Fintech behind Atome Philippines card among SEA’s Top 30 tech startups

Advance Intelligence Group Limited (AIGL), the Singapore-based fintech startup behind Atome Philippines’ PayLater Anywhere Card, has been listed in the inaugural NextGen Tech 30, an award which recognizes Southeast Asia’s Top 30 tech startups.

The award is the region’s first collaboration between the public and private sectors. Among those involved were tech venture capital firms Granite Asia, KKR, and Northstar Group, multinational corporation DBS Bank, and Singapore’s Economic Development Board and InfoComm Media Development Authority.

The roster of NextGen Tech 30 winners include water treatment provider Gradient, agritech company Chickin, and online learning platform Prep.

AIGL’s use of artificial intelligence, as well as its risk management strategy, is helping solve the credit crunch challenge in the Philippines, according to Magic Tang, head of Atome Cards.

“For so many of our Atome Philippines cardholders, it is their first-ever card product, and we are also seeing very high daily engagement and use cases to afford basic necessities,” he said in a September 25 press statement. “This eventually graduates them to build a credit history and on-ramp to traditional financial products and services.”

ADVANCE.AI, an AIGL subsidiary, also announced last month that it had signed an agreement with state-owned Credit Information Corporation to launch a credit bureau in the Philippines.

Total outstanding credit card volumes increased year-over-year to 11.2 million cards in Q4 2023 from 9.3 million cards in Q4 2022, based on a 2024 analysis by TransUnion , an information and insights company. Over the same period, the credit card penetration rate – or the percentage of adults holding at least one credit card – reached over 15% of Filipino adults.

Data from the Credit Card Association of the Philippines showed that credit card spending in the country increased by 39% to reach P853 billion in the first half of 2023 – a rise from the 29% increase the previous year. – Patricia B. Mirasol