Asia's largest frontier market Myanmar has attracted the attention of traditional banks, however, as in other emerging Asian jurisdictions, the ubiquitous influence of financial technology is usurping them.
In the latest fintech deal in Myanmar, the National Bank of Canada (NBC) is now a strategic shareholder in one of Myanmar's leading mobile payments providers.
ONGO, Myanmar's mobile payments business, which cites «Financial Inclusion» as its goal, has announced that NBC has become a new strategic shareholder acquiring a 22 percent shareholding. The terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
Emerging Asia Embraces Fintech
National Bank of Canada already has an interest in ASEAN through its subsidiary ABA Bank, in Cambodia. finews.asia reported recently how the use of Blockchain and fintech via smartphone apps is diluting the traditional banking roles across emerging markets in Asia.
Ongo is the consumer facing brand of Ronoc Asia, a subsidiary of the emerging markets investment business Ronoc. It offers retailer payments solutions, payroll programs and direct to consumer services leveraging the latest payments technology.
«The addition of NBC as a strategic investor will strengthen our capabilities and accelerate our timelines in Myanmar as well as our expansion to other markets in the region,» said Michael Madden, the Founder and Chairman of Ronoc Asia/Ongo.
Bank Not Required
Ongo currently employs over three hundred people in Yangon and is expected to grow to five hundred by year end. It also has plans to provide one million consumers in Myanmar with access to finance over the next three years.
The mobile payment system allows customers to use their smartphone to convert their cash into E-money at over two hundred cash agent locations around Yangon and users can access a suite of instant services including receiving their payroll/salary direct to the E-wallet, cutting out the middle man - the bank.
