Velo Labs, Lightnet and Visa to develop payment solutions in Asia

By Edil Corneille

Velo Labs has collaboration with Lightnet Group and Visa with the objective to jointly develop payment solutions in Asia. With a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in effect between the parties, Velo Labs, Lightnet Group and Visa aim at addressing the under-served micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) lending market in Asia.

The International Finance Corporation estimates that, globally, USD 5.2 trillion in MSME lending goes unserved annually, with more than half of this financing gap existing in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

“Being new-to-credit or lacking creditworthiness is often an obstacle to achieving one’s financial goals, such as securing loans to start a business or even buying a car,” said Tridbodi Arunanondchai, Vice Chairman and Group CEO of Lightnet Group. “We are delighted to be a part of this unique cooperation along with trusted partners like Velo Labs and Visa. We are providing customers from the MSME market with another pathway to build credit and improve financial wellness.”

The partnership between the parties allows for near real-time global transactions between participating banks, money transfer operators and other financial service providers. This initiative is expected to enable users with poor or inexistent credit histories to receive a line of credit by depositing digital assets as collateral. This approach is ideally suited to connect over one billion unbanked and underbanked individuals in APAC to the global financial system, as mentioned in a press release by Lightnet Group. VELO tokens will serve as the digital asset collateralising financial solutions.

“This agreement is a testament to Velo Labs’ and its partners’ continuous efforts to achieve financial inclusion for millions in the under-served MSME lending market. It also illustrates VELO’s capacity as a bridge asset enabling greater financial inclusion,” says Chatchaval Jiaravanon, Chairman of Velo Labs.