Amid acquisitions and consolidation in Asia's “buy now pay later” (BNPL) sector, Atome has stayed in the clear thanks to massive funding and a huge merchant count.
Headquartered in Singapore, the self-styled “leading” BNPL brand in Asia partners over 10,000 online and offline retailers in 10 markets: Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, mainland China and Japan.
With the return of leisure travel, Atome announced on May 10 a partnership with Cathay Pacific. “The ‘Book Now Pay Later’ feature provides travellers with another convenient way to pay for their flights over three monthly interest-free deferred payments when they book on cathaypacific.com,” says Atome.
Cathay Pacific is the first airline to partner Atome for a BNPL payment option at checkout. Atome will first roll out the partnership in Singapore.
Dominic Perret, regional general manager of Cathay Pacific Southeast Asia, says: “We are very happy to be partnering with Atome to offer our customers greater flexibility when they fly with us. As we continue to give our customers the best value and assurance when they book directly via our website, this new payment option will provide an additional benefit to those who prefer to pay for their travels over a period of time.”
William Yang, Atome’s regional head of commercial, says: “Our regional partnership with Cathay Pacific comes at an important time as Singapore and the world are gradually reopening borders and allowing the resumption of leisure and business travel. We recognise this incredible opportunity and are excited we can play our part in supporting this post-Covid-19 recovery by enabling travellers to have flexible and convenient payment options to book their much-awaited holiday or business trips.”
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On May 11, Atome announced a regional partnership with digital-first consumer brands group, THG PLC, to offer BNPL checkout options across its websites, including Lookfantastic and Myprotein.
The partnership is now live across THG’s websites in Hong Kong and Singapore, and will expand to Malaysia and other Asian markets later this year.
David Chen, CEO of Atome, says: “THG’s portfolio includes some of the most exciting beauty and nutrition brands that are very well followed in Asia. This partnership will provide greater flexibility and choice to how their customers in Asia choose to shop and pay, enhancing their buying and shopping experience.”
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Atome is part of the Advance Intelligence Group, an independent technology start-up based in Singapore. Founded in 2016, the group has three business units that cover 14 markets, according to its website.
Its Advance.AI unit provides AI-based digital identity verification and risk products services solutions to banks and e-commerce industries, while Atome Financial offers BNPL services. Ginee is an e-commerce services platform provider.
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In March, Bloomberg reported that the group is in “preliminary discussions with advisors” to raise a US$300 million ($415.96 million) funding round.
In 2021, the group announced a Series D round of over US$400 million led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, achieving a valuation of more than US$2 billion.
The group is also backed by Warburg Pincus, Northstar, Vision Plus Capital, Gaorong Capital, Pavilion Capital, GSR Ventures and Singapore-based global investor EDBI.
Photos: Atome
