(10 November 2017 -Asia) Tapp Group, an Australia-based financial technology and payments firm is targeting Asia's consumer and small business markets, and seeking out capital to do so.
The company is also seeking institutional funding to help its preparations for a public listing on the Australian Securities Exchange next year.
Tapp's CEO, Jitto Arulampalam, said it will be expanding Indonesian operations, the increasing its presence across other South-East Asian countries including Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
“New payments systems are emerging on a monthly basis but they all have something in common. They all rely on the existing banking eco-systems and are all fighting for the same sector,” Mr Arulampalam said.
He said people in the emerging economies have money and smartphones but do not have a bank account for paying for online goods and services.
“Merchants have appealing products but no way to reach the unbanked.”
It’s reported that the region’s cash transactions are worth around US$59 trillion a year, however, a large portion of consumers and small businesses remain unreachable by banks and financial institutions.