UNOAsia Pte Ltd, the Singapore-headquartered financial technology company that owns UNO Digital Bank (UNObank) in the Philippines, has announced raising $11 million (about ₱609 million) in a pre-Series A funding round.
The fresh investment was led by Malaysian private equity firm Creador Private Equity (Creador), which has also become the fintech startup’s largest investor with a total commitment of $21 million.
UNOAsia, which is one of the six fintech firms that received a digital bank license in the Philippines under the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Digital Banking License Framework, has so far raised $44.5 million in investment, including a drawn-down capital of $34 million.
The investors of UNOAsia include founders Manish Bhai and Kalidas Ghose, Creador Private Equity, marquee investors Akash Bhanshali (Payash Securities), Samir Arora (Helios Capital) and other senior investors from the banking and financial sectors.
UNOAsia founder and UNObank CEO Manish Bhai said the fresh capital will be used to further invest in the digital bank’s growth and will see the company through the commercial launch of UNO Digital Bank, which is now a live operating bank under closed-loop beta.
“The pre-Series A round led by Creador reflects continued investor confidence in our digital bank,” Bhai said, adding that UNOAsia’s strategic 2-5 year plans include setting up digital banking in few of the key markets across South and Southeast Asia.
UNObank is one of the six digital banks approved by the BSP to operate in the Philippines. Under BSP Circular No. 1105, a digital bank is defined as an institution that offers financial products and services through digital and electronic channels without physical branches.
The five other digital banks that secured licenses to operate in the country are Overseas Filipino Bank, a subsidiary of the state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines; Tonik Digital Bank Inc (Philippines), whose holding company is Singapore-based Tonik Financial Pte Ltd; Aboitiz-led Union Digital Bank; GOtyme, which is owned by the Gokongwei Group and Singapore fintech firm Tyme; and Maya Bank, the fintech arm of Voyager Innovations Inc.
The central bank capped the number of digital banking licenses to six last year, after the remaining applicants failed to meet the requirements, which includes a minimum capital of ₱1 billion.
A survey conducted by the BSP in 2020 showed that the Philippines has among the lowest banking penetration in Southeast Asia, as the number of unbanked Filipino adults is estimated at 51.2 million, out of a total adult population of 72 million in 2019.
The BSP’s goal is for 70% of adult Filipinos to have a formal financial account by 2023.