Kelvin Teo is co-founder of Funding Societies, an SME-dedicated SaaS and platform lender, with operations in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. He speaks with Jame DiBiasio about plans to securitize loans, obtain a banking license, and issue credit cards – and a path to IPO.

Timecodes:

0:00 - Kelvin Teo, Funding Societies

1:30 - P2P versus lending

3:55 - How it works in different markets

5:00 - Where do you get capital to lend?

5:55 - How much skin in the game do you take?

7:05 - Lessons from China on P2P and platform risks

8:40 - Plans to securitize loans, investor base, licensing

11:40 - What's next after not winning a virtual-bank license in Singapore

12:55 - Benefits to a bank license or partnership

14:55 - Competing against banks, ride hailing apps, ecommerce

16:20 - Challenges to growth

17:10 - Payments and credit-card strategy

19:20 - Drivers of new market entry

20:20 - Can you scale in Southeast Asia?

21:36 - Becoming profitable and exit strategy