Face/Off: E-wallets in Vietnam edition

Check out the top articles for the week.  [View this email in your browser]( Top Stories This Week Hello {NAME} This photo says it all. This is what you normally see upon entering most food and beverage shops in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. I often can’t decide whether to use Momo, Grab, or AirPay to get a discount on my drink, but I have friends who take joy in figuring out which e-wallet gives the best perks. In China, it’s a contest between AliPay or WeChat Pay, and even beggars there have reportedly gone cashless. Vietnam’s not there yet - it’s probably about a decade behind China even though we now have 34 e-wallets to choose from. Fintech companies are burning millions of US dollars a month to get Vietnamese consumers to stay away from cash and choose their e-wallet among all other options. Companies are betting on a market of nearly 100 million people, waiting for a China-like digital payment revolution to explode in Vietnam. They also are looking to monetize customers’ data to sell other personalized financial products. After all, 69% of the population still don’t have access to banks, so the country could be a new growth market. An e-wallet, however, is just a small sampling of what fintech companies can offer. The industry might strike gold by offering financial products that can bring onboard millions of others that have been left behind in Vietnam’s first phase of digital transformation. -- Thu Huong Le, Journalist at Tech in Asia 1️⃣ [Vietnam’s e-wallet war has just begun, and it will be brutal]( Like China a decade ago, Vietnam could be at the start of an e-payments revolution, with players aiming to replicate the success of Alipay and WeChat Pay. 2️⃣ [Founders of online food-ordering app Oddle seek to exit]( Jonathan Lim, Pua Yong Xiang, and Jeremy Lee have reportedly reached out to potential suitors to gauge interest. 3️⃣ [Why a Chinese Tesla rival failed to start its multibillion-dollar engine]( Covid-19 put a huge dent in China’s electric vehicle sector, but Byton has been left behind in the dust. But does its answer to survivability lie closer to home? 4️⃣ [This CEO is building the “Google Play of financial services” for Indonesia]( Payfazz, which aims to become Indonesia’s version of Paytm, claims that it’s on track to process US$2.2 billion in transactions this year. 5️⃣ [Grab looks to raise up to $500m for fintech arm, sources say]( Potential investors in the round include insurers Prudential and AIA Group. 6️⃣ [Waresix closes $100m series B round]( Other investors in the round include Jungle Ventures and SoftBank Ventures Asia. 7️⃣ [New Vietnam-focused fund attracts Sea, Naver backing]( Do Ventures said it has already raised more than half of its US$50 million target. 8️⃣ [Launcho Ventures sets up startup studio in Singapore]( It aims to build and invest up to S$300,000 in new companies to help them scale. 9️⃣ [Twitter, Zoom to pay 10% VAT in Indonesia]( The new tax takes effect on October 1. 🔟 [TikTok estimated to generate $88.1m in revenue in August despite US troubles]( TikTok’s Chinese version, Douyin, accounted for about 85% of the app’s August revenue. Free Premium Read [Tackling a taboo: Cannabis tech on the rise in Asia]( There’s a budding interest in marijuana in Asia as legislations ease one by one. But why is the cannabis tech ecosystem yet to benefit? Happening - [Tech in Asia Virtual Conference]( from October 19 to 22. Our biggest annual event has everything you need to prepare for Southeast Asia’s Golden Age: Expert panels featuring founders, decision-makers, and investors, startup-investor speed dating, and networking sessions to connect with those who matter. If you’re already a Core or Live subscriber, you can [join us at no additional charge](. - [How Brands Can Win Customers in Today's Competitive Mobile App Market]( on September 16. The panel discussion is aimed at app creators and communities that want to succeed in the competitive mobile app market. - [Blueprint for Success: Scaling Operations Across SEA]( on September 17. We break down all the information you need for a successful expansion strategy in Southeast Asia. Hiring You can post a job for free [here]( or search for jobs [here](.  [logo] [Junior Engineer]( at Ematic Solutions Bangkok, Thailand [logo] [Senior Product UI Designer]( at AiChat Jakarta, Indonesia [logo] [Senior QA Analyst]( at Ruangguru.com Yogyakarta, Indonesia [logo] [(Remote) Site Reliability Engineer (NIGHT SHIFT)]( at XooGuu Jakarta, Indonesia [logo] [Transaction Monitoring Analyst]( at Aspire Singapore, Singapore [logo] [Full Stack Engineer]( at Plato Medical Singapore, Singapore Having a peaceful Sunday? Forward this good vibe along to your colleagues and if you have comments about our newsletter, we would love to hear them. Drop us a line [here](. Tech in Asia’s newsletters are handcrafted daily with love ❤️ - and sometimes powered by good coffee ☕. 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