M Service JSC, the Vietnamese payment app MoMo’s owner, has received US $200 million in Series E investment sponsored by Mizuho, a Japanese global bank.
According to a Nikkei Asia article, Mizuho contributed $170 million in exchange for a 7.5 percent share. Ward Ferry Management, a worldwide investment business focused on emerging countries, as well as current investors Goodwater Capital (a consumer technology-focused venture capital firm) and Kora Management (a global investment firm targeting emerging markets) contributed.
According to Bloomberg, the financial firm’s valuation has risen to over US $2 billion, putting it among local digital companies VNPay, VNG, and Sky Mavis (the owner of Axie Infinity) in the coveted unicorn club.
The new cash will be used to expand MoMo’s capabilities to 31 million clients, beginning with a bill payment service. It also plans to develop in Vietnam’s rural areas and assist local MSME merchants with digital changes.
A part of the funds will be utilised to support MoMo’s future technology initiatives as well as mergers and acquisitions.
MoMo purchased local company Pique in June, which utilises artificial intelligence to convert visitors into consumers. It intends to leverage Pique’s 25 million user database to further improve its product offerings.
Momo is a mobile payment and e-wallet service for iOS and Android smartphones that was founded in 2007. Cash transfers, mobile phone recharges, personal loans, and services such as software licences and online gaming cards are among the company’s offerings.
Following the assault of COVID-19, Vietnam’s digital payments sector, particularly contactless payments, has seen explosive expansion. Vietnam, according to Statista, would have one of the highest percentages of cashless payment adoption in Southeast Asia in 2020.
Despite the fact that cash-on-delivery has long been the most preferred means of payment in Vietnam, the pattern is changing due to pandemic-induced behavioural changes. The expanding e-wallet category has played a key part in the growth of Vietnamese digital payments, accounting for a growing transaction value that is estimated to reach over US $48 billion by 2025.
VNG’s Zalo, Gojek, Payoo, Moca, and SenPay are some of the other popular contactless payment applications in Vietnam.
