Ayannah and Equity Capital Advisors will merge their businesses in India, the Philippines and Indonesia to form Ayannah Global, headquartered in Singapore.
Philippines-based digital financial services provider Ayannah and India-based payments company Electronic Cash and Payment Solutions (ECAPS) have announced a merger to support their goal of providing affordable and accessible digital financial services to the growing middle class in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The new entity will serve over 10 million customers through mobile apps and a growing network of over 60,000 retail touchpoints, Ayannah Global announced on Tuesday. The company caters to underbanked customers in the two regions using a suite of fintech solutions through agent networks for remittances, payments, insurance and loans.
The group currently operates a rapidly growing remittance and payment business in India and the Philippines, and recently launched Kaya, a digital marketplace connecting middle-class customers and SME entrepreneurs with banks, lenders and insurers in the Philippines and will launch versions in India, Indonesia and Vietnam later this year.
New Board Member
The company also appointed veteran banker Ray Ferguson as chairman of the Ayannah Global board. Ferguson has over 30 years of banking experience across five continents, and has held senior roles in Standard Chartered Bank, including as CEO in Taiwan, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, the Americas and Singapore.
He was also group chief banking officer at Arab Banking Corporation in Bahrain. Ferguson is based in Singapore, where he also chairs digital life insurer Singapore Life. He is also the founding partner of Caber Partners, a Singapore-based fund manager and advisory firm that focuses exclusively on the intersection of finance and technology.
Expansion Plans
Ayannah's new Singapore headquarters will support the company's expansion plans, talent acquisition, and strategic partnership, the announcement said. It is also targeting $30 million to $50 million in its series B funding round to support its growth ambitions in new markets.
«Widespread smartphone usage across our target markets provides a ripe landscape for a financial inclusion revolution, while the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the demand for at-your-fingertips financial services,» Praveen Suri, Ayannah Global co-chief executive officer, said.
The firm is backed by venture capital firms Wavemaker Partners, Golden Gate Ventures, and 500 StartUps, as well as several large family offices across Asia.
