GoBear, a leading financial supermarket in Asia, has acquired Singapore-based digital lending platform AsiaKredit for an undisclosed sum. The company now plans to introduce ‘lending-as-a-service’ (LaaS) to its network of over 100 partners through AsiaKredit’s flagship mobile app Pera247, helping to fill the gap in Southeast Asia where access to credit remains difficult. 

GoBear was established in the early 2015 in Singapore and have expanded to 7 other locations in APAC region such as Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Bain reports that more than 70% of the adult population – 296 million people – in 2019 were either ‘underbanked’ or ‘unbanked’. Financial initiatives to increase key banking services including credit cards and loans are predicted to become increasingly important in the wake of economic slowdown as a result of COVID-19.

GoBear has raised USD 80 million in funding to date and has offered loans to over 40 million users across Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. AsiaKredit states that it has processed over 1 million loan applications in the last two years.

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