In just three months from its launch, MC Payment saw its BNPL transaction volume cross the $500,000 mark in February.
With about 100 retailers onboard, the Singapore Exchange-listed company is making strides despite being a late addition, launching its service only on Dec 1, 2020. “With the addition of BNPL transactions, the payment platform can offer a full suite of digital payment methods, including major debit and credit cards and local payment methods, such as GrabPay and PayNow”, says the company in a press release on April 13.
The company focuses on servicing merchants in the retail, transportation and food and beverage industries. “Our role is that of the payment gateway, so any financial risks, including payment defaults for BNPL transactions, will not be borne by MC Payment”, it adds.
See: Buy now, regulate later? Are 'buy now, pay later' services good for cash-strapped consumers?
Executive director and MC Payment CEO Anthony Koh told The Edge Singapore last year that the company is not concerned about the fragmented and saturated payments market here. “Our competitors vary from market to market and solution to solution. We are the only ones providing the entire suite. Competitors are offering similar services either with POS or SaaS or payments. However, we are the only company to offer an end-to-end solution, for both software and payment. There are software companies and payment companies but we offer the complete solution”.
MC Payment is currently present in four Southeast Asian countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Earlier plans to enter Cambodia were dropped when the company faced red tape, Koh said last year. “Cambodia was a drag on the due diligence, which took a long time and led to cost increases. It was, therefore, better to scale back”.
See also: Atome races ahead across Asia
On Feb 18, MC Payment became the first digital payments service firm listed on the Singapore Exchange, following the reverse takeover of Artivision Technologies. The transaction was first proposed in October 2017 but was delayed by several extensions.
ZICO Capital was the sponsor and financial advisor for the RTO and Evolve Capital Advisory was the financial adviser to Mobile Credit Payment (MCP), a wholly-owned subsidiary.
See also: Hoolah reaches Asia's underbanked youth
Established in 2005, MCP holds a major payment institution licence in Singapore and is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the Payment Services Act 2019.
“We are very pleased to provide BNPL transactions on our online-to-offline (O2O) payment platform for retail merchants in Singapore. BNPL offers a tremendous and growing market opportunity for retailers and payment providers alike, and we look forward to the increasing takeup rates for this service”, says Koh.
