Lighthub, WeLab duo commit to investment

The consortium of Lighthub Asset and WeLab is committed to investing US$500 million over five years, as required by the Bank of Thailand to receive a virtual banking licence.
The alliance believes it is strategically well-positioned to secure a licence, claiming it can close the 1.4-trillion-baht gap in micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) financing, assisting this underserved segment along with retail.
Lighthub Asset is a Thai fintech firm, while WeLab is a pan-Asian fintech platform. The consortium is among five groups applying for a new Thai virtual bank licence.
The central bank is expected to announce the winning bidders by mid-2025.
The application criteria requires virtual banks to establish a headquarters in Thailand with initial registered capital of at least 5 billion baht in the first phase, rising to 10 billion in the second phase.
After obtaining a licence, the capital increase to 10 billion baht can be conducted in phases over five years.
“If we are awarded a licence, our consortium plans to launch digital banking services and products under an ‘Every time, every moment’ platform for all Thais in 6-12 months,” said Simon Loong, founder and group chief executive of WeLab.
The consortium targets breaking even in 3-5 years after commencing operations. The alliance vows to help customers address their immediate financial needs, grow their wealth and ultimately achieve financial independence, he said.
Mr Loong said the consortium represents a combination of a local ecosystem and international expertise.
CASTING A WIDE NET
Lighthub Asset was co-founded by Chatchaval Jiaravanon and Lightnet Group. With 46 million Thai customers, it has a wide-ranging ecosystem stretching to various sectors.
Lighthub Asset and strategic partners claim a robust local network of 150,000 touchpoints.
Lightnet Group holds multiple licences for unbanked services in Thailand, including personal loans, electronic money, electronic money transfers, e-payment, money transfer agent and gold trading.
WeLab has more than 65 million users in Asia and close to 500 million baht in digital loan disbursement. The platform offers a comprehensive suite of digital financial services, including consumer financing, enterprise technology solutions and digital banking.
WeLab has two successful virtual banks in Hong Kong (WeLab Bank) and Indonesia (Bank Saqu).
Mr Loong said WeLab holds more than 20 financial service licences across multiple markets, including for the lending sector, digital banking, insurance, payment/e-wallet, forex/remittance, and securities brokerage.
He said the company is ranked first in terms of pure online lending platform in Hong Kong, with 1,100 staff across different markets and 50 patented or patent-pending technologies.
WeLab provides five digital banking products in multiple markets: savings, lending, payment, wealth and retirement planning, and virtual accounts. Among these offerings, Mr Loong said lending and savings are expected to be the most popular in the Thai market.
The platform processes a loan application every 3.8 seconds, he said.
“Although it is uncertain how the licences will be awarded in the first round, we are confident we will be among the top three,” said Mr Loong.
The platform’s strength is financial inclusion through the use of alternative data and big data analytics for credit scoring, he said. WeLab pioneered the use of multi-dimensional data to enhance credit assessment since 2013, said Mr Loong.
He said the company unveiled its high-dimension anti-fraud technique in 2019 dubbed “Approximate Nearest Neighbors”, improving the capability of its algorithm for data analytics within 0.1 seconds, down from 600 seconds for common algorithms.
Hirankrit Arunanondchai, director of Lighthub Asset and chief executive of Lightnet, said the key challenge for virtual banks in Thailand is to close the financing gap of 1.4 trillion baht for underserved MSMEs and retail segments.
Roughly 63% of the Thai population is underserved or unserved in terms of finance, while 58% of Thai households are not served by formal lending institutions and lack financial literacy and planning.
“Virtual bank platforms must allow good people to access money through a quick process with optimum security,” said Mr Hirankrit.