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Merchants

GHL Systems to Offer Flexible Payment Options in ASEAN Region with Visa Instalments

GHL Systems has teamed up with payments giant Visa (NYSE:V) in order to become the first in the ASEAN region to offer Visa Instalments for customers using the eGHL Payment Gateway platform.

Visa Instalments works by turning pre-approved issuer credit lines into installment payment options at checkout for all Visa cardholders.

This new option appears to be Visa’s response to the rising popularity of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solutions in Southeast Asia. BNPL services are being widely used because they give consumers more flexibility with how they pay for items. They’re able to split their payments into more manageable interest-free installments (instead of having to pay extra money or interest when using traditional credit cards).

If a customer qualifies or is eligible, they’ve presented the Visa installment options at the point of purchase. They may see this option on a payment terminal screen in-store or at a checkout page online. This should give more customers the ability to complete the purchase in easy installments.

GHL Group is reportedly the very first digital payment gateway in the ASEAN region that has added Visa Instalments, which aims to make shoppers’ big-ticket spending more manageable. It should also allow merchants to achieve greater sales conversion rates.

At present, more than 2,500 eGHL online merchants in Malaysia may be able to provide their clients easy instalment options via this new solution. The solution will be available to GHL face-to-face merchants during the next phase of the rollout.

GHL’s digital payment gateway presently processes more than MYR850 million in online transactions value per month across a wide range of businesses, and across merchants of all types.

GHL appears to be focused on the BNPL sector. In March 2021, the company partnered with BNPL Fintech Split.

Sean Hesh, Group CEO of GHL, remarked:

“GHL is excited to be the first in ASEAN to be integrated to Visa Instalments API to provide a seamless shopping experience and expand consumers’ purchasing power, especially when it comes to bigger ticket items. The payment flexibility is just the beginning of many of our continuous efforts and innovative solutions that we hope to grow with Visa here onwards.”

Kim J. Hak, Head of Products for Visa Malaysia, remarked:

“Visa Instalments empowers consumers [with] the ability to choose how they pay upon checkout, and simplifies the current friction and time-consuming instalment process for buyers and sellers. We’re extremely excited to partner with GHL to integrate our API with their payment gateway and offer this solution to thousands of online merchants. We will be working with our issuer partners to enable this solution for Visa cardholders shortly so that they can make instalment payments with eGHL merchants.”

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Danial Daychopan: CEO at Plutus Explains how Financial Services Provider Is Bridging Worlds of Fiat and Crypto

We recently connected with Danial Daychopan, CEO and Founder of UK-based Plutus, a financial services provider that aims to bridge the gap between traditional fiat currencies and “upcoming” cryptocurrencies.

Plutus says it offers the “best of both worlds,” which includes centralized fiat and non-custodial crypto, “under one intuitive banking-like app.”

To stay true to the “decentralized” culture of crypto, users may attach their personal crypto wallet to the app and interact with it alongside their fiat current account “without ever revealing the private keys,” the Plutus team notes. A “custom-built” decentralized exchange (PlutusDEX) allows users to “swap between the two asset types without having to trust a 3rd party,” the company explains.

The Plutus app comes with a Plutus Debit Card which users can load with fiat and converted cryptocurrency in order to spend at more than 60 million merchants, “circumventing the need for mass adoption and making crypto payments a reality now!.” With 3% “crypto back built-in,” Plutus claims it’s one of the “most secure” and “rewarding” accounts available. Our conversation with Danial Daychopan is shared below.

Crowdfund Insider: What are the main products and services that you offer at Plutus?

Danial Daychopan: We are essentially looking to bridge the gap between crypto and traditional finance, but in a way that stays true to the cypherpunk culture of cryptocurrencies. We offer traditional banking features such as a UK Sort Code & Account Number, or a European IBAN depending on where you live, and then allow users to connect any personal cryptocurrency wallet they like to this account.

Almost all services out there require users to use a centralized wallet which the company has access to, so I think the ability to connect any wallet of your choice whilst retaining the private keys is of huge significance. Ownership of the private keys is what gives crypto value, and the rest of the market seems to be moving increasingly further away from that. The app also includes a decentralized exchange (DEX) so you can seamlessly convert crypto for fiat and vice versa without having to trust a 3rd party, and a Plutus Visa Debit Card awards users 3% in crypto rewards every time you spend with it.

Crowdfund Insider: Many more people have been using investment apps and other types of Fintech apps following the COVID outbreak.

Have you seen more people sign up to use your products as well? What’s been the response overall from consumers this past year?

Danial Daychopan: We have definitely seen a surge in customer acquisition across the last 12-months and exceeded our EOY target of 25,000 accounts. However, I believe there are a huge number of contributing factors other than COVID; the bull run experienced at the start of 2021 was by far the biggest driving force for us.

Crowdfund Insider:  What are the benefits of using all-digital Fintech apps to conduct transactions?

Danial Daychopan: I think the core benefits of all-digital FinTech apps lie beyond just transactions, it’s the whole financial experience. Creating an account in just 2-minutes without having to visit a branch; efficient customer support outside of your traditional 9-5 working hours; a thorough breakdown of your expenses and instant notifications. Traditional banks are overly reliant on outdated tech, and given the size of these corporations, the risks of implementing alternative technologies are remarkably high and extremely costly.

All-digital Fintech apps, on the other hand, are much more adaptable and able to develop innovative features that really cater to what users want – they have a much more customer-centric approach.

Crowdfund Insider: The crypto market recently surpassed the $2 trillion mark. Do you feel we are at the beginning of what could be a much larger ecoystem in the next 5 to 10 years?

What can we expect to see in the coming years in terms of cryptocurrency adoption?

Danial Daychopan: Absolutely, depending on the research study, between 4–10% of the population currently own cryptocurrencies, which means there is a super-majority out there that are yet to adopt crypto.

Whilst there could be several market cycles over the next decade, I am certain the overall trajectory will be increasingly higher adoption. I imagine we will also see further institutional investment into the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum, followed by the release of a centralized cryptocurrency by the federal reserve bank. Users will have the option of a centralized fiat currency, or the decentralized alternatives such as Bitcoin, and hopefully the smart money will choose the latter.

Alongside that, I am sure the tech will become progressively more user-friendly to accommodate the mass market. The rate of development in this sector is phenomenal.

Crowdfund Insider: What are your plans as a company for 2021 and beyond?

Danial Daychopan: In the immediate term, there will be two major product releases. We are adding Bitcoin to our list of supported cryptocurrencies, meaning you can connect any Bitcoin wallet you like to your Plutus Visa Debit Card which is a world’s first – previously our card was more ETH-focused. We are also launching our own Plutus Wallet. This is non-custodial and follows a similar format to MetaMask, except users can interact with both BTC and ERC-20 tokens from the same browser extension.

Major events to look out for later this year include our launch in both Asia and Latin America which will help rapidly expand the product, and we also aim to attain a full banking license in 2022 which would allow us to offer a much wider range of financial services.

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Malaysia’s PayNet Partners FassPay to Help Small Merchants Process Card Payments with Mobile Devices as POS Terminals

Malaysia’s PayNet, the national payments network and shared central infrastructure for that nation’s capital markets, has decided to work with FassPay, a subsidiary of Soft Space, which will be a third-party acquirer for MyDebit, the country’s local debit card scheme.

This new appointment should allow Fasspay to acquire smaller merchants and provide them with its suite of payment solutions which includes their Tap on Phone Payment solution, Fasstap — a product that allows merchants to use their own mobile devices like POS terminals to take card payments.

Merchants looking to sign up with Fasspay don’t have to be physically present as the onboarding and approval process (including Know-Your-Customer or KYC checks) is handled remotely via a step-by-step procedure that may be completed online.

FassPay has also teamed up with digital commerce platform Elokal to digitally support 2,000 small businesses in rural areas by helping them accept cashless payments.

Chris Leong, Chief Executive Officer of Fasspay, explained that Fasstap is a “robust” Cloud-enabled solution that eliminates the need for costly and dedicated payment hardware – which makes it viable or practical for small merchants. Leong also noted that the solution provides access to businesses to tap into their “value-added” loyalty platform and various other developer-based services.

Leong also mentioned that Tap on Phone payments are “reliable and secure, so merchants can be confident in knowing that their solutions face little to no risk.” He added that with their collaboration with PayNet, they think that Fasstap will “create an innovation cycle to further spur contactless usage in Malaysia.”

Leong further noted:

“The collaboration between PayNet and Soft Space, which began with a pilot launch in October 2018, has enabled merchants, particularly smaller merchants to go cashless and accept MyDebit payments without incurring the monthly expenses for a separate card payment terminal. Merchants that sign up with Fasspay would be able to use their Android mobile devices to accept MyDebit payments with the “Tap on Phone” solution called “Fasstap” by leveraging on near-field communication capabilities.”

Peter Schiesser, Group Chief Executive Officer of PayNet, stated:

“PayNet has partnered with Soft Space and now Fasspay to introduce the Tap on Phone solution to merchants for the acceptance of MyDebit in promoting a more cost-effective payment option. The Covid-19 pandemic has raised concern about safety and hygiene, and we are pleased that with the Fasstap solution, merchants can meet their customers’ preference for contactless payments. PayNet strives to offer payment eco-systems that are resilient, competitive and accessible to all. This is in line with our mission to be a trusted enabler of inclusive and collaborative financial ecosystems, which supports the nation’s vision to transform into a digitally-driven, high income nation and a regional leader in the digital economy.”

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Crowdfunding Platform For Alternative Investments Supervest Now Seeking Funds Through SeedInvest Round

Supervest, a U.S. crowdfunding platform specifically for alternative investments, is now seeking funds through its crowdfunding campaign on SeedInvest. The company describes itself as a technology platform created to bridge the gap between brokers, syndicates, and funding companies.

“Supervest is an online, crowd-funding platform that allows accredited investors to tap into the high yield potential of Merchant Cash Advance (MCA).   We connect our high-quality community of investors with our stable of funding partners in order to provide working capital to small businesses across the United States. The ability to invest, participate, or syndicate in this area has been traditionally reserved for the merchant cash advance companies and ‘insiders’ of these companies.  We have leveraged our experience and knowledge of the industry with the power of our fully integrated platform to give our funding partners the ability to tap into a stream of  capital to fund qualified merchants.”

Supervest further revealed that ots proprietary technology allows its investors to target the businesses, credit quality, and terms of the opportunities they wish to participate in.

“Additionally, our funding partners can tap into our data and use our artificial intelligence to help determine how to better price their deals.”

Supervest is offering securities under both Regulation D and Regulation CF through SI Securities, LLC (SI Securities). The company added:

“Investments made under both Regulation D and Regulation CF involve a high degree of risk and those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest. Furthermore, this profile may contain forward-looking statements and information relating to, among other things, the company, its business plan and strategy, and its industry.”

So far, Supervest has raised nearly $150,000 through its SeedInvest round, which is set to close at the end of April.

Have a crowdfunding offering you’d like to share? Submit an offering for consideration using our Submit a Tip form and we may share it on our site!

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Malaysia based Telecom Axiata Group and Norway’s Telenor to Merge Malaysian Mobile Businesses

Axiata Group and Telenor Asia revealed on Thursday (April 8, 2021) that they’ve revisted and confirmed their merger plans involving Celcom and Digi. At present, the deal is in advanced discussions.

Malaysian telecoms company Axiata Group Bhd and Norway-based Telenor ASA will be focused on merging their  Malaysia-based mobile business operations.

Both firms stated that they had been planning the merger of the telco operations of Celcom Axiata Berhad and Digi.Com Bhd. As part of the deal, both companies will have equal ownership (at around 33% for each company).

As first reported by Reuters, Malaysian institutional investors need to own at least 17.9% of the outstanding shares in the new firm, ensuring that the total domestic ownership is more than 51%, Axiata confirmed.

The firm will be known as Celcom Digi Bhd.

Reuters had also reported earlier that Axiata and Telenor were planning to confirm a deal that was expected to involve the Malaysia-based mobile operations of both companies.

As part of the deal, Axiata will be getting newly issued shares in Digi, which is a cash consideration from new debt in the merged firm of around $400 million and an additional $70 million from Telenor Group, Telenor’s management noted.

Telenor also mentioned:

“A transaction will realize synergies and provide value for shareholders in line with our strategy of further developing Telenor’s Asian portfolio.”

The Norwegian firm, which is the major shareholder in Digi, has other Asia-based operations in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Thailand.

Axiata’s management confirmed that the merged entity will aim to serve as “a leading telecommunications service provider in Malaysia in terms of value, revenue and profit.” It’s expected to generate proforma revenue of approximately 12.4 billion ringgit or around $3 billion USD.

The entity is also expected to have earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of around 5.7 billion ringgit, and about 19 million customers.

Trading in the company shares of Axiata and Digi had been suspended earlier, as the announcement details were being finalized.

In September of last year, Axiata and Telenor had backed out of a potential deal to establish a telecoms joint initiative with almost 300 million clients based in Southeast Asia. The firms had said that the transaction may have led to certain “complexities” which is why they didn’t follow through with it.

During 2020, Telenor had also been planning to combine its Asia-based business operations into one entity under new management so that it could work on other initiatives more effectively.

Digi is notably one of Malaysia’s biggest mobile services platforms in terms of subscribers, while Axiata’s local division Celcom is the third-largest.

As covered in February of last year, the Telenor Microfinance Bank of Pakistan revealed the new DLT-based cross-border payments service, which is available via Easypaisa, a leading mobile-based digital wallet.

The Easypaisa online wallet app lets Pakistani citizens, working in Malaysia, send money back home instantly and securely, via Telenor’s Malaysia-headquartered payment platform Valyou.

As reported in June 2020, GREAT Eastern (Life Assurance), the largest life insurance company in Singapore and Malaysia, had confirmed a $70 million investment into Axiata Digital’s financial services business, in order to take part in the company’s Fintech-focused plans, according to Khor Hock Seng, group CEO at Great Eastern.

The investment was reportedly made through a newly launched holding company, called Boost Holdings.

As mentioned in the announcement, Boost Holdings is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Axiata Digital, which is the digital services division of the Axiata Group, a major telecommunications group in Malaysia.

After finalizing the investment, Great Eastern will have a 21.875% stake in Boost Holdings. As noted in the release, Axiata Digital Services will be holding the remaining stake in the company.

Malaysia-based Boost offers a digital wallet and lifestyle app which has more than 7.5 million users and around 170,000 merchant touchpoints (as of June 2020).

The investment will reportedly be used to finance Axiata Digital’s new digital financial services business in Malaysia (and in Asia in general). The expansion includes Boost Holdings’ plans to support and develop its merchants network while onboarding more customers. The funds will also be used to improve Aspirasi’s credit-scoring technology. Aspirasi is an online micro-financing and micro-insurance provider.

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