Ascend Money is looking to become one of the top three digital payment companies in Southeast-Asia and expand in South Asia. The unit of Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group’s online business arm Ascend Group raised $150 million in September, raising its valuation to $1.5 billion.
Ascend Money, which is known for its flagship service TrueMoney Wallet, has a presence in Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia.
“In Cambodia, for example, money transacted through Ascend Money amounts to 10% of the country’s GDP,” Ascend Money founder Suphachai Chearavanont told the Bangkok Post. “We aim to be among the top three players in every market where we have expanded despite challenges.”
Ascend Money focuses on providing financial services in Asean, which has a population of 700 million, Suphachai said.
“Every country needs technology that can provide people with convenient access to capital,” he said.
“In Thailand, we are certainly one of the major players. But in the region, it is a challenge to become a top three player.”
Suphachai said Ascend Money now has its eyes on expansion in South Asia, covering India and Pakistan. The company projects a total user base there of 1-1.5 billion people.
He said the company’s vision is to bridge a gap in the economic system by targeting the unbanked population and building a new digital infrastructure for the economy.
“Digital technology is pushing for new infrastructure in the economic system, allowing all financial transactions to be done online. We saw this trend and believe financial services can be carried out through mobile and broadband internet,” Suphachai said.
Ascend Money provides an e-wallet and financial credit in Thailand, with an ultimate goal to be more like a marketplace or a quasi-super-app.
In the region, the company initially focused on remittance services through 88,000 agents.
“Every country has e-wallet providers and we have to compete with them, which is not easy,” Suphachai said.
Ascend Money plans to expand its services by offering financial trading tools.
In Asean, Ascend Money registered 2.2 billion total transactions in 2020, up 64% from 2019. Total payment volume in Asean rose 40 percent year on year to $14 billion.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
