WeWork China said to set out ambitious 2020 sales targets [Reuters]
WeWork China has set out ambitious revenue goals for 2020 even though it faces staff cutbacks and weak occupancy numbers at its properties across China, sources familiar with the matter said, citing targets announced by the division’s general manager at an internal meeting in Shanghai on Wednesday.
Alan Ai told employees at the meeting that the firm has set a goal to bring in non-core revenue of around US$30 million in the year 2020 and for non-core revenue to account for more than 6 per cent of its total takings in the country, the sources said.
That would represent a significant increase in the revenue generated from technology services and other products for tenants and shows one of the ways the office-leasing company hopes to turn around its business.
Paytm seeks to transform payments bank into small finance lender [DealStreetAsia]
Indian financial technology (fintech) giant Paytm is planning to transform its payments bank into a small finance bank, which it believes is a more profitable growth model, according to a report by The Times of India.
Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma told TOI that the payments bank — Paytm Payments Bank — will approach the government for a license to allow it to lend to consumers using technology-enabled low-cost operations.
Sharma holds 51 per cent share in the bank. Small finance banks can offer micro-loans and issue credit cards to their customers aside from accepting deposits of over INR 1 lakh (US$2,000). Payments banks, a new model of banks conceptualised by the Reserve Bank of India, cannot issue loans and credit cards.
India’s virtual banking startup indyFint raises US$2M Series A [press release]
indyFint, a Bangalore-based virtual banking startup, has secured US$2.1 million in Series A round led by Saravanan Adiseshan, Co-founder of SJ Associates and the edifice of the Allsec group of companies.
indyFint is building a lending market place that would enable lenders to directly offer short-term loans to merchants, employees and students. In a bid to create a pull-based credit ecosystem, indyFint is also planning to develop its proprietary Machine Learning lending algorithms for ‘Credit Scoring’ basis the transactions of small business entrepreneurs.
Paddy Padmanabhan, Chairman, indyFint, said: “With the unorganised lending being upwards of US$130 billion a year in India, there needs to be concerted effort to provide timely and affordable credit to millions of users. We are building a world-class technology platform that would play a significant role in providing timely credit. We expect to serve over a million users in the coming 12-18 months. With this, we would be able to play our part in furthering financial inclusion in India.”
Razer Fintech appoints Neal Cross to the Board of Advisors [press release]
Razer Fintech, the financial technology arm of Razer Inc. has appointed Neal Cross as an Advisory Board member, joining other members of the advisory board, Lim Siong Guan and Koh Boon Hwee.
Neal Cross is widely acclaimed as a key figure in driving the digital transformation of Singapore’s DBS Bank into a global innovation powerhouse. Neal was awarded the most disruptive CIO/CTO globally by a panel which consisted of prominent business innovators such as Sir Richard Branson and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Socar Malaysia partners with Petronas [press release]
Car-sharing network Socar Malaysia is partnering with more than 52 PETRONAS stations in the Klang Valley, Johor and Penang, which will allow users to pick up and drop off vehicles with a tap around the clock.
The newly-introduced locations include PETRONAS stations in Mutiara Damansara, NPE Pantai Dalam, TTDI, Jalan Maarof, Johor Jaya and Sunway BKE.
“With the new zones, we want to continue empowering Malaysians by offering them the choice and convenience of our app. Being a tech company that is driven by data, we tailor our service offerings based on the needs and wants of our users. Through this focus, we have been able to continuously grow our customer base and introduce more zones,” said Leon Foong, CEO of Socar Malaysia.
This expansion of Socar zones comes shortly after its announcement last month of their fleet expansion to over 2,000 cars in 26 different models in over 1,000 locations across the Klang Valley, Johor and Penang.
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