The acquisition comes on the back of Kredivo Group raising new capital from new and existing investors including Mizuho Bank, Amazon, Asia Partners, Square Peg Capital and Cathay Innovation
Kredivo Group (“Kredivo” or “Group”), Southeast Asia’s leading digital financial services platform, today announced the 100% acquisition of Timo Digital Bank (“Timo”), a Vietnamese digital banking platform developed in cooperation with BV Bank. The acquisition represents an important step in Kredivo’s regional expansion strategy, deepening its presence in Vietnam – one of the fastest-growing digital economies in Southeast Asia – and accelerating the Group’s ambition to cement its position as the region’s preeminent digital financial services platform, spanning both digital consumer credit and digital banking.
Founded in 2015, Timo is Vietnam’s first digital banking platform and has grown into one of the sector’s most beloved brands, serving a rapidly expanding base of digitally native customers with a suite of retail banking services – from instant account opening and payments to savings and time deposits. Timo’s strong brand equity, its technology infrastructure built on a modern cloud-native core banking platform, and its proven track record of customer acquisition and engagement make it a highly synergistic addition to the Kredivo family. Phoenix Holdings and Vina Capital, Timo’s strategic shareholders prior to Kredivo’s acquisition, will retain a significant minority stake in the enlarged Kredivo Vietnam business, which now includes Timo. Henry Nguyen, Chairman of Phoenix Holdings, Don Lam, CEO and Founding Partner of VinaCapital and Brook Taylor, CEO of the asset management arm of VinaCapital will join the Board of Kredivo Vietnam.
Read More on Fintech : Global Fintech Interview with Baran Ozkan, co-founder & CEO of Flagright
“This acquisition is an important moment for Kredivo. Vietnam is a market of enormous potential, with a young, mobile-first population and significant unmet demand for high-quality, accessible financial services. With Timo, we are not starting from scratch – we are acquiring a beloved brand that has already done the hard work of building trust with Vietnamese consumers. Together with Phoenix Holdings and Vina Capital, we will accelerate our mission of bringing fast, affordable, and accessible financial services to millions of customers in Vietnam in the next few years.”
— Akshay Garg, Cofounder and CEO, Kredivo Group
“We are delighted to join forces with Kredivo at this important stage of growth. Kredivo has built an impressive business in Southeast Asia, backed by strong lending expertise and operational excellence. We believe the combination of Kredivo’s advanced credit capabilities and Timo’s trusted digital banking platform in Vietnam creates a highly compelling strategic fit. Together, the combined business will be well positioned to deliver more integrated financial services to Vietnamese consumers and compete for leadership in one of the region’s most promising markets.”
— Henry Nguyen, Chairman of Phoenix Holdings
The acquisition deepens the Group’s footprint in Vietnam, where, in cooperation with local banking partners, it already operates Kredivo’s fast growing digital consumer credit platform – offering Buy Now, Pay Later and personal loans – in the country. By combining Kredivo’s advanced real-time credit decisioning and risk management capabilities with Timo’s full-service digital banking platform, the Group is uniquely positioned to offer Vietnamese consumers a comprehensive, integrated financial ecosystem spanning credit, payments, savings, and more.
The Timo acquisition follows a period of significant regional momentum for Kredivo Group, which now operates across Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand, and has built a portfolio of complementary businesses spanning consumer credit (Kredivo), digital banking (Krom in Indonesia; Timo in Vietnam), and SME working capital financing (GajiGesa). With ~US$500 million raised to date from a world-class group of financial and strategic investors, Kredivo Group enters this next chapter well capitalised and positioned to execute on its regional ambitions of serving tens of millions of users in Southeast Asia with fast, affordable and accessible financial services.
Post-acquisition, Timo will continue to operate under its own brand as Kredivo Group’s digital banking franchise in Vietnam and the existing Kredivo Vietnam business will rebrand to Timo Credit. The existing management team of Kredivo Vietnam will run the joint business, supported by the Group’s technology, capital, and regional expertise.
Catch more Fintech Insights : Real-Time Payments and the Redefinition Of Global Liquidity
[To share your insights with us, please write to psen@itechseries.com ]
