More South-east Asian fintech firms are harbouring super app ambitions
Tencent, which offers a ‘superapp-as-a-service’, says AI can be used to meet needs in cyber security and personalised services
Which is more appealing: A phone cluttered with apps, each with a dedicated function, or one containing fewer apps that offer multiple services?
Data suggests that consumers increasingly prefer the latter. Over half the world’s population could be daily active users of multiple ‘super apps’ by 2027, predicted US-based consulting firm Gartner in 2022.
This changing preference has given rise to a wave of businesses seeking to build super apps, particularly in digital-savvy South-east Asia. Super apps serve as a one-stop shop for a wide range of services including e-payments, online shopping and ride-hailing.
“The rise of mobile has accustomed users to favour platforms that integrate a variety of services into just a few popular apps occupying their smartphone home screens,” said Dowson Tong, senior executive vice-president at Tencent and chief executive of its cloud and smart industries group.
“This trend is compelling many fintech companies to develop a unified platform that integrates and offers a full range of financial services, from payments and savings to investments and loans, in a convenient one-stop destination.”
Tencent owns the super app Weixin, on which some 1.3 billion monthly active users in China and across the world make payments, browse social media, play games, and stream videos and music. WeChat is the sister app of Weixin, available in markets outside of China.
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Leveraging this expertise, the Chinese tech giant is offering a ‘superapp-as-a-service’ that helps companies create a digital experience similar to super apps.
Called the Tencent Cloud Mini-Program Platform, the offering enables businesses to develop and manage new services as ‘mini-programs’ within their own apps. These programs can be independently released, but still operate seamlessly with the company’s other services.
“Many fintech companies (seek) to develop a unified platform that integrates and offers a full range of financial services.”
Dowson Tong, senior executive vice-president at Tencent, on the growing trend of super apps, particularly in South-east Asia
The platform counts Cambodia’s Canadia Bank and Singapore e-commerce live-streaming provider BeLive Technology among its growing pool of South-east Asian clients.
“South-east Asian businesses are particularly eager to adopt new technologies to stay innovative and competitive,” Tong said.
Spiking interest in super apps can also be seen from the double-digit overseas market growth of Tencent’s enterprise cloud offering, Tencent Cloud, over the last three years.
Its APAC business in particular clocked 50 per cent year-on-year increases, according to the company.
Cloud is crucial in facilitating the digital architecture required to modernise apps, which often must handle large data volumes and run artificial intelligence (AI) processes, Tong explained.
Five of Tencent Cloud’s nine enterprise cloud technical support centres are located in South-east Asia, including Singapore.
“While competitive, the (South-east Asia) market remains underserved and presents tremendous room for growth,” Tong said.
“Each country has its own needs and priorities in digital transformation. This diversity (creates) a dynamic landscape full of opportunities for businesses.”
Super opportunity
- 50% By 2027, over half the world’s population are expected to be daily active users of multiple super apps, according to US-based consulting firm Gartner in a 2022 analysis
- 402 million South-east Asia’s mobile-savvy populace will hit 402 million in 2027, up from 370 million in 2022, projected US-based firms Meta and Bain & Company
- 8 in 10 79% of consumers in South-east Asia use e-wallets to make payments, according to a 2024 Visa report
AI edge
But even as fintech firms strive to offer more integrated digital shopfronts, digital-savvy customer demands have evolved beyond convenience.
Today’s consumers expect fast, simple and seamless services designed around individual preferences, Tong said. “To cater to the needs of personalisation, businesses must offer competitive, tailored products.”
To scale this, the use of AI is pivotal.
Tencent employs AI in its own products. In recent years, the tech giant has applied its large language model, Hunyuan, to drive user engagement on Weixin and for the platform’s games and videos.
Last year, it developed a smart assistant to bolster customer support for Tencent Cloud. This has since evolved into a service that helps businesses create smart assistants, with over a hundred companies in China using the service this year.
Some of Tencent’s clients – such as financial institutions CITIC Construction Securities and Haitong Securities – have taken things a step further and created AI-powered digital “employees”, who do everything from open accounts to offer investment education.
These “employees” do not operate on now-ubiquitous text prompts.
Instead, they are capable of “engaging voice and image interactions, offering a seamless, natural, and user-friendly experience”, Tong said.
More importantly, they enable finance players to offer round-the-clock services despite high concurrent customer volumes – a valuable proposition for banks that face challenges scaling their infrastructure.
“We see this as particularly important in countries like Indonesia, where inclusive banking is crucial for remote islands with high operating costs,” he added.
Safety first
As companies pursue mobile-first strategies through AI-enhanced super apps, cyber security and data privacy remain key technology challenges.
South-east Asia, where adoption of mobile banking is high, is seeing a rise in bad actors using new technologies to exploit system vulnerabilities or mask malicious activity, challenging traditional security measures for app registration, login, and payments.
In addition, firms harbouring global ambitions must navigate a patchwork of diverse regulatory requirements and meet increasingly complex cross-border data management requirements.
To tackle these challenges, Tencent is leveraging AI algorithms and cloud architecture as enterprise services that help businesses reduce fraud, facilitate compliance and ensure data security.
AI and security technologies have become key building blocks for next-generation solutions, Tong said. But for super app supremacy, South-east Asia must do more than simply adopt these technologies.
“It is about enabling a future where financial institutions can scale sustainably and efficiently, all while navigating the complexities of a rapidly evolving digital environment,” he said.
“With the right safeguards in place, the digital economy can then grow… driving healthy and positive advancements in the financial sector.”
This was produced in partnership with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Global Finance & Technology Network.
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