Momo, Vietnam’s Alipay, sees bright future in digital wave, expanding middle class
Vietnam’s largest mobile-payment platform, Momo, aims to solidify its market leadership by capitalising on the Southeast Asian country’s burgeoning digital economy and expanding middle class.
The company, dubbed Vietnam’s Alipay, is expanding its presence in offline consumption and broadening its financial services and merchant solutions to serve its growing user base, according to Manisha Shah, chief financial officer.
« We continue to see a large unmet need, » Shah said in an interview last week in Ho Chi Minh City. « We look to grow, and grow where we have a competitive advantage. We want to go through the user’s journey and bring them along. »
Founded in 2007, Momo has amassed more than 31 million registered users or about one-third of the population, with services spanning bill payment, e-commerce and insurance products. The fintech firm has secured US$430 million in funding across five rounds from financial backers including Warburg Pincus, Macquarie Capital and Goldman Sachs, according to Crunchbase.
Over the past five years, its base of monthly active users has been growing at a rapid pace. Payment volume has increased around 50 times, while revenue has surged about 30 times, Shah said, without providing exact numbers.
As the Vietnamese government aims to increase cashless transactions by 80 to 100 per cent annually – with the country’s middle class projected to grow at a similar pace – Shah believes Momo is well-positioned for further success.
« As a market leader, we should be able to grow at least that much, » she said.
To better serve the evolving consumption patterns of users in Vietnam, Momo is expanding its existing offline presence.
If someone goes to the movies with friends, or goes on holiday, then their spending changes, Shah said. « Maybe you take a taxi, not just your motorcycle. We are on all of them, so our users can use the service they like best, as long as they pay with us. »
In terms of financial services, the company recently partnered with brokerage Credit Viet Securities to launch a stock platform for retail investors. It has also integrated with Apple for device financing and buy-now, pay-later services in Vietnam, becoming the first digital wallet in Southeast Asia to be integrated with Apple, Shah said.
« We’re not looking for the big whale, » Shah noted. « As the products develop and scale, you start to grow the ticket size and grow the tenor. »
Momo is also focusing on merchant solutions to create value for businesses of all sizes, aiming especially to help bridge the gap between merchants and their user bases. For example, based on what the platform knows about its users, it can send out marketing information such as vouchers to targeted customers on behalf of merchants without compromising privacy, according to Shah.
« We want to follow the user, » she said. « As the user moves towards transforming to become more digital, we want to be there in the journey to help them get better access, not just to payments, but to a suite of solutions that they need.
« Whether it’s more online payments, buying tickets, trading a stock, getting a new credit card – we want to be able to get them access to do that. We are still very early in the journey. »
By Jiaxing Li – The South China Morning Post – September 10, 2024