Peer-to-peer mobile payments are becoming the new hype all of a sudden, and startups are attracting a lot of funding in the process. Tapp Commerce, a startup based in Finland, secured US$9m in funding to expand their operations in Southeast Asia. Bringing financial services to citizens without a credit card or bank account is a smart strategy, albeit Bitcoin has been doing that for several years now.
Tapp Commerce Focuses On Mobile P2P
When it comes to making peer-to-peer payments, mobile devices will play an increasing role of importance. After all, that is the type of device nearly everyone has on them at all times, especially in Southeast Asia. Ever since this trend began, startups have been looking to turn smartphones into alternative payment solutions.
Tapp Commerce is focusing their attention on the mobile peer-to-peer payment space. While this is an opportunity well worth exploring, they will be up against stiff competition in South East Asia as the market is getting saturated rather quickly. That being said, the company raised US$9m in funding to expand their presence, bringing the total amount invested in this company to nearly US$13m.
The Indonesian market is at the top of the priority list for Tapp Commerce, although the startup has indicated they will be targeting other countries as well. Especially the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand are of great interest to Tapp Commerce, and Myanmar is also on the schedule. If all things go according to plan, the company hopes to break ground in that country before the end of 2016.
Tapp Market, the startup’s flagship mobile product, lets users upload cash on the application to pay for goods and services. Given the number of underbanked and unbanked people in Southeast Asia, going after cash is a smart move. Anyone with the app can become an agent to exchange cash for digital credits, as long as they have a mobile data plan.
But there is more, as the company wants to sign up local merchants to act as a currency exchanger as well. Merchants are key partners for Tapp, of which there are 134 in Indonesia and the Philippines. Although the mobile app is only available on Android right now, over 30,000 vendors and 3 million buyers are using the platform across all of Southeast Asia.
Source: TechCrunch
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