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Innovative fintech company service provider KPay completes

US$10 million financing

Rapidly acquires more than 12,000 MSME customers and

actively develops Asia Pacific market

(26 September 2022, Hong Kong) Fintech start-up KPay Merchant Service Limited (“KPay”, or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has recently completed a US$10 million financing round with the support of its founders. KPay has developed rapidly since its establishment in Hong Kong at the end of 2020. With its leading technology and comprehensive one-stop digital payment and business management solutions, KPay has effectively catered to the operational needs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (“MSMEs”) and has amassed more than 12,000 local merchants within a short period of time – achieving a lead over its peers in customer acquisition. KPay will use the funds raised to support product development and regional expansion, and is actively preparing for institutional round financing.

Davis Chan, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of KPay, said, “KPay officially commenced operations in early 2021, adhering to the mission of empowering MSMEs to drive growth and promote digital transformation. We have established three major business engines, namely, payment with KPay, B2B ecosystem with KConnect, and MSME financing with KFund. We are encouraged by the successful completion of this US$10 million round of funding. With an experienced and professional team, the Company will continue to optimise products and services, expand market coverage, and strive to bring efficient and convenient integrated business solutions to MSMEs in various industries in Hong Kong and other Asia Pacific markets."

As a financial technology company focused on developing a full range of business solutions, KPay is committed to empowering MSMEs to enhance market competitiveness with its cutting-edge technologies. Currently, KPay’s customers span across a wide variety of sectors such as retail, food & beverage, beauty, healthcare, education and professional services. Last year, the Company launched its first KPay electronic payment service to provide a one-stop transaction payment solution to merchants. Its Smart POS Terminal accepts up to 14 major payment channels including Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay, effectively simplifying the cumbersome payment collection and settlement process. The Company is also planning to launch its online payment gateway in the fourth quarter this year. Pairing with the in-house developed mobile application, merchants can view consolidated data from different payment channels. This allows merchants to easily monitor their business performance and identify sales trends.

Following the success of its electronic payment service, KPay launched the KConnect cloud business management tool platform and the KFund financing service product this year to further expand the scope of its services, bringing more innovative features and comprehensive support to MSMEs. KConnect has built a comprehensive B2B ecosystem with SaaS tools from multiple local service providers for merchants to choose from, covering membership management systems, retail systems, accounting and bookkeeping systems, inventory management, etc. Focusing on the daily operational needs of MSMEs, it provides a simple and convenient one-stop management system to help merchants easily address their operational pain points. The solution will provide an integrated data dashboard which allows merchants to view real-time operational data analyzed across multiple 3^rd party SaaS tools. KFund, meanwhile, utilises merchants’ transaction data to tailor financing solutions to meet their needs.

Riding on the strong growth momentum, KPay established an office and formed a business development team in Singapore in June this year. In its first step to expand in the country, KPay has launched its payment solutions to the market. The number of customers served by the Company’s business in Singapore is gradually picking up and the successful business model and growth trajectory of Hong Kong market are expected to be replicated in Singapore. Meanwhile, KPay is at the final stage of preparation for its expansion into the Taiwan market. The Company envisages launching its services in the market in the fourth quarter of this year, thus taking its presence to another market outside of Hong Kong. Looking ahead, KPay will actively explore the Asia Pacific market, further expand its user base and provide comprehensive business support to more SMEs.

About KPay

Established in July 2020 and headquartered in Hong Kong, KPay Merchant Service Limited (“KPay”) is a financial technology (fintech) company focusing on providing integrated business solutions, and offering professional and innovative products to enhance the market competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Asia Pacific region. KPay solutions were launched in early 2021, covering online and offline fintech services including electronic payment platforms and user management products. With the support of a top-notch technology development team, the Company strives to improve the functionality of various products to cater to the needs of merchants and help them maximise business performance. KPay is abreast of market trends in different regions where its highly experienced sales and after-sales teams provide merchants with a range of business logistics support timely, enabling MSMEs from different sectors to operate more smoothly and strategically by enhancing their ability in digital technology application, and for the Company to realise its vision of "building a mutually beneficial and synergistic e-finance ecosystem”.

For more information about KPay, please visit the Company's website: http://www.kpay-group.com

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[Industry News (Repost)]

Chief financial officers (CFOs) are investing in payments digitization because they believe it is integral to building and keeping healthy balance sheets. For different CFOs, that may mean greater working capital, streamlined accounts receivable (AR) and accounts payable (AP) processes, or improved customer and partner satisfaction. 

In fact, 59% of CFOs say payments digitization is key to a healthy balance sheet, according to the Business Payments Digitization report, a PYMNTS and Corcentric collaboration based on a survey of 400 CFOs. 

Get the report: Business Payments Digitization: A Path to a Better Balance Sheet

The larger the firm, the more likely its CEO is to say that they consider digitization to be “very” or “extremely” important to improving balance sheets. Among the smallest firms included in the survey — those with revenue between $400 million and $750 million — 50% of the CEOs said digitization is key. Among the largest firms — those with revenue between $1.5 billion and $2 billion — 74% of the CEOs place that much importance on digitization.

Optimizing AR and AP Processes 

Among the factors contributing to those healthy balance sheets are greater working capital, streamlined AR and AP processes, and improved customer and partner satisfaction, CFOs said. 

Having optimized AR and AP processes is the first and most important component of a healthy balance sheet, according to the CFOs, with 96% of them believing that AR and AP optimization is “very” or “extremely” important to keeping their balance sheets healthy. It follows that these firms would also emphasize the importance of digitization, which can help accelerate and streamline inbound and outbound payment flows. 

Asset investments and sources of capital or working capital are also widely considered to be key components of healthy balance sheets. Ninety percent of CFOs see asset investment as critical, while 53% say the same of working capital. Working capital is especially important to larger firms. Sixty-one percent of CFOs at the largest firms said that boosting working capital is critical to maintaining healthy balance sheets, compared to 46% of those at the smallest firms. 

An enhanced ability to attract and retain customers is another one of the CFOs’ top reasons for fast-tracking digitization. Thirty-six percent of the CFOs surveyed said that is a reason for accelerating their payments digitization efforts. 

Citing 4.5 Reasons for Fast-Tracking Digitization 

There is no single reason explaining firms’ drive to digitize. Countless interlocking factors have pushed digitization ahead, with CFOs reporting many ways that digitization could improve their businesses. CFOs cited an average of 4.5 reasons that they fast-tracked digitization, ranging from meeting supplier expectations to enhancing payment security and improving communication with vendors. 

With these many benefits, it’s no wonder that 71% of CFOs have increased their use of digital payments since the pandemic’s onset. Nearly all firms included in the survey reported that they are making and receiving payments via cash or checks less often and receiving digital payments more often than they were before March 2020. 

Among the payment types that have seen the biggest uptick in usage are credit card-enabled digital payments ( up 85%), direct deposit (up 71%) and PayPal (up 62%).

Source: PYMNTS

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[Industry News (Repost)]

• The 6th edition of Visa’s Global Back to Business study finds that 73% of small businesses surveyed1 said accepting new forms of digital payments is fundamental to growth in 2022
• 59% of small businesses surveyed said they already are, or plan to, use only digital payments within the next two years – largely in step with 41% of consumers surveyed who said the same
• 90% of small businesses surveyed with an online presence said they attributed pandemic survival to increased efforts to sell online

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 12, 2022-- As Visa (NYSE: V) continues toward its goal of digitally-enabling 50 million small and micro businesses (SMBs), a new research study released today – the “Visa Global Back to Business Study – 2022 SMB Outlook” – found that 90% of surveyed SMBs said they are optimistic about the future of their businesses, the highest level of optimism in Visa Global Back to Business studies to-date. While wiping down groceries and quarantining mail might be bygones of an earlier pandemic era, some changes – such as increased use of digital payments – are here to stay: 82% of SMBs surveyed said they will accept digital options in 2022 and nearly half (46%) of consumers surveyed2 expect to use digital payments more often in 2022, with just 4% saying they will use them less.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220112005380/en/

“Payments are no longer about simply completing a sale. It’s about creating a simple and secure experience that reflects one’s brand across channels and provides utility to both the business and its customer,” said Jeni Mundy, Global Head Merchant Sales & Acquiring, Visa. “The digital capabilities that small businesses built up during the pandemic – from contactless to e-commerce – helped them pivot and survive and, by continuing to build on this foundation, can now help them find new growth and thrive.”

According to this year’s study, which surveyed small business owners and consumers in nine markets – Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Russia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and United States – the consensus outlook for 2022 is one of optimism and intent to digitize even more:

The Path Forward in 2022 for SMBs

• 2022 Ushers in Optimism and Confidence: Building on the 90% of SMBs surveyed who are optimistic about their future, 54% viewed the last year as an opportunity and report their business is doing well heading into the new year, up from 46% who said the same during summer 2021.3
• Going Long on Digital Payments – Even Crypto: An overwhelming 82% of SMBs surveyed said they plan to accept some form of digital option in 2022 and 73% see accepting new forms of payments as fundamental to their business growth. Of those surveyed, 24% said they plan to accept digital currencies such as the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
• E-commerce Buoyed Businesses: Of small businesses surveyed with an online presence, 90% agreed their survival through the pandemic was due to increased efforts to sell via e-commerce, and reported that, on average, over half of their revenue (52%) came from online channels in the last three months.
• Leaving the Change: A majority of SMB respondents expect their business to shift to relying exclusively on digital payments in the future. While 64% of survey respondents anticipate being able to make this shift within 10 years, 41% say it could be within the next two years—and 18% are cashless already.

Consumers Set the Tone in 2022

• Accelerating Toward a Digital Future: More than half of consumers surveyed (53%) responded they expect to shift to being cashless within the next 10 years, 25% said it will happen in the next two years and 16% are already using only digital payments. The top benefits for relying more on digital payments amongst surveyed consumers were easier online shopping (47%), followed by less risk of robbery (38%) and convenience (37%).
• Abandoned Shopping Carts In-Real-Life (IRL): The failure to offer digital payment is frequently a dealbreaker – 41% of consumers surveyed said they have abandoned a purchase in a physical store because digital payments were not accepted, and younger shoppers are even more likely to do so. Gen Z (59%) and Millennials (55%) have not bought something because there was no way to pay digitally, significantly more than Gen X (38%) or Boomers (19%).
• Consumers Embrace the Global Marketplace: As small businesses look to reach more customers online, 50% plan to increase cross-border sales in 2022. On average, 68% of consumers responded they are comfortable buying items or services from a business in another country or territory. Of those who are not completely comfortable, 57% cited that fraud protection typically offered by their credit or debit card provider, such as Visa's Zero Liability Policy, makes them more comfortable with international commerce.

Digitally-Enabling 50 Million Small Businesses

Since the start of the pandemic, Visa has launched a variety of community-based programs to help more small businesses accept digital payments and gain greater access to the digital economy. As part of this ongoing commitment, Visa today also announced it has helped to digitally-enable 24.8 million SMBs worldwide, or 50% of the multi-year goal it set in 2020 to digitize 50 million SMBs.

Throughout 2022, Visa will continue to provide resources that support small businesses, such as the $1 million Grants for Growth program announced earlier this week with Uber and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). Through Grants for Growth, 100 merchants will receive grants of $10,000, disaster recovery and resiliency guides from Uber and LISC, and placement in the Uber Eats app. Grants for Growth will be supported and managed by LISC and focuses on local Uber Eats restaurants in 10 cities: Atlanta, Boston Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area and Washington D.C. For more information on how to apply for Grants for Growth, please visit lisc.org/uber.

More information on the programs Visa has made available to small and micro businesses can also be found on the Visa Small Business Hub and the Visa Small Business COVID-19 support site.

Methodology: Visa Back to Business Study
The Visa Back to Business Study was conducted by Wakefield Research in December 2021 and surveyed 2,250 small business owners with 100 employees or fewer in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Russia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and United States. The consumer section surveyed 1,000 adults ages 18+ in the United States, and 500 adults ages 18+ in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Russia, Singapore and United Arab Emirates.

Source: Visa

[Industry News (Repost)]
 

Digital payment technology has made it possible for anyone with a smart device to conduct transactions easily and securely, both in person and online. Both companies and consumers are embracing digital payments as a fast, reliable and contactless way to exchange money, but there are still innovations and improvements to be made.

If your business is considering adopting digital payment methods, it’s important to understand where they’re currently at and how they can be made more effective. Below, 13 Forbes Technology Council members offer insights on optimizing this popular transaction technology.

1. Be Open To New Technologies

Digital payment methods are positioned to be a major influence on the economic prosperity of many third-world and first-world countries, impacting everything from remittances to transferring funds via cryptocurrency backed by blockchain technology. Already, countries such as Ukraine, El Salvador and others have adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, signifying the growing adoption of this new technology. - Marc Fischer, Dogtown Media LLC

2. Provide Incentives For Use

Digital payments are highly platform-dependent, often not supported by merchants’ point of sale systems and expensive in comparison to cash. For more mainstream adoption, the value must be delivered to consumers (resulting in better purchasing power); this would drive the merchant’s or platform’s interest in supporting digital payments. Techniques similar to credit card “cash back” incentives could be applied to the merchant or P2P platforms. - Chitra Sivanandam, Reinventing Geospatial, Inc. (RGi)

3. Cater To Those With Disabilities

Digital payment methods for people with disabilities fail at checkout. Online shopping carts rarely function smoothly (if at all) for people using screen readers. The complexity of the process is often a critical issue for people with cognitive and mobility impairments. Simplifying the checkout process would eliminate these challenges faced by so many and bring another billion consumers online. - Lionel Wolberger, UserWay Inc.

4. Expand The Types Of Transactions

I believe digital payments should start expanding to more complex transactions that include financing and insurance. For example, rather than have customers simply pay for a product, merchants could offer a loan or spread the payments over a longer period. Furthermore, digital payments should be embedded in more devices—your kitchen or office appliances could order supplies for themselves. - Eliron Ekstein, Ravin AI Limited

5. Implement Identity Management And Encryption

It’s essential to ensure the security of customer data in each and every transaction. As more payments are transacted digitally, organizations will face improved attacker techniques, no matter the physical location of the customer. To make it more difficult for hackers to access customer payment data, implementing identity management and encryption is vitally important on every payment transaction, big or small. - Todd Moore, Thales Group

6. Create A Faster User Experience

Digital B2B payments have an astounding potential to save businesses money and improve efficiency and cash flow. Frictionless onboarding for businesses and immediate access to funds via virtual cards and mobile wallets will make digital payments easier and drive greater adoption. It’s not just about simplifying the transaction; it’s also about creating a fast, easy and secure user experience. - Derek White, Galileo Financial Technologies

7. Include Digital Payment Services In Social Platforms

Digital payments are revolutionizing consumer behavior and improving the consumer experience. One such way is the integration of digital payments in chat applications such as WhatsApp, WeChat and Snapchat as well as in social media platforms such as Instagram. One of the largest retailers in India is offering its services and products via WhatsApp, and payments are made using digital methods. - Vasudevan Sundarababu, Pactera Edge

8. Integrate The Payment Value Chain

Digital payments can be much cheaper, faster and easier if a company can vertically integrate all stakeholders in a payment’s value chain. Instead of having separate merchant acquirers, networks, issuers, fraud engines and so on, a single company could merge them all and create rails of its own. This could give back interchange to merchants, provide greater rewards to customers, increase authority and reduce fraud. - Roy Andrew Ng, Bond

9. Support Global Standardization

Global interoperability and standardization are key in digital payments, especially across borders. They would reduce friction and increase the ease of transactions and commercial relationships. They would also create flexibility in the workforce and supply chain. In the end, commerce would be significantly more efficient and streamlined. - Olga V. Mack, Parley Pro

10. Add Additional Layers Of Security

Digital payments are incredibly convenient and have become critical to the economy over the past two years. But they open consumers up to potential privacy and security risks. With the introduction of features such as credit card masking, which creates temporary, single-use credit card numbers, consumers can continue to reap the benefits of digital payments with dramatically reduced risk. - Hari Ravichandran, Aura™

11. Combine The Checkout And Buying Experience

Digital payments can be made more effective by embedding the checkout experience on the same page as the buying experience. Do not redirect the consumer to another payment or checkout page after they’ve selected the product(s) or service(s) they want to purchase; instead, allow payment transactions to take place on the same page. Fewer clicks and redirects equal higher conversions. - Steven Khuong, Curacubby

12. Decentralize Payments

Detach the reader from the pin pad. It should be possible to pay anywhere in a venue without the need for a full-fledged pin pad. Imagine restaurants with readers at each table or movie theaters with one at each chair. This would allow for immediate payment and decision-making beyond the POS. Cash wraps continue to plague the forward momentum of retailers. Decentralizing payments will be key! - Tom Roberto, Core Technology Solutions

13. Incorporate Biometric Authentication

One way digital payments might be made more effective is by incorporating biometric authentication. This would mean that, in order to make a payment, the consumer would need to scan their fingerprint or use some other form of biometric identification. This would add an extra layer of security to the transaction and help to ensure that only the authorized user is able to make a payment. - John Giordani, NCHENG LLP

Source: Forbes

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