Fintech startups Ayannah, ECAPS merge; Singapore-based entity raising up to US$50m

PHILIPPINES-BASED digital financial services provider Ayannah and India-based payments company Electronic Cash and Payment Solutions (S), better known as ECAPS, have merged, with plans to raise US$30-50 million in a Series B round. (see amendment note)

The merged entity, called Ayannah Global, is based in Singapore and aims to provide affordable and accessible digital financial services to the growing middle class in South Asia and South-east Asia.

The group did not disclose the value of the transaction. Ayannah Global will be jointly led by co-chief executive officers Miguel Perez, formerly the CEO of Ayannah, and Praveen Suri, formerly the CEO of ECAPS.

Ayannah and ECAPS have collectively raised US$18 million from venture capital firms Wavemaker Partners, Golden Gate Ventures and 500 Startups, and several large family offices across Asia.

Veteran banker Ray Ferguson has been appointed chairman of Ayannah Global. Mr Ferguson also chairs digital insurer Singapore Life and is the founding partner of Caber Partners, a Singapore-based fintech-focused fund manager and advisory firm. Before that, he spent over 17 years at Standard Chartered, where he held chief executive roles in Asia and the Middle East.

Established in 2010, Ayannah has developed a platform for services ranging from payments, remittance, insurance and telemedicine. One of these products is PanaloCare, a hospital income insurance plan launched in partnership with AXA, which supports the insured with a daily supplementary income in the event of hospitalisation.

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ECAPS is a Bengaluru-based financial solutions provider that has catered to the needs of domestic migrants and the unbanked populations in India since 2013. It focuses on domestic money transfers, utility bill payments, recharges and travel ticketing. It has over 1,500 distributors and 30,000 retailers, and has completed more than 12 million transactions.

The merged entity is expected to have a reach of over 10 million customers, mainly in the Philippines and India. Ayannah Global intends to expand its suite of fintech solutions for customers in Indonesia and Vietnam. It will also broaden its current product suite to cater to the business-to-business segment.

The group said it is seeing greater demand for its open banking and omnichannel distribution platform amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Demand has come primarily from banks, lenders and insurers that need to rapidly roll out digital services.

Ayannah Global plans to eventually include savings and investment products in its omnichannel open banking platform.

The group has also launched Kaya, a digital marketplace connecting middle-class customers and entrepreneurs with banks, lenders and insurers in the Philippines. It will launch versions of the platform in India, Indonesia and Vietnam later this year.

Amendment note: An earlier version of this article stated ECAPS' name as Equity Capital Advisors. The source has since clarified that the name was changed to Electronic Cash and Payment Solutions (S).