BigPay, an airasia Digital portfolio firm, has announced that it has secured up to $100 million in financing from South Korean giant SK Group. BigPay, which was founded in 2017, is available in both Malaysia and Singapore.
Its current product offerings include a prepaid debit card that can be used anywhere Visa or Mastercard is accepted, local and international money transfers, micro-insurance, bill payments, and a budgeting tool. BigPay has created a suite of goods for its members that are aimed at improving their long-term financial health and accessibility.
“Our goal is to become Southeast Asia’s foremost challenger bank. We’ve established ourselves as one of the main providers of digital banking services in Malaysia, and we want to extend our product offerings while also expanding the model into new areas.
Thailand is up next, but we’ll be introducing essential products first, including entirely digital personal loans, transactional financing, and an offering for mSMEs,” said Salim Dhanani, BigPay’s CEO and co-founder.
This is the first time any of airasia Digital’s portfolio companies has received financing of this level. The investment from one of South Korea’s top corporations and a tech innovator boosts AirAsia’s digital venture while expanding the scope of expansion for its digital operations, which include logistics and financial services.
Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia Group, stated, “I am excited for this wonderful cooperation with SK Group and their belief in BigPay’s objective to bring diversity to financial services.” This is our first investment in one of our portfolio digital companies, and it is a testament to our digital growth narrative – it will not be the last.
We truly believe that SK Group can share their expertise and know-how so that this investment can mark the beginning of a new exciting digital banking era.” Chief Representative of SK Malaysia, Jung Kyu Kim, stated, “We are happy to be joining forces with BigPay as we have had a keen interest in fintech and digital banking for a long time.”
Given our experience and resources, SK Group will be able to make a significant contribution to BigPay in both technical and consumer service aspects.”
The announcement comes just a few weeks after BigPay announced its application for a digital banking license, in which it reiterated its commitment to building a connected financial future for Malaysian consumers and entrepreneurs.
