Vietnam payment platform wins PE funds

A Vietnam payment platform start-up has received a US$28 million shot in the arm from private equity investors.

M_Service, which launched the mobile e-wallet MoMo, received the boost from Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE), which invested $25 million, and existing shareholder and strategic investor Goldman Sachs, which added $3 million to its initial $5.75 million investment of 2013.

More than half of Vietnam’s population of 90 million use the internet, and the app provides a useful service in a country where there are few debit or credit card users. Government data shows that mobile phone subscribers in Vietnam grew 26 per cent to 124 million during 2009-2013..

Smartphone app MoMo provides eWallet services and over-the-counter remittance and payment platforms for a customer base of 2.5 million people, and already claims to have more than 1 million customers.

“It is extremely exciting to see financial support and the customer base for MoMo growing,” says M_Service general director Pham Thanh Duc.