MFast founders Phan Thanh Long and Phan Thanh Vinh. Image Credits: MFast
MFast, a mobile app that lets Vietnamese users in remote areas access financial services, announced today it has raised a $1.5 million pre-Series A. The round was led by Do Ventures, with participation from JAFCO Asia.
Launched in 2019 by fintech company DigiPay, MFast says it has been used by 600,000 people to date. It partners with financial institutions that provide services like loans and insurance, and says it has been used to distribute more than 50 billion VND (about $2.2 million USD) worth of insurance products so far, and 5,000 billion VND (about $217 million) in financial products. The company told TechCrunch that it currently has 11 financial partners.
MFast’s consumer credit partners include Mirae Asset, CIMB, Mcredit and Easy Credit, and its insurance partners include PVI, PTI and BSH. It claims to have a network of more than 350,000 advisors who offer their services through the app.
The company prequalifies applicants for credit services using predictive machine learning algorithms to identify applicants with high risks of defaulting on their loans, while its insurance customers are matched with plans using a data-driven engine.
The majority, or about 75% to 80%, of MFast’s users are in remote provinces or rural areas, which the company says often limits their access to banking and credit-related services.
The funding will be used to expand MFast to more cities and provinces in Vietnam, develop its technology and partner with more institutions. MFast also plans to enter other markets in the future.
