SEA’S FINTECH JOURNEY
The fintech industry, a relatively new space for Sea, is an exciting growth opportunity, said Mr Li, who is among Singapore’s richest men with a net worth of about US$6 billion.
The firm – which is backed by Chinese Internet giant Tencent – started with e-wallet support businesses in Vietnam and Thailand in 2014 before expanding into consumer and small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) credit loans, tapping into the Shopee ecosystem.
With money hard to borrow for the less well-off when they need it the most, his firm has been giving out credit loans in markets like Indonesia, said Mr Li.
He noted that lending services and credit card penetration are low in the world’s fourth most populous nation, where people borrow a couple hundred dollars on average via his firm.
“It’s a very, very small amount, but this can make a big difference in their lives. Credit services will help a lot of people to do things better, to enjoy their life better,” he said.
On the other hand, he pointed out the difference in the needs of those in Singapore, where Sea operates a digital bank.
“We realise a lot of Singaporeans have the desire to invest, but (they are) really short of investment products, and they don’t know what to do,” he said, adding that many of them are first-time investors who are digitally savvy.
To plug this gap, his firm launched an investment product that markets itself on being accessible to all, with a minimum investment value of just S$1 (US$0.76).
