Dr. Sutapa Amornvivat, the founding CEO of SCB Abacus, unveils the company’s goal to provide lending services to 10% of the borrowers in Thailand who have limited access to formal loans, or about 2.5 million people, within 2024. As a data tech startup driven by the aim of creating financial equality with the help of technology, they aim to become the leader of digital lending industry in Thailand and Southeast Asia.
By 2022, SCB Abacus will raise Series B funding to develop the efficiency of their technology, strengthen the team, and expand the partnership network domestically and internationally for better risk management, with expectation to become Thailand’s unicorn tech startup in the future.
SCB Abacus’ main mission is to utilize technology to provide Thai people with more access to financial opportunities, especially legal loan, to solve the problem of inequality and predatory lenders, as well as to encourage Thai people to fulfill their dreams with enough funding.
Driven by the idea “Innovation x Technology, for better society”, the team is operated by financial technology experts with world-class experience. They place high importance on inclusion and privacy, and are the first digital lending platform in Thailand to process the approval by using Alternative Data in order to release funds to people who have limited access to loans, such as freelancers, fresh graduates, merchants or people with low income, and can also reduce default risk.
At the same time, SCB Abacus values the security of customers’ personal information. Having their own IT developers instead of hiring an outsource results in the system that is fast, secured and meets the users’ desire. Thanks to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the loan approval result can be notified within 15 minutes after application submission and reach more people while lowering their service cost.
Currently, Money Thunder application, a 100% legal digital lending platform, surpasses more than 7 million downloads. Around 50% of their approved customers were previously denied bank loans, and more than 40% have experienced loan sharks. It is also found that more than 60% of their customers are female. This percentage is surprisingly larger than Thailand’s average female legal lending customers which is approximately 48%. Moreover, 16% of their customers are young entrepreneur aged 20-25.
Dr. Sutapa shares that the team is growing up along with the customers and proud to be a meaningful part who unlocks more access to financial solutions to millions of people, encouraging them to get though difficult times, especially during the pandemic.
Speaking of the past performance, the company has continued to grow and expanded its customers 6 times over the past year. Besides, they cooperate with many business partners, such as Thailand Post, PTG, foodpanda, and welcome future partners sharing the same vision.
Dr. Sutapa also says that, to achieve the company’s goal under such challenges and fast-changing trends, a dream team who shares the same vision is an important factor. Right now, SCB Abacus is a supportive workplace for more than 60 team members having different backgrounds and experiences. The diversity of the team becomes a strength allowing each member to voice out their opinions. The feeling of supporting and trusting each other will finally lead to a good product that the customers trust.
Read the original article at: https://www.bangkokbiznews.com/business/1005537