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Turnkey Lender wants to make lending easier for SE Asia’s non-bank lenders

Trinity Chua Published on Mon, Oct 24, 2016 / 2:04 PM GMT+8

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Elena Ionenko used to make lending software for banks under the banner of a European company she co-founded. Two years ago, the Russian entrepreneur changed tack when she identified a bigger, more lucrative market: Southeast Asia’s non-bank lenders.

The likes of peer-to-peer platforms and micro-lenders are growing at an exponential rate in the region, fuelled mainly by new start-ups in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. The region raised US$46.6 million ($63.6 million) in alternative financing last year, four times the amount raised in 2013, according to a report by KPMG and partners.

It is still early days yet for the industry, however. Most alternative lenders vet borrowers using a combination of third-party tools, which range from credit rating agencies to experimental software by research institutions. But as the industry grows and competition intensifies, Ionenko is betting that many of these lenders will look for more personalised tools to set themselves apart from the competition.