SINGAPORE – 30 November 2020 – Velo Labs Technology Ltd. (Velo Labs) has announced a collaboration with Lightnet Pte. Ltd. (Lightnet Group) and Visa Worldwide Pte. Limited (Visa) to jointly develop payment solutions in Asia.
With a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in effect between the parties, Velo Labs, Lightnet Group and Visa will collaborate on payment solutions aimed 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.”
Velo Labs, Lightnet Group and Visa’s partnership extends the reach of all three firms by allowing near real-time global transactions between participating banks, money transfer operators and other financial service providers. This initiative aims 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. VELO tokens will serve as the digital asset collateralizing 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.
About Velo Labs
Velo Labs’ mission is to build a Federated Credit Exchange Network, powered by the Velo Protocol. The Velo Protocol is a financial protocol that issues digital credits pegged to any fiat currency, and ensures that these digital credits are always collateralized by the right amount of VELO tokens to maintain a 1:1 digital credit to fiat currency value ratio. Backed by Stellar Network and CP Group, Velo Labs is currently serving business partners in Southeast Asia. By connecting the legacy finance, CeFi and DeFi industries, Velo Labs’ Federated Credit Exchange Network positions Velo Labs as one of few blockchain projects with a clear path towards mass adoption.
About Lightnet Group
Lightnet Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore-headquartered fintech company with the purpose of empowering underbanked populations and MSME trade finance with an inclusive international remittance ecosystem. The Lightnet Group adopts the Velo Protocol 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.
