Latvian fintech frontrunner VIA SMS Group continues to expand its presence in Asia-Pacific consumer lending industry by investing in the development of consumer lending brand VAMO.ph in Philippines. The decision on further strategic expansion in the region follows successful business operations in Vietnam launched in 2019 in partnership with another well-known consumer lender TWINO. Since the company launch in 2019, Vietnamese VAMO.vn has issued loans with a total value of more than 3 million EUR.

VAMO.ph launched its operations in Philippines in the beginning of this year, and currently the company is engaged in intensive technical development to prepare for the product public launch in Q3 of 2021. The main office of VAMO.ph is located in Manila, the capital of Philippines and majority of local employees will be engaged in ensuring customer service, data processing and debt collection. Other business processes will be provided by the VIA SMS Group headquarters in Riga.

“VIA SMS Group is constantly looking for new potential markets, so expansion outside of Europe seemed like a logical step for the company’s development. Knowledge accumulated throughout the years, as well as successful acquisition of the Vietnamese consumer lending market gave us assurance that the company is mature enough to transfer the experience to the less known markets that may differ from operational environment, we are used to work in. Philippines seemed a great choice that was backed by market research and projections of development opportunities,” tells Deniss Šerstjukovs, Member of the Board at VIA SMS Group.

VIA SMS Group is a Latvian financial technology company registered operating in Europe and Asia-Pacific, as well as taking a significant part of Latvian consumer lending market. Besides the core business of consumer lending, VIA SMS Group also offers investment opportunities with the investment platform VIAINVEST and operates the digital payments platform VIALET. More than 10 years of experience in finance has given the confidence that the company can transfer its knowledge to markets outside the Europe.

“Asia-Pacific is enormously huge and challenging market that provides opportunities that would never be possible in today’s European consumer lending market. Business experience in Vietnam gained together with TWINO has been incredibly valuable in understanding the specifics of the region and particular business field. We hope that this knowledge will help us to avoid rookie mistakes when entering Philippines. Differences between Asia and Europe in terms of business development are enormous, but we are excited about opportunities on the horizon and already looking for the next possible market,” adds Šerstjukovs.

VIA SMS Group is founded in 2009 and its core business is consumer lending. The Group also operates such brands as investment platform VIAINVEST, digital payments platform VIALET, deposits product VIASPAR in Sweden, as well as payment cards with credit line SAVA.card in Latvia. The company employs more than 200 professionals around the globe and has closed the year of 2020 with 21,150 million EUR worth net loan portfolio and 27,500 million EUR income.