Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has led an investment in Vietnam-based payments firm VNPay, according to three people familiar with the development. Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc reports on Dealstreetasia.com.
Other players in Vietnam’s payment space include Warburg Pincus-backed MoMo, VNG’s ZaloPay, and Payoo (acquired by NTT Data).
The financing for VNPay is GIC’s first investment in a Vietnamese fintech company.
VNPAY Payment Gateway is an intermediate system to transmit, exchange and process payment transactions between consumers owning card, bank account or e-wallet and enterprises providing goods, services on the Internet.
VNPAY Payment Gateway officially came into operation from August 2011 with the objective to develop a simple and convenient payment method; reduce social costs and change cash-payment habit of the majority of consumers. VNPAY Payment Gateway now has connected with multiple e-commerce websites of domestic enterprises providing a variety of products and services.
The number of websites accepting payment through VNPAY Gateway is also increasing rapidly thanks to the high service quality and the enthusiastic support from VNPAY. VNPAY now continues to expand the relationship with new Enterprises, Banks, Financial Institutions and Payment partners to bring the maximum benefit to customers.
About GIC:
GIC Private Limited, formerly known as Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, is a sovereign wealth fund established by the Government of Singapore in 1981 to manage Singapore’s foreign reserves.
Its mission is to preserve and enhance the international purchasing power of the reserves, with the aim to achieve good long-term returns above global inflation over the investment time horizon of 20 years. With a network of 10 offices in key financial capitals around the world, GIC invests internationally in developed market equities, emerging market equities, nominal bonds and cash, inflation-linked bonds, private equity and real estate.
The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI) had estimated the fund’s assets at US$359 billion.
In addition to GIC, the Government of Singapore owns another sovereign wealth fund, Temasek Holdings, which manages about SGD$275 billion of assets.