Heaptalk, Jakarta — Modalku Group, announced its acquisition of a regional payments company, CardUp, for an undisclosed amount. This stage enables the Company to provide integrated-financial services for SMEs in Southeast Asia by implementing CardUp payment services.
CardUp transaction services are include card payments to non-card accepting recipients for domestic and cross-border, and online payments acceptance. In addition, the Company also possesses invoice automation tools, and licenses and integrations with renowned third-party business software.
These services are perceived to complement Modalku’s lending products to offer a unified financial experience for SMEs across the region. Likewise, it also enables SMEs to manage and pay expenses, receive payments, and borrow funds through this seamless digital platform.
The acquisition comes on the hill of Modalku’s Series C+ funding worth US$294 million in February 2022, of which US$144 million was collected in equity and its latest investment into Bank Index in Indonesia. The business virtual card Elevate launch in Singapore and entry into Vietnam strengthened the company’s suite of financial services for SMEs.
Launched in 2016, CardUp is a Singapore-based payments solution that helps individuals and businesses to make payments to suppliers and collect users’ payments digitally. With a presence in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hongkong, this platform has served many industries, including micro-businesses, SMEs, and B2B and C2B companies.
These businesses have operated CardUp for payment services related to payroll, rent, corporate tax, vendor payments, receivables flows, and cross-border expenses. CardUp sees massive demand from businesses looking to save time and money through payment digitization, reflected in its rapid growth, increasing 53% Quarter on Quarter (QoQ).
Co-founder and Group CEO of Funding Societies Modalku, Kelvin Teo, said, “We find CardUp has a great cultural and strategic fit. This acquisition enables us to accelerate our market leadership in the regional FinTech space, integrate payments capabilities, enhanced user experience, and reach a local license to our digital lending experience over key markets.”
The acquisition comes at the appropriate time as SMEs are expected to encourage ASEAN’s digital finance market to US$60 billion by 2025, while the region’s business payments sector will increase at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10% over the next five years. This transaction encourages the ASEAN SMEs to transform their financial processes digitally, save time and money, and provide better customer service through next-generation financial tools and services.
Founder and CEO of CardUp, Nicki Ramsay, uttered, “We have recognized Modalku Group as the regional leader in SME financing and a complementary counterpart to our expertise in payments. This acquisition represents strong strategic and cultural synergy with both parties aligned with the mission to help SMEs improve their business and cash flow management.”
Modalku will welcome Nicki Ramsay into its management team to lead its payments business while retaining all CardUp’s employees across Asia once the acquisition process is finalized and approved by the regulators.
This platform will continue to operate its consumer and business services and maintain long-term relationships with card networks, issuers, and media partners. Funding Societies Modalku and CardUp will link strong synergies in the form of complementary talent, technologies, technology, and bank partnerships to empower SMEs in Southeast Asia. (SFM)
