by Ekrem Duman | Sep 13, 2026 | Startup, Vietnam Company Stories, Vietnam Telecom, Tech & Startups
⚡ TL;DRMoMo is Vietnam’s largest e-wallet, with more than 30 million users and a valuation that passed $2 billion in December 2021 when Mizuho led a $200 million round. It got there by spending heavily for a decade: cashback, merchant subsidies, a sales force...
by Ekrem Duman | Aug 26, 2026 | Fintech, Startups & Global Trade, Philippines Company Stories
⚡ TL;DRMaya began as a payments business serving merchants and consumers, then obtained one of the Philippines’ digital banking licences — which changed the model fundamentally. A wallet holds customer money in trust and cannot lend it; a bank takes...
by Ekrem Duman | Aug 26, 2026 | Fintech, Startups & Global Trade, Philippines Company Stories
⚡ TL;DRGCash reached tens of millions of Filipinos who had never had a bank account, by solving the problem that had defeated every previous attempt: converting cash into digital value. Neighbourhood shops became agents, a phone number became an account...
by Ekrem Duman | Aug 26, 2026 | Philippines Company Stories, Telecoms & Media
⚡ TL;DRGlobe Telecom entered as a challenger to the fixed-line incumbent, built one of the Philippines’ two national mobile networks, and then created something more valuable than the network itself: a mobile wallet used by tens of millions of Filipinos....
by Ekrem Duman | Aug 26, 2026 | Fintech & Transfers
The cross-border payments stack is being taken apart, piece by piece ⚡ TL;DRCorrespondent banking’s grip on cross-border payments is loosening fast. In August 2026 alone, Visa joined Singapore’s stablecoin-settlement pilot, OpenPayd went live on...
