SINGAPORE: Sea Limited, owner of popular e-commerce platform Shopee, has rebranded its financial services arm from SeaMoney to Monee, which Sea’s founder and CEO Forrest Li said is because it’s “simple and cute”. He added that the new name is “just like Sea, easy to write and pronounce.”
Fortune reported that the new brand, Monee, will oversee MariBank in Singapore and SeaBank in Indonesia and the Philippines, including its payments and lending services across Southeast Asia.
The launch took place on Thursday (May 8), with Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Tan See Leng, officiating the event.
According to Singapore Business Review, Mr Tan, who is also the Minister for Manpower, said Monee will establish several centres of excellence in Singapore in areas like anti-money laundering and fraud, product management and design, risk management and compliance, among others.
Mr Tan also praised Sea’s early success in digital finance, saying that companies like Sea help keep Singapore competitive as a hub for ideas, talent, and investment while creating new opportunities for the economy and its people.
In a Facebook post on Friday (May 9), Sea Limited wrote, “The unveiling of the new name, Monee, marks an exciting chapter for a business that began as a simple prepaid card network to support our gaming users. And while it has since evolved into one of the largest digital financial services platforms in Southeast Asia, we are only seeing the start of its potential.”
“As the digital economy continues to evolve, we remain committed to bettering the lives of consumers and small businesses through technology, and Monee will continue to build a future where financial inclusion is a reality for all,” it added.
According to Fortune, Mr Tan said digital payment transactions across Southeast Asia hit US$1.1 trillion (S$1.43 trillion) in 2024 and are set to double by 2030. He also noted that digital lending is expected to grow from US$70 billion (S$90.80 billion) last year to about US$200 billion (S$259.42 billion) by the end of the decade. /TISG