In Southeast Asia, a region of more than 700 million people, fintech lenders are crowding out traditional banks in the consumer lending market by offering faster, more accessible financial services through mobile platforms.
The region's fintech market has reached $1 trillion in 2025, according to UnaFinancial estimates, while digital lending – the fastest-growing segment – has expanded by over 40%, showing one of the fastest growth paces globally. These numbers reflect a deeper transformation: in Southeast Asia, access to credit is increasingly determined not by banking history, but by digital footprint.
Growth Drivers
The development of fintech lenders is driven by a combination of factors. In the region's most populous countries – Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and others – approximately half of the adult population is unbanked. These are people running their own businesses or working in microenterprises who cannot officially prove regular income or count on bank loans.
At the same time, hundreds of millions of people in Southeast Asia literally live on their mobile phones. For them, it has become more than just a means of communication, but a window into the financial world. Many people use online apps like Shopee (e-commerce) and Grab (food delivery and taxi services). Their first, and often only, experience with finance is through digital wallets and credit apps, rather than visiting a bank branch.
The position of local regulators – Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Indonesia's Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and others – also plays a significant role. Regulators impose a range of requirements on banks accepting deposits, including capital requirements, reserve requirements, risk management, and reporting. Obtaining a full banking license in some Southeast Asian countries can take several years. However, fintech lenders have an easier time entering the market, and the rules are much more liberal.
Regional Leaders
Akulaku Finance, one of Indonesia's leading fintech lenders, increased new loan issuance by 23% in 2025 to a total of $439 million equivalent, of which almost 90% was Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL). In this growing segment, Akulaku Finance successfully competes with the BNPL services of regional e-commerce platforms Shopee and GoTo, as well as with another major Indonesian fintech lender, Kredivo. With a strong position in Indonesia, the Akulaku group is also expanding into neighboring countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand.
In the Philippines, the second-most populous country in Southeast Asia, fintech lenders already account for over 55% of the lending market. They provide loans to people engaged in agriculture, fisheries, and small businesses who lack access to bank loans. Instead of credit history, digital lenders rely on indirect data about their creditworthiness—mobile payment history, in-store spending, online services, etc.
One of the fastest-growing fintech companies in the Philippines is Skyro, a digital-first consumer finance platform. Its strategy revolves around integration with e-commerce and offline retail: the company already has about 9,000 partner stores, with Skyro providing on-the-spot loans to their customers for the purchase of electronics, home appliances and other goods. One of Skyro's most popular and fastest-growing products in the Philippines is its BNPL installment plan, which gives underbanked customers access to fast, short-term financing and helps merchants boost their sales. Since 2022, Skyro has issued loans totaling over $500 million.
AI Facilitates Fintech
Like other fintech leaders, Skyro has deeply embedded artificial intelligence (AI) in its business processes. AI is used for identity verification during onboarding, customer scoring, fraud detection, and customer support, with bots handling simple inquiries and escalating more complex cases to human agents. In 2026, Skyro launched an AI-narrated blog to provide Filipinos with practical, accessible personal finance knowledge.
MoMo, a leading fintech in Vietnam, also relies on partnerships with retailers and e-commerce companies and uses an AI-powered financial assistant. In addition to BNPL and microloans, the company also provides payment, investment, and insurance services. With a valuation of over $2 billion, MoMo has become Vietnam's financial super-app, serving 30 million customers.
Competitive Landscape
The growing fintech market in Southeast Asia is attracting the interest of many companies. The region is home to over 2,000 fintech companies. Regional players are actively competing with international companies, ranging from Hong Kong-based Cashalo to Europe's Revolut, who are also expanding their presence in the region. Given the large number of competitors, the market is showing signs of overheating. According to Tracxn, the volume of funds raised by fintech companies in Southeast Asia declined by 21% in 2025.
This shift points to a more selective environment, where stronger and more resilient players are better positioned to grow. Companies that have already built scalable models in complex, underbanked markets may now have an advantage, not only within Southeast Asia, but also as they expand beyond the region.
Their expertise in alternative credit scoring, mobile-first distribution, and embedded finance could prove highly transferable to other emerging markets—and even to underserved segments in developed economies.
In that sense, Southeast Asia is no longer just a fast-growing fintech market. It is becoming a testing ground for financial innovation that may soon be exported globally.
