UOB and Lazada unite to improve financing for e-commerce sellers

By Leandra Monteiro

UOB and Lazada Group have entered an MoU to collaborate on retail products and banking solutions for their combined customer base in five key Southeast Asian markets, namely Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The regional partnership will see the two companies working together to increase access to financing for e-commerce sellers on the Lazada platform. This will allow both customers and sellers to enjoy better access and enhanced benefits from payment and financial services that best meet their needs.

Frederick Chin, Head of Group Wholesale Banking and Markets, UOB, said, “ASEAN plays a strategic role as an economic powerhouse to the world. As a bank with strong presence in ASEAN, our ambition is to open doors to new business opportunities across the region. Working with an e-commerce partner like Lazada complements our continued effort to bring personalised and innovative solutions to a thriving ASEAN. Through this partnership, consumers and businesses can benefit from seamless financial services that bring about access to rewarding experiences within ASEAN’s dynamic digital landscape.”

James Dong, Lazada, Group Chief Executive Officer, said, “Lazada is committed to building an open, accessible ecosystem for Southeast Asia. We are pleased to share this vision with UOB. For consumers, we will offer easy-to-use, convenient and secure payment and financing options to enable their lifestyle needs. For brands and sellers, we are here to help them scale up their businesses and accelerate growth. We are here for the long haul, to achieve sustainable, long-term growth with all our ecosystem partners.”

The two partners are looking into offering loans to sellers on the Lazada platform through a new digital lending experience. Leveraging Lazada’s seller insights and UOB’s digital banking capabilities with integrated financial supply chain management solutions, the collaboration will focus on giving sellers access to streamlined onboarding, approval and disbursement processes for loans and financing across their businesses.

This will be Lazada’s first partnership with a bank across a variety of payments and financial services in Southeast Asia, as well as UOB’s first regional collaboration with an e-commerce platform.