Singaporean fintech company Atome Financial has secured a $100-million loan to offer credit, savings and insurance products in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian markets.
The loan is part of Atome's agreement with EvolutionX Debt Capital which allows the former to access credit within three years.
"This is our first fintech investment in Southeast Asia, and we’re excited to support Atome Financial in their ongoing journey to improve financial inclusion and access to mobile-first financial services in large under-served markets in Southeast Asia," EvolutionX Debt Capital partner Rahul Shah said Tuesday.
Atome said it is assessing expansion plans for loan, savings, and insurance products with investors as its parent company Advance Intelligence Group saw Atome's first profitable quarter this year.
Platform value
"This new facility recognizes Atome Financial’s operational excellence and platform value as we look to accelerate the momentum of our digital financial services business, the expansion of regional strategic partnerships like TikTok Shop and Lazada as well as the launch of the new Atome Card, savings and lending products across key Southeast Asian markets," Advance Intelligence Group co-founder and chief executive officer Jefferson Chen said.
Globe has taken a significant step forward in accelerating digital innovation with the mobile leader signing a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the GSM Association (GSMA) to improve interoperability and delivery of mobile services across different networks worldwide through collaboration and standardization.
This strategic partnership grants Globe access to the GSMA Open Gateway, an Applications Programming Interface (API) facility that represents a significant shift in how the telecom industry designs and delivers services within an API-driven economy.
By utilizing a common set of open source APIs that can be reused for different purposes, developers and cloud providers could gain access to operator networks via single points of entry or access, enabling rapid service deployment across the world’s largest connectivity platform.
Full potential of 5G
In addition, GSMA’s Open Gateway unlocks the full potential of 5G networks, allowing developers to create relevant and transformative services that can leverage on our network’s 5G capacity and security.
“Today marks a milestone for Globe as we embrace the GSMA Open Gateway initiative, teaming up with 40 mobile network operators to develop Mobile Network Open APIs,” said Ernest L. Cu, president and CEO of Globe during the recent MoU signing attended by Julian M. Gorman, GSMA Asia Pacific head.
“This groundbreaking effort allows real-time access and interconnection with the Globe network via open global APIs, opening up numerous opportunities for delivering more value to our customers and generating new revenue streams,” he added.
Helping developers gain access
Welcoming Globe to the initiative, Gorman said: “It’s great news that Globe Telecom and the mobile industry in the Philippines are getting behind our global GSMA Open Gateway initiative. By doing so, they’re helping developers gain universal access to operator networks within the country and around the world through a set of common APIs. This will help drive the mobile economy and the launch of new services that deliver better customer experiences, combat fraud and the unleashing of new functionality in 5G networks. We welcome Globe Telecom to this innovative new programme.”
GSMA’s Open Gateway launched with eight network APIs-SIM Swap API, Quality on Demand API, Device Status API, Number Verification API, Simple Edge Discovery API, One Time Password (SMS) API, Carrier Billing-Check Out API, and Device Location API.
These APIs enable a wide range of capabilities, from enhancing security and fraud prevention to facilitating secure authentication and enabling location-based services.
Globe recognizes the vast potential of these common APIs in eHealth, agritech, emergency services, carbon accounting, and the Internet-of-Things (IoT), among other sectors.
Open APIs
Open APIs can also benefit industries such as education through the integration of mobile learning platforms into school curricula; entertainment, by providing personalized content recommendations and interactive features to enhance user experience; secure eCommerce and transportation via improved traffic management systems and real-time updates on public transportation schedules.