Fave is a name that is well-known in Southeast Asia and has been an early and dominant player in the fintech space in the region. As the industry became more competitive, the company continued to evolve to maintain their position in the market.
The company has grown and been a fixture in the region, having fully acquired the e-commerce company Groupon in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia back in 2017. Fave was then acquired by IPO-bound Pine Labs for US$45 million in 2021.
We spoke to the now former CEO of Fave, Joel Neoh about their plans in BNPL back in 2021
As co-founder and former CEO Joel Neoh leaves the company after 8 years, his co-founding partner and COO Chen Chow Yeoh has stepped in to fill in the role as the company continues to show strong growth. He will lead Fave’s business together with local leadership teams across the markets, including country general managers in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and India.
To find out their plans, we spoke to Chen Chow about his plans for the company moving forward and how they plan to continue to stay competitive in the market.
Congrats on taking over leadership at Fave. What will you be focusing on first?
As a co-founder of Fave and COO, I’ve been working closely with our country leadership to drive growth. I’m very proud of our team’s achievements and the momentum we’ve built in the past year. We recently brought on board Aik Kuang Heng as General Manager to lead Fave Malaysia, and we have strong leadership teams across our markets. We ended 2022 with our highest-ever sales volume, which is a testament to the value we offer to our customers and merchants. Moving forward, we’re committed to enhancing this value by strengthening our strategic partnerships with leading fintech players. We are excited to develop new and innovative solutions to delight our users and will be working closely with our local leadership teams as well as B Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs, to leverage vast experience and deliver the best possible experience for everyone.
With the market becoming saturated with consumer payment products, how does Fave aim to stand out?
At Fave, we’ve built our reputation on providing assured cashback and loyalty programs that deliver real value to both consumers and merchants; and that has helped us stand out in an increasingly crowded market.
We’re proud to enable cashback loyalty solutions on leading fintech platforms across Singapore and Malaysia, including DBS PayLah!, Google Pay, UOB TMRW, Singtel’s Dash, and TnG e-wallet. These collaborations have enabled us to extend our reach and offer cashback rewards to millions of consumers while providing merchants with a wider audience for their loyalty programs.
Our ability to track and analyze different customer behaviour patterns allows us to deliver personalized experiences and become much more relevant to our customers.
We believe that by staying true to our commitment to provide the best value for all our stakeholders, including merchants, customers, and partners, we’ll continue to stand out and lead the way in the fintech industry as we bring on new services and products.
Where do you see the most growth coming from for Fave?
Southeast Asia has been the core region for Fave – with growth seen in all countries. We are gradually boosting our efforts in our newest market – India to provide a fresh payment option for users while sticking to the key reward essence that Fave brings.
What’s the next big thing in fintech in Southeast Asia?
Digital banking, blockchain, insurtech, and wealthtech are some of the heavy contributors to the fintech landscape in Southeast Asia, according to a recent report by Dealroom, Finch Capital, and MDI Ventures. The report also highlights the top 5 trends in the region, which include the rise of digital banks, the growing importance of financial inclusion, the adoption of blockchain technology, and the increasing focus on sustainability and ESG.
There is also a growing interest in Open Finance, which is the concept of opening up financial data and infrastructure to third-party providers, allowing for more collaboration and innovation in the industry. This is driven by the increasing demand for more personalized financial services and the need for greater transparency and access to financial information. We have witnessed that at Fave as we have partnered with major financial institutions and fintech in the markets to provide more personalized service with more value to their customers.
What’s next for Fave?
We are always striving to enhance our platform and provide more value to our customers and merchant partners. Our upcoming plans include expanding the use case of flexible payment acceptance and processing for online merchants, enabling us to better serve existing partners and attract new ones. We are also deepening partnerships with leading fintech players and merchants across the region, while constantly innovating to add value through cashback loyalty programs, personalized experiences, and exciting deals.
Furthermore, our recent expansion into the Indian market represents a significant opportunity for us to bring our innovative payment solutions to even more merchants and customers. With these initiatives, we are confident that Fave will continue to be a leading smart payments platform in Southeast Asia and beyond.