Southeast Asian fintech player Atome, which is also known as Apaylater Financials, has received an in-principle approval from Singapore’s central bank to operate as a major payment institution (MPI).
Once granted, the MPI licence will allow the company to perform regulated services such as account issuance, domestic and cross-border money transfers, as well as merchant acquisition.
Since its founding in 2016, Atome’s presence has stretched across South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Greater China. The platform has partnerships with some 15,000 retailers in 10 markets and counts SouthBank Vision Fund 2 among its investors.
While the consumer credit aspect of Atome’s buy now pay later (BNPL) services is not regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the platform stressed its commitment to adhering to guidelines recently laid out in an industry-led BNPL code of conduct.
Other Singapore-based institutions that were awarded an MPI licence by MAS this year include corporate services company Sleek, cryptocurrency platform Hodlnaut, and digital account and mobile app Hugosave.
Leanne Lim, regional head of compliance at Atome, said the in-principle approval “validates the work our team has been putting into building our compliance infrastructure, and we will further strengthen existing frameworks by continuously monitoring for emerging risks and regulations”.