WeLab, a pan-Asian fintech platform, has announced strategic actions to accelerate growth, scale, and profitability in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. These initiatives aim to fortify a robust foundation for WeLab’s continued expansion.
In Hong Kong, WeLab has completed a corporate reorganisation, consolidating its position as a leading player with 650,000 users. WeLend, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of WeLab Bank, will continue to offer distinctive products and services under their respective brands.
This strategic move aims to elevate operational synergy and efficiency between the two entities, leveraging their established market positions to unlock new growth opportunities.
After the reorganisation, WeLab Bank and WeLend are expected to generate an additional US$100 million in net profit over the next five years.
“The scale of WeLab Bank’s lending operations has become one of the largest among digital banks in Asia. With the accelerated momentum, the Bank is poised to be profitable in 2025 and become one of the first profitable digital banks in Asia,”
said Tat Lee, Chief Executive of WeLab Bank.
WeLab’s overseas expansion strategy is also progressing rapidly, with Indonesia’s digital bank, Bank Saqu, achieving significant early traction. Within six months of its launch in November 2023, Bank Saqu attracted over 1 million customers.
The bank, designed to cater to local individuals and solopreneurs, has seen over 60 percent of its customers using its “pockets” feature to manage their finances.
This strong market reception highlights Bank Saqu’s potential to effectively address the needs of solopreneurs and indicates a promising trajectory for future growth. Bank Saqu aims to serve over 200 million underbanked and unbanked Indonesians and become the preferred partner for MSMEs (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises).
Beyond Indonesia, WeLab is actively exploring new opportunities across Southeast Asia. The Group is strategising several exciting expansion plans for exponential growth over the next five years.
Collaborations with conglomerates in Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand are underway. These collaborations focus on delivering tech-driven financial services across various business models, such as B2C, B2B, and B2B2X. Additionally, the expansion of TaaS (Technology-as-a-Service) operations will create new revenue streams for the Group.
“By continuously delivering our innovative, Hong Kong-developed fintech solutions, we aim to reach 100 million Indonesian digital banking customers and beyond. The combined Hong Kong and Indonesia digital banks will have more than 1.7 million users, making us one of the largest digital bank operators in Asia. With about 700 million people in Southeast Asia having high demand for digital financial services, we firmly believe the future of digital banking is bright, and we are well-positioned to capture the opportunities,”
said Simon Loong, Founder and Group CEO of WeLab.
Featured image credit: Edited from WeLab
