale and profit - to develop new potential markets of credit products, including online and offline shopping loans for merchants, advanced salary loans for workers, supply chain financing and SME funding.
Virtual banks join HKIB as corporate members
The Hong Kong Institute of Bankers (HKIB) has welcomed six virtual banks as corporate members.
Joining the club are Airstar Bank, Fusion Bank, Livi VB, Ping An OneConnect Bank, SC Digital Solutions and WeLab Bank.
"The HKIB is thrilled to welcome six of the city's virtual banks as Corporate Members. Launching virtual banks has marked a new era in the development of Hong Kong's banking sector and underlines that professional training must advance to keep pace. The HKIB now boasts a member base with 103 Corporate Members and Corporate Affiliates, and over 6,000 Individual Members. With the exponential growth in the local Fintech sector, we believe that more virtual banks and Fintech companies will see the importance of joining our community in the years ahead," said Carrie Leung, Chief Executive Officer of the HKIB.
Since the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has started issuing banking licenses to a number of local virtual banks in the first half of 2019, the HKIB has strengthened its training offering in the fields of fintech, cybersecurity and digital banking.
"In 2020, the HKIB will continue our efforts to promote Fintech development in Hong Kong. As the Fintech ecosystem in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area continues to grow in prominence, we remain committed to improving the cross-border and cross-sector financial and market knowledge of banking practitioners through our professional training programmes to help local professionals sustain their competitiveness. We will also continue to promote talent exchange and mutual recognition of professional qualifications in the region, while rolling out industry initiatives that encourage incumbents to participate in Fintech and innovation-related training programmes more actively," Leung added.
HKIB is the lead organiser of the Hong Kong ICT Awards/FinTech Award, its fifth consecutive year.
The FinTech Award encourages the development of fintech innovation and solutions to enhance operations and fosters new modes of business for the financial sector. It comprises three streams: 1. Banking, Insurance and Capital Markets 2. Emerging Solutions and 3. Regulatory Technology and Risk Management.