BNPL is a lifeline for Malaysians shut out of formal credit, or a fast route into debt, depending on who you ask. ShopeePay’s CEO makes his case.
Alain Yee joined Shopee in 2019 as CEO of ShopeePay Malaysia, launching the e-wallet two to three years after its main rivals. SPayLater followed in 2021 and cash lending in 2022. He also leads Monee in Malaysia, Sea’s digital financial services business, and is president of the Association of E-Money Issuers (AEMI). Before Shopee, he worked in consulting and finance in London, then at Discovery Channel and McKinsey before joining Astro.
In this episode:
- Why 70% of users ShopeePay polled say they have no other access to formal credit
- Whether BNPL’s 0.3% share of household debt understates its impact on lower-income borrowers
- How SPayLater freezes an account on the first missed payment and charges a single RM10 late fee with no compounding
- How BNPL makes money, from merchant fees to the 1.5% monthly fee users pay on QR
- What Grab’s USD 1.49 billion Atome deal means for a consolidating BNPL market
- How ShopeePay began as a fix for payments crashing during midnight 11.11 sales