South Korea’s SK Group will invest up to $100 million in BigPay, the financial technology unit of AirAsia Group.
BigPay, a unit of AirAsia;s digital arm, offers prepaid debit card, local and international money transfers, micro-insurance, bill payments and a budgeting tool.
“Our ambition has always been to establish BigPay as one of the largest challenger banks in Southeast Asia,” said Salim Dhanani, the company’s chief executive officer.
BigPay plans to expand into Thailand and the rest of the region with personal loans and short-term lending.
BigPay has applied for a digital banking licence in Malaysia as part of a consortium with Malaysian Industrial Development Finance and private equity firm Ikhlas Capital.
SK Group said it would make a significant contribution to BigPay in both technical and consumer service aspects.
AirAsia has suffered from the pandemic slump in global travel and has been pushing to grow its digital businesses, which include a logistics firm and a travel and lifestyle services app.
The Malaysian budget carrier said it netted $56.83 million from a merger between Fly Leasing and Carlyle Aviation Partners, and was working on a data-backed loan of up to $350 million.
