Singapore-based Grab recently added the payment solution of Vietnam’s MoMo to its “super-app” so that Grab customers in Vietnam have an additional option for making cashless payments for services such as hailing a motorbike, shopping online, ordering meal delivery or buying insurance. MoMo allows users to send funds from
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFIs in Albania, Georgia, Vietnam Borrow $8m from C-Quadrat Impact Asset Management’s Dual Return Vision Microfinance Funds
Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a unit of Austria’s C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently announced it has disbursed loans totaling USD 8 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Albania, Georgia and Vietnam through its Dual Return Funds. One of these loans was
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sherpa Company Pays $65m for 25% Equity Stake in Trusting Social to Harness Big Data for Consumer Finance in Vietnam
Singapore-based Trusting Social recently closed its Series C funding round, selling 25 percent of its equity for USD 65 million to Sherpa Company, a subsidiary of the Vietnam-based Masan Group, which operates across the financial, food, materials, retail and technology sectors. Trusting Social offers
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corp Launches “VNPT Pay” Mobile Money Service
Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT) recently won approval from the State Bank of Vietnam to pilot a nationwide mobile money service. The service, VNPT Pay, allows customers to use
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: PBU Invests in SEAF Women’s Economic Empowerment Fund (SWEEF), Targeting SMEs in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam
The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF), a US-based investment manager, recently closed the first round of funding of the SEAF Women’s Economic Empowerment Fund (SWEEF). While the amount of investment has not been disclosed, the Danish pen
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Boosts COVID-19 Response to $8b for Working Capital, Risk-sharing, Trade Finance, “Real Sector” Finance Worldwide; Including $294m Deployed to Target SMEs in Vietnam
The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently increased to USD 8 billion its financial commitment to counter the effects of COVID-19. David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group, said, “It’s essential that we shorten the time to recovery.” He added, “Support operations are already underway, and the expanding funding tools…will help sustain economies, companies and jobs.”
The funding package is divided into four categories, with USD 2 billion allocated each to: (1) cash for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Supports $100m IFC Loan to TienPhong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) to Boost Digital Financial Services in Vietnam
With funds from the government-backed Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) and other sources, the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently loaned USD 100 million to TienPhong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) of Vietnam. TPBank plans to use the proceeds of the five-year loan to expand its lending via its website and mobile app.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MFIs in Bolivia, Vietnam Borrow $11.5m from C-Quadrat Dual Return Vision Microfinance Fund
Two microfinance institutions (MFIs) – one in Bolivia and one in Vietnam – recently borrowed a total of USD 11.5 million from the Dual Return Vision Microfinance fund, an offering of C-Quadrat Asset Management, which is a unit of Austrian fund manager C-Quadrat. The identities of the MFIs and the amount each borrowed remain confidential. C-Quadrat Asset Management did tell MicroCapital that
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cooperative Bank of Vietnam (Co-opBank), Développement international Desjardins (DiD) Supporting People’s Credit Funds in Improving Products for Agricultural, Other Rural Clients
The Cooperative Bank of Vietnam (Co-opBank), whose mission includes promoting “social economic development in agricultural and rural area[s]” of Vietnam, recently began implementing a project with the support of Développement international Desjardins (DiD), a unit of Canadian cooperative Desjardins Group, intended to improve the tailoring of financial products to the needs of people in
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Asia-Pacific Financial Inclusion Summit, Hanoi, Vietnam, March 21-22, 2017
Event Name: Asia-Pacific Financial Inclusion Summit
Event Date: March 21-22, 2017; optional field visits on March 23, 2017
Event Location: JW Marriott Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam
Event Summary: Themed “Advancing Financial Inclusion in a Digital Age,” this event will include plenaries on topics such as collaboration and regulating digital financial services. Breakout sessions will address topics such as blockchain technology, gender, serving youth and reaching “the last mile.” On March 23, participants may visit with staff and clients of either Tinh Thuong Microfinance Institution or
SPECIAL REPORT: The Impact of Finance on the Development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) in Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam
This
discussion of supporting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) centered on (1) building systems to boost institutions’ confidence in lending to the sector; and (2) the non-financial needs of MSMEs.
Gerald Sun, Vice President, Head of Sales for Commercial Payments Asia/Pacific at MasterCard Worldwide, said “the banks have trouble making a risk assessment cheaply enough. They lend to big organizations based on their income. For SMEs [small and medium enterprises], they revert to looking at assets as they would for consumer lending. The bank can value a house or car, but not a ton of fertilized chicken eggs.” MasterCard is addressing this issue by
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC, Cathay United Bank Loaning $50m to VPBank for SMEs in Vietnam with Support From Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, and Cathay United Bank, a Taiwan-based commercial bank, recently announced that they will each lend USD 25 million to Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) to support small businesses in Vietnam.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: GlobeOne, Eximbank to Bring New Mobile Banking, Internet Platform to Vietnam
GlobeOne, a US-based company providing a mobile platform for the provision of financial services, recently signed a letter of intent with Eximbank, a joint-stock commercial bank that is controlled by the Vietnamese government, to bring its platform to Vietnam.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Provide Consulting Services to An Binh Joint Stock Commercial Bank (ABBANK) to Finance Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the US-based World Bank Group, recently announced that it has signed a “project services agreement” with An Binh Joint Stock Commercial Bank (ABBANK), a Vietnamese commercial bank.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) Deploys Intellect Core Banking Solution of Indian Software Firm Polaris
The Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP), a government-owned bank that offers microfinance and other services in Vietnam, recently has deployed the Intellect (R) Core Banking Solution (CBS), an enterprise platform offered by India-based Polaris Financial Technology Limited (Polaris) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Singapore’s Tagit, Vietnam’s Smartlink Launch Mobile Banking Service in Vietnam
Tagit, a Singaporean mobile technology company, reportedly has partnered with Vietnamese mobile payment provider Smartlink to launch a mobile banking service that will link the customers of 51 financial institutions and insurance providers.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Vietnam’s Ministry of Health and Social Insurance to Provide Free Health Insurance to Poor People
The Ministry of Health of Vietnam and Vietnam Social Insurance, a government-funded organization that offers insurance to workers, reportedly will issue health insurance cards free of charge to families living close to or below the poverty line.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank Invests $40m in Vietnam’s Microfinance Sector
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a development finance institution based in the Philippines, recently lent USD 40 million to the government of Vietnam in an effort to improve the country’s microfinance sector.