Singapore-based payments firm FOMO Pay has been expanding internationally on several continents. The company, which is a partner of Ripple, recently received a Money Service Operator license for Hong Kong and last week announced its expansion into Africa. It also recently secured a partnership with Mastercard and Z Bank.
On January 31, FOMO Pay announced that it would work with Nigeria-based Klasha on cross-border payments. With this partnership, FOMO Pay will facilitate collections for its corporate clients through Klasha's platform, allowing businesses to receive payments in local African currencies and money methods while they get payouts in their preferred currencies.
While Asia-based payment (especially cross-border) fintechs are numerous, not many of them are focusing on opportunities in Africa. In this sense, FOMO Pay is more forward-looking than many of its peers. The partnership comes amid a transformation in Africa's trade relationships, with Asia taking on a central role. Asia is estimated to account for over 40% of Africa's exports and imports, so facilitating cross-border transactions between the two regions has become increasingly important. Recognizing this need, the new partnership between Klasha and FOMO Pay aims to provide a platform that enhances cross-border payment capabilities for non-retail clients across the two continents.
FOMO Pay is also expanding closer to home. In November, it moved into the Hong Kong market after being granted a Money Service Operator license. This license allows Fomo Pay to support cross-border transactions in the former British Crown Colony as well as provide payment and remittance services in the massive, 56,000-sq km Greater Bay Area (GBA). Around 87 million people live in the GBA, which includes Hong Kong, the Macau SAR, and nine cities in Guangdong Province. With a GDP of approximately USD $1.9 trillion in 2022, it’s one of the biggest economies in the world—and there’s still significant room for growth. Bain & Company estimates that the GBA’s GDP could reach USD $2.8 trillion by 2027.
Further, Bain has found that since 2020, mainland customers have been purchasing more wealth management, insurance, and loan products from Hong Kong. Across product categories, mainland customers’ ownership and interest in so-called “cross-boundary” products is higher for wealth management and insurance than it is for loan products overall. More than 50% of mainland respondents to a Bain survey either already own or are interested in cross-boundary financial products and services, while the number for Hong Kong respondents is around 30% to 35%.