The move is said to be a part of China’s aggressive way to be omnipresent across Southeast Asia

China’s Tencent has just announced its first official investment in the Philippines through the funding of Voyager, a local fintech firm by telecom company PLDT, Techcrunch reported.

The deal was announced by PLDT following rumours of Tencent investing a total of US$175 million, along with KKR, for a minority stake in Voyager.

It is said to be Tencent’s direct move to compete with Alibaba in the market, after Alibaba first stepped foot in the Philippines 18 months ago with an investment in Global Telecom’s financial venture Mynt.

Voyager and Mynt are competing head-to-head for digital finance market in the country.

Voyager’s service covers a range of digital financial options that include a prepaid wallet, digital payment option for retails, a remittance network for sending money, a digital lending service, as well as a loyalty and rewards programme.

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With the deal, PLDT is reported to have added other investors in the fintech company via the creation of new shares, that would reduce its total holdings to less than 50 per cent, although the company plans to keep its position as the largest shareholder.

In a meantime, PLDT wants to focus on bringing in expertise and more capital for growth.

With a population of more than 600 million smartphone users, Southeast Asia has become the breeding ground for fintech companies to set up businesses in, or for seasoned companies to branch out into e-payment service.

Digital payment services give Southeast Asian customers more options to spend or save their money.

The Philippines itself is the world’s third-largest remittance market, with estimated worth of US$28 billion, due to its large overseas worker base.

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Around 65 per cent of its workforce and 35 per cent of national GDP are accounted to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

However there are few credit options or limited data for assessment in the country, helping fintech startups focussing on digital lending, mobile wallets, and other payment systems to continue on gaining momentum.

Earlier this week, Philippines-based SME-lender First Circle closed a US$26 million investment.

This Voyager deal is the biggest investment in a Philippines-based startup so far.

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Image Credit: Tencent

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