Both parties will collaborate and accept international payments from South Korea to Thailand via Sentbe, which is a major South Korean payment services firm and also one of Lightnet’s business partners.

Srihanath Lamsam, Management Executive Vice President for SCB Payment Product Solutions told the media, “At present, demand for international payments, especially outgoing and incoming remittances, has [been growing.]  Banks have continuously embraced cutting-edge technology as a core for developing new capabilities for financial products and services. These efforts also include expanding business partners at both the global and regional levels to increase capabilities and scopes of services, while ensuring that all customer groups, both Thai and foreign, have full access to financial services.”

Recently, Lightnet Lightnet closed a $31.2 million Series A investment round led by investors such as UOB Venture Management, Seven Bank, Uni-President Asset Holding, Hashkey Capital, Hopeshine Ventures, Signum Capital, DU Capital, and Hanwha Investment and Security.

Tridbodi Arunanondchai, Lightnet Group Vice Chairman and Group CEO told the media,“Our goal is to serve as a new payment center for efficient, secure, low-cost, and speedy financial services, taking advantage of [Stellar’s] blockchain technology…. The system is an effective innovation for decentralised data storage centers that will transform digital payment models in the future.”

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The startup will use the funds to enhance its technologies and simultaneously improve its product offerings. By doing so, Synqa hopes to gain an advantage in expanding its footprint in the fintech area.

The funding round for Synqa was led by Siam Commercial Bank’s venture capital subsidiary SCB 10X and Tokyo-listed asset manager Sparx Group.

Other investors such as  Toyota Motor’s financial arm Toyota Financial Services, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., SMBC Venture Capital, and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, also participated in the funding round, Nikkei reported.

Jun Hasegawa, founder, and chief executive of Synqa, said that he sees a lot of opportunities in accelerating digital payments and digital transformation for enterprises.

“Despite these challenging times, I see a lot of opportunities in accelerating digital payments and digital transformation for enterprises. This funding will accelerate the development of quality products and services by our subsidiaries to better connect people, businesses, and society. I strongly believe technologies and innovation are crucial to building a more accessible financial infrastructure,” he told the media.

The Bangkok-based startup, which was formerly known as Omise Holdings, offers payments services to online and offline merchants in Thailand, Japan, and Singapore. It also runs Ethereum-based money transfer tool OMG Network.

Synqa’s platform allows websites to complete transactions without sending shoppers elsewhere. Reportedly, its lists of clients in Thailand include McDonald’s, duty-free retailer King Power, the country’s second-largest mobile carrier True Corp. and hospitality giant Minor International.

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According to media reports, Prudential Life Assurance’s Thai unit will acquire the FWD’s exclusive rights to sell life insurance products using TMB Bank’s platform. The initial term of the partnership is 15 years. Prudential will make the payment in two installments. 

Last year, FWD acquired SCB Life subsequently followed by the signing of a 15-year bancassurance partnership with Siam Commercial Bank (SCB). SCB is Thailand’s largest commercial bank. 

Under the terms of the agreement, FWD will receive 20 billion baht for the TMB contract. The contract sale would benefit FWD in terms of easing potential antitrust concerns, especially after it agreed to pay $3 billion for operations of SCB life insurance as part of its acquisition. 

FWD said in a statement that the remaining term of FWD’s bancassurance contract will be entirely transferred to Prudential Thailand during a nine-month transition period. This transition period will begin on April 1 and remain until December 31. 

FWD Group CEO Huynh Thanh Phong, told the media that, “I’d like to thank TMB for their professionalism and long-term support during our collaboration over the past few years. This agreement benefits all parties and, most importantly, means our TMB customers will continue to receive their protection, benefits and customer servicing in accordance with the terms of their FWD policies.”

In 2017, TMB Bank and FWD renewed the contract to sell FWD products to the bank’s distribution network for 15 years, media reports said. In recent years, FWD has strengthened its insurance presence across Asia. 

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Businesses in Thailand will soon be able to make cross border payments to Singapore, Myanmar, and Cambodia and the facility is expected to go online somewhere in the second or third quarter of 2020.

Currently, members of Asean often find it difficult to carry out international transactions due to the unavailability of a digital payment platforms that process multiple currency payments within a short period of time.

As a remedy to the problem, Thailand has decided to leverage the QR code technology and offer a seamless cross border payment option. QR code technology enables contactless, fast and secure payments with the use of mobile apps to merchants as well as consumers.

The recent developments can be attributed to the collaboration between central banks, fintech startups, and financial institutions from the Asean region.

Siritida Panomwon Na Ayudhya told the media, “Regional interoperability of standardised QR code payments between Thailand and these nations has continued to make strides.”

Last year, Thailand also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the central bank of Cambodia to develop a similar cross border payment platform that leverages QR code technology. The platform, which is now online, facilitates cross border payments in local currencies.

Many banks in Thailand have also independently developed digital payment services that facilitate cross border payments.

In 2019, Thanachart Bank partnered with a Lao bank to develop digital payment services in the neighbouring countries. During the same period, Siam Commercial Bank and Krungthai Bank developed digital payments in Cambodia and Singapore respectively.

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Under the new partnership, SCB will allow customers to open a non-passbook savings bank account at 7-Eleven’s Counter Service using facial recognition technology. The facial recognition technology will be used to verify the customers’ identification.

The new service is expected to bring aboard more than a million customers this year, the media reported. Also, SCB’s partnership with Counter Service will make the latter a leading banking agent in the country. 

It requires customers to insert their ID card in the Electronic Data Capture (EDC) device at the 7-Eleven stores to open an account. After that, they are expected to take a photo using facial recognition, enter their telephone number, enter an auto-generated PIN at EDC and confirm. 

The new service will enable the bank to drive other financial offerings such as  SCB Easy, credit & debit cards, Planet SCB cards, loans and investments. 

SCB President Mrs. Apiphan Charoenanusorn told the media that, “This Digital Financial Partnership with Counter Service will extend the success of the Banking Agent service launched last year. This collaborative effort will help enhance the capabilities of our two firms in offering new banking service formats for customers, starting with simple cash deposit and withdrawal via Counter Service.” 

Besides SCB, other banks in the country including Kasikornbank, Bangkok Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, TMB Bank and CIMB Thai Bank carry out electronic Know-Your-Customer (eKYC) with facial biometrics, the media reported. 

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Siam Commercial Bank is Thailand’s third biggest lender by assets. The bank foresees potential in one of its fintech units to become a unicorn, or a private company with a valuation of $1 billion. The main reason for the spin off is to allow the unit to become more independent, including raising funds from other investors. 

Siam Commercial Co-President Orapong Thien-Ngern, told Bloomberg Quint, “Thai banking like most other countries is a sunsetting industry, as existing lenders and new players are competing for limited pools of customers. Venture capital and technology investments will be the key survival strategies for SCB in attracting new customers and boosting earnings.” 

In recent times, Siam Commercial Bank and other Thai lenders have been investing in technology to beat fintech startup competition. The management seeks to transform the bank into a technology company.

Thien-Ngern firmly believes that venture capital and technology investments are important strategies vital to the bank’s development. 

Siam Commercial Bank has closed a four year capital spending programme worth $1.3 billion. The programme is focused on artificial intelligence, digital platforms and other technology. 

The banks shows tremendous potential to become Thailand’s leading player in digital technology. Earlier this month, the bank established strategic partnership with Liquid Group to enable cross-border QR payment acceptance in Singapore and Thailand. 

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Siam Commercial Bank is Thailand’s largest bank with King Maha Vajiralongkorn as its biggest shareholder. Southeast Asian lenders have started to collaborate with technology firms in order to firm up their financial services to consumers using the technology.  

Last year, the lender increased its corporate venture capital fund by $50 million through its fintech investment arm Digital Ventures. Siam Commercial Bank in its official press release said that it is focusing more on direct investments rather than fund-of-fund investments to bolster its digital transformation strategy. 

Up to 80 percent of the $50 million investment will be directly invested in startups globally.  Siam Commercial Bank CEO Arak Sutivong said that the lender is anticipating returns on investment up to 30 percent over the next five years.  

The lender will be the most recent to join Go-Jek’s ongoing Series F round. Previously, Go-Jek had mentioned that it plans to invest the proceeds to speed up its market expansion in Southeast Asia. 

Go-Jek has raised more than $1 billion reaching a $10-billion valuation from investors including Provident Capital, Google, JD.com and Tencent in the first close of  Series F round. Mitsubishi is also an investor of Go-Jek and participated in the first round. GO-Jek President Andre Soelistyo said that these partnerships will allow the startup to have better reach and create value in the region. 

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The deal is regarded as Southeast Asia’s biggest insurance M&A deal.

The deal paves the way for SCB to distribute FWD’s life insurance products to its customers in Thailand for the next 15 years.

“The future for the Thai market will be exceptionally good, and we want to be part of this market,” Huynh Thanh Phong, FWD’s chief executive told the Financial Times.

Southeast Asia’s insurance sector continues to attract foreign insurers with its lower insurance penetration levels and faster growth rates for life insurance premiums compared to home markets.

FWD continues its aggressive push into life insurance across Asia. According to the Financial Times, the group said it was buying MetLife’s Hong Kong life insurance business for less than $400 million.

‘It’s not easy to find the right partner that ticks all the right boxes, but finally, we have found one,” Vichit Suraphongchai, SCB’s chairman told the media.

According to him, SCB was searching for a long-term insurance partner that could help take their business to the next level and FWD provides the perfect opportunity.

SCB is currently Thailand’s largest bank in terms of asset and market capitalisation. The bank has 16 million customers with Thailand’s total population being 69 million.

SCB Life Assurance ranks behind Muang Thai Life Assurance, Hong Kong-based Thai Life Insurance, and Krungthai-AXA Life when it comes to market share.

In 2013, FWD entered the insurance business in Asia by acquiring ING Group’s insurance business in Hong Kong, Macao, and Thailand. The group has also expanded in other Asian markets such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, and Japan.

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