SEA’S FINTECH JOURNEY
The banking sector, a fairly new room for Sea, is an interesting growth opportunity, said Mr Li,  , who is among Singapore’s richest men with a net worth of about US$ 6 billion.
The business, which is supported by Chinese Internet tycoon Tencent, began with e-wallet support businesses in Vietnam and Thailand in 2014, before branching out into consumer and small- and medium-sized enterprise ( SME) credit loans, tapping into the Shopee ecosystem.  ,
His company has been providing credit loans in markets like Indonesia because it is difficult for the less well-off to use when they need it the most, according to Mr. Li.  ,
He noted that there are few credit cards penetration and lending services in the country’s fourth-largest country, where people typically borrow from his firm for a few hundred dollars.  ,
” It’s a very, very small number, but this can make a big difference in their life. Payment services will help a lot of people to do things better, to enjoy their life much”, he said.  ,
On the other hand, he made note of the differences in the needs of people in Singapore, where Sea runs a online bank.
” We realise a lot of Singaporeans have the desire to invest, but ( they are ) really short of investment products, and they do n’t know what to do”, he said, adding that many of them are first-time investors who are digitally savvy.
His company launched an investment product that promotes itself as accessible to everyone, with a minimal investment value of just S$ 1 ( US$ 76 ). To fill this void, his company launched an investment product to address this gap.