Shopee parent firm Sea to reportedly acquire another Indonesian bank

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Following its reported acquisition of Indonesia's Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi, Singapore-based technology company Sea is reportedly looking to acquire another small bank, according to The Straits Times. The group also allegedly has plans to merge the two banks into a digital bank that can be used via its eCommerce platform Shopee, ST said. According to ST's report which quoted its source, the digital bank is said to enable seamless experience and easier access to loans for merchants. Just last week, Sea was reported to have acquired Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi, gaining full control of the entity after it bought stakes from the bank's existing shareholder.

The move comes as Sea was awarded a digital full bank licence by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in December 2020. Under the licence, the company is allowed to set up a digital full bank, which is said to provide a wide range of financial services and take deposits from retail customers. According to a press statement, Sea's digital bank will draw on insights about the needs of these users from across Sea’s digital ecosystem to innovate processes, products, and services that will improve the lives of young consumers and SMEs in Singapore.

The bank also aims to support the growth of the country’s digital economy by reducing the barriers to accessing financial services through technology. Besides Sea, a Grab-Singtel consortium was also awarded the digital full bank licence. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Sea for additional information.

In Sea's latest financial report in September 2020, the company saw strong growth, with its total generally accepted accounting principles revenue amounting to US$1.2 billion, which is a 98.7% increase year-on-year. The group, which consists of Shopee, Garena, and SeaMoney, also saw a total gross profit of US$407.6 million, which is a 100.6% increase year-on-year.

Additionally, it saw strong growth in adoption of SeaMoney offerings. SeaMoney's mobile wallet total payment volume for the quarter exceeded US$2.1 billion, with quarterly paying users for its mobile wallet services surpassing 17.8 million. The company also integrated its mobile wallet services with Shopee and in October 2020, saw more than 30% of Shopee’s total gross orders across its markets combined paid using its mobile wallet.

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