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Hello Betamax, I’ve never used buy now, pay later. But if I ever do, I’d probably pick a name I recognize. Atome would be on top of that list. So when Grab agreed to spend US$1.5 billion on a 60% stake in the BNPL player, it got me thinking: What exactly is Grab getting with this deal? The company already has millions of customers and three digital banks. In Indonesia, it even offers Ovo PayLater within its app. So this isn’t Grab starting from scratch, and it certainly has the resources to build a contender. My haphazard guess is that its decision was down to a simple question: How long will it take to get good at consumer lending across several markets? Our guest writer David Jimenez Maireles seems to agree with that. In today’s top story, he argues that Grab is buying years of lending experience alongside Atome’s customers and infrastructure. The price might look steep to some, but so is the time needed to recreate everything that has brought Atome to this point. There’s something in it for the BNPL player, too. In markets where Grab’s digital banks fund its loans, customer deposits could offer a cheaper source of money. Grab gets to accelerate its expansion in consumer lending, while Atome gets a cheaper way to finance those loans in some markets. On paper, it looks like a win-win. Glenn Kaonang, journalist
TOP STORY Why Grab paid $1.5b for Atome instead of building lending
Image credit: Ulla
What will the combined Atome-Grab business look like? Atome finds the borrower in its app or at merchant checkout, and Grab’s digital banks fund the loan with deposits, which cost less than external debt. Most of the loan book will sit with GXS, GXBank, and Superbank, while Atome keeps using outside financing partners elsewhere. The question is whether people will bank with GXS and GXBank for more than a promo rate.
FROM OUR ARCHIVES MoneyHero management sought chairman’s ouster before CEO pick
Photo credit: MoneyHero Group
Drama continues to swirl around Nasdaq-listed MoneyHero, with the latest twist being a call from a major investor to consider a potential sale. Jonathan Honig, the Singapore-based fintech firm’s largest unaffiliated shareholder, urged the board to mull a sale in an open letter. MoneyHero has been without a permanent CEO since April. In this piece from our archives, my colleague Melissa reported that senior management sought chairman Kenneth Chan’s ouster in late March, weeks before the company appointed an interim CEO. It’s a useful primer on how MoneyHero’s board and management got to where it is today.
TRENDING NEWS 1️⃣ Philippines’ Globe Telecom plans $1b data push in 2027 Globe currently runs five data centers through ST Telemedia Global Data Centres Philippines, a venture with parent Ayala Corp. and Singapore Technologies Telemedia. 2️⃣ OpenAI seeks $30b in funding at $1.4t valuation: report The potential new funding round comes after the company said it will not go public this year. Rival Anthropic recently raised US$65 billion at a US$965 billion valuation. 3️⃣ Apple Pay rolls out in India with Axis Bank The initial rollout is limited, with major card issuers such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI Card not participating at launch. 4️⃣ Tesla lines up $30b credit as AI spending accelerates Elon Musk’s EV maker said that it will use these funds on AI compute infrastructure, solar cell manufacturing, and a semiconductor fabrication project with SpaceX, among other areas. 5️⃣ Green GSM expands electric taxi service in Philippines The Vietnam-based company now offers its service across Northern Mindanao, including in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and El Salvador.
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