THAILAND – Media OutReach – 25 August 2020 – Lightnet Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based Fintech company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SEBA Bank, a FINMA-licensed Swiss Bank to provide a seamless, secure and accessible bridge between digital and traditional assets, in a bid to strengthen the Lightnet Group’s remittance settlement capability.
With the MOU in effect, SEBA Bank will serve as the banking counterparty for the Lightnet Group, enabling settlements, correspondences and remittances uniquely in both fiat and digital currencies. SEBA Bank will also act as an alternative settlement banking network, account and custodian as well as the settlement bank for money transfer operators (MTOs) in digital currencies.
Using the Velo Protocol, a blockchain financial protocol developed by Velo Labs, Lightnet Group will provide remittance services across Southeast Asia for millions of unbanked migrant workers. This will allow a bypassing of the global remittance industry — a trillion USD market characterised by high transaction fees, fragmentation and unreliable payment routes — conversely providing lower fees, faster transactions and broader coverage. Lightnet Group has also planned to introduce multi-currency virtual accounts to address the inefficiencies of global trade finance.
“The partnership with SEBA has significantly enhanced the efficiency and interoperability of settlements between digital currency and the real world,” comments Chatchaval Jiaravanon, Co-founder and Chairman of Lightnet Group. “Drawing on our complementary strengths with SEBA Bank, our new joint venture entity in Singapore will be poised to serve both retail and institutional investors from the globe with a more transparent and secure settlement solution.”
Matthew Alexander, Head of Asset Tokenization of SEBA Bank, comments: “We are delighted to forge this partnership with Lightnet Group and be part of the vibrant fintech landscape that Southeast Asia represents. Asia is a promising market not only because of its size but especially because of the affinity of the people towards digital services and digital assets.”
Guido Bühler, CEO SEBA Bank, states “Asset Tokenization is an important pillar of SEBA Bank — the combination of Asia and stable coin is a fantastic constellation. SEBA is proud to help offering remittance services to many people who were cut-off from the traditional banking system. This is a big step towards the future of banking.”
Velo Labs, backed by ten leading Asian conglomerates, is the first decentralized credit and settlement network in Asia and one of the first “Federated Financial Networks” to bridge digital and real-world settlement. Velo Labs’ blockchain protocol allows partners to safely and securely transfer value between each other with maximised efficiency and transparency. Currently, it serves business partners in the remittance and money transfer markets of Southeast Asia. Lightnet Group will be able to offer its services without the users having to directly interact with the Velo Protocol or VELO tokens.
Tridbodi Arunanondchai, Co-founder and Group CEO of Lightnet Group adds that “Velo will also serve as a bridge asset, not only for enabling both cross-chain liquidity and on-chain to off-chain liquidity and settlement, in a seamless and frictionless fashion.”
SEBA Bank´s partnership with Lightnet Group marks their first foray into Southeast Asian markets via Thailand. Earlier in January, Lightnet Group raised USD 31.2 million in a Series A financing round backed by eight Asian conglomerates, including prolific investors such as UOB Venture Management, Seven Bank, Uni-President Asset Holdings, HashKey Capital, Hopeshine Ventures, Signum Capital, Du Capital and Hanwha Investment and Securities. The Group aims to carry out its first live transaction in the Q4 this year.
About Lightnet Group
Lightnet Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore-headquartered fintech company with the purpose of empowering underbanked populations and SME trade finance with an inclusive international remittance ecosystem. The Lightnet Group adopts Velo as its Blockchain protocol and positions itself as the next generation clearing and settlement network across the Asia Pacific region by leveraging blockchain and connecting existing financial systems with its network of cash agents and wallets. The Lightnet Group’s initial focus will be on Southeast Asia remittances which it estimates to be in excess of USD 150 billion per annum.
About SEBA Bank
SEBA Bank is a pioneer in the financial industry, building a progressive technological bridge between the digital and traditional asset worlds.
Founded in April 2018 and headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, SEBA was one of the first financial institutions with a focus on digital assets and cryptocurrencies to receive a Swiss banking and securities dealer license in August 2019. SEBA offers a wide range of banking services meeting the highest security and compliance standards. SEBA enables clients to invest, safekeep and trade in digital and traditional assets as well as borrow against these assets and issue tokens — all out of an integrated and end-to-end banking platform.
