Lightnet, a Singapore headquartered fintech company, since the beginning of 2020, has raised USD 31.2 million in a Series A financing round and created a portfolio of partnerships that put it in a stronger position than ever to improve the lives of the unbanked and underbanked populations of Southeast Asia and other parts of Asia Pacific. These partnerships include a formal Technical Integration Agreement with Hanwha Investment and Securities, a consortium with MatchMove, Singapura Finance and OpenPayd to bid for a digital full bank license, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with KogoPAY. Lightnet is co-founded by industry figurehead Chatchaval Jiaravanon, whose family controls Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group.
Lightnet is dedicated to improving the lives of the unbanked and underbanked populations throughout Asia Pacific, whom have been significantly impacted by the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the World Bank’s April 2020 Migration and Development Brief, existing remittance service providers have struggled and many cash-based services and remittance operators have been forced to close. While the importance of electronic transfers is surging, current digital instruments are beyond the reach of the poorest and most at-need migrant workers.
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Lightnet recognizes the opportunity to provide a more inclusive international remittance ecosystem and has a number of business ventures aimed at expanding its reach throughout Asia Pacific.
- Lightnet and Hanwha Investment and Securities, a leading South Korean provider of comprehensive asset management services, entered into a technical integration agreement wherein Hanwha Investment Securities agrees to connect to and process transactions over Lightnet’s network. Lightnet is responsible for developing the technology solution to integrate Hanwha Investment Securities into the Lightnet Network.
Tridbodi Arunanondchai, Vice Chairman and Group CEO of Lightnet comments: “Our partnership with Hanwha Investment and Securities is an important step towards creating an inclusive international remittance ecosystem. Lightnet is one step closer to providing migrant workers throughout Southeast Asia with access to real-time money transfers.”
- As part of a consortium that includes Singapore-based digital payments firm MatchMove, digital Banking-as-a-Service platform OpenPayd, and 70-year-old Singaporean bank Singapura Finance, Lightnet has submitted a bid for a digital full bank license with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The bid has recently been shortlisted.
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Commenting on the partnership, Tridbodi Arunanondchai, says: “There are many synergies between our organisations beyond Singapore which we intend to explore and I believe we can develop a compelling proposition for the underbanked segment across the region.”
- Lightnet signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with KogoPAY, a socially conscious mobile payments Fintech start-up, to share operations in electronic banking.
Tridbodi Arunanondchai, continues: “KogoPAY’s aspirations to create a versatile new operation are very much in alignment with our technology and we admire the advances that KogoPAY has made within the complex area of electronic banking.”
Lightnet’s core team comprises talent cultivated from global tech leaders like Microsoft, Lenovo, Amazon, Google and Alibaba. This team has diverse expertise across technology, corporate finance, fintech and remittance industries.
Chatchaval Jiaravanon, Chairman of Lightnet explains: “Lightnet is disrupting a trillion U.S. dollar global remittance market, starting with the millions of unbanked migrant workers who rely on outdated, costly and fragmented services in major Southeast Asian markets. We have assembled a world-class team to fix this problem.”
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