Joel Neoh, co-founder and CEO of Fave
Fave, a Malaysia-based fintech platform providing QR payments and loyalty cashback to restaurant and retailers, has been acquired by Indian merchant commerce giant Pine Labs in a deal valued at over US$45 million.
As per a joint statement, the acquisition will help the two companies accelerate their growth in Asia and unlock consumer opportunities across retail, F&B, fashion and FMCG markets.
Fave also noted that joining forces with Pine Labs will reinforce its market position in Southeast Asia.
As per the terms in the agreement, Fave’s founders will have their roles expanded to lead the overall consumer platform for the group across Asia. The company will also be hiring over 100 new employees in Southeast Asia and India to “accelerate cashless payments and smart savings across the region.”
The acquisition comes about a year after Fave announced a “strategic partnership and investment” by Pine Labs which saw the fintech platform become interoperable and integrated with the latter’s terminals.
Launched in 2016, Fave currently operates in 35 cities across Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The company claims it has enabled six million consumers to save over US$400 million across 40,000 retailers.
Fave will launch its services in India as part of the deal.
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“Consumers have tremendous choices in their payment types. They want to be sure that they save on every transaction. Fave helps consumers apply their best rewards, coupons, gift cards and cashbacks on all transactions in a seamless manner. Joel and the Fave team have built a loyal consumer base with their smooth checkout experience,” said B. Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs.
“Pine Labs has been a great partner and investor for us, and it only made sense for us to join our synergies together and work towards our shared vision of building a truly global consumer and merchant platform,” said Joel Neoh, Co-founder and CEO of Fave.
“India has the digital advantage with young demography, growing aspirational middle class with rising disposable income and increasing digital savviness. We are confident that the APAC e-payments landscape will continue to achieve exponential growth in the coming decade,” Neoh added.
According to Pine Labs, the introduction of Fave into its offerings comes at an opportune moment, with mobile payments growing to 2.7 billion transactions in March 2021. The company also recorded a significant growth of 171 per cent in mobile payment transactions over the last two quarters.
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Image Credit: Fave
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