SentBe expands to Singapore, boosted by KOSMES

• SentBe, startup specialized in cross-border money transfer

• Founded in 2015, pioneering the Fintech sector

• Survived by competing with banks on fees

• Expanding cross-border money transfer services between countries beyond Korea

• Entered Singapore with the support of KOMES

• Started services in Indonesia in 2020

• Currently serving 80 global companies towards 50 countries

Foreign exchange fintech startup SentBe, founded in 2015, has established itself as a leading company in the domestic overseas remittance service sector based on solid technological capabilities and trust. Although fintech services are now familiar, 2015, when SentBe started, was a time when even relevant laws were not in place.

Already, examples of active fintech markets abroad were being introduced, and discussions at the government level regarding 'fintech nurturing' were beginning. In 2017, relevant legislation was created, and until market regulations were eased through various procedures, SentBe had to focus on settling in the fintech market, not just on the company's growth.

Seongouk Choi, CEO of SentBe, attributes their ability to survive and grow rapidly in those four years to 'technology.' To survive competition with traditional banks, a differentiated service was needed, lowering fees and increasing remittance speed. The technology was the key because it made it possible. To reduce fees, they applied the 'pooling' method, which gathers individual remittances to send them all at once. However, waiting for a certain amount of remittance to accumulate had the drawback of slowing down the remittance speed. To overcome this, they introduced the 'post-funding' method, establishing a settlement structure with partner companies to increase remittance speed. The mission was to achieve 'cheap, fast, and convenient overseas remittances,' and technology was the key to accomplishing this.

Since its early days, SentBe aimed not only to send money from Korea overseas but also to implement a two-way service from overseas to overseas. To steadily grow as a fintech company dealing with foreign exchange, it was crucial to secure a global hub for growth. In 2018, they established a Singapore corporation, reaching beyond Korea to grow as a global overseas remittance and payment service company. Going back and forth between Korea and Singapore to build a foreign market was by no means a smooth journey.

At that time, SentBe learned about the KSC (Korea Startup Center) project by the Korea SMEs Startups Agency (KOSMES) and didn't hesitate to apply. After entering the KSC in Singapore in July 2020, SentBe sent a representative director, and they hired five local employees. They not only received support for office space but also received meticulous support for legal, accounting, and tax advice related to local business. They also received advanced local support for globalization, such as local business advice, accelerating for market exploration and entry, local exhibitions and networking events, global strategic research, and online investor relations meetings.

Based on its Singapore corporation, SentBe, in 2020, became the first fintech company in Korea to start overseas remittance services from Indonesia and Singapore, achieving stable growth in the Asia-Pacific market. Currently, SentBe has partnerships with over 80 global companies and provides remittance services to more than 50 countries. In the future, they plan to launch additional services in new overseas markets beyond Korea, Indonesia, and Singapore, to further expand their influence.

SentBe has customer satisfaction (CS) centers for immigrant workers in Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do, and Ansan, Gyeonggi-do. The CS centers provide one-on-one support for foreigners having difficulty with overseas remittances, guiding them on how to join SentBe's services, authentication methods, remittance methods, and receipt methods.

CEO Choi stated, "Challenging the overseas market, which had already started fintech services before us, was not an easy task in terms of funds, networks, and information. Using the solid support of KSC as a stepping stone, our goal is to leap to become 'Asia's top cross-border payment and remittance solution company' by 2025."

The KSC project, operated by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and KOSMES, began in 2019. As of the end of last year, programs, including grants from the Korea Entrepreneurship Foundation, were operated in seven countries, including the United States, Singapore, France, Israel, India, Finland, and Sweden. Among them, the United States (Seattle), Singapore, France (Paris), and Sweden (Stockholm) are directly installed and operated by KOSMES as hub-type centers.

Published in Maeil Business Newspaper on May 1, 2023

Source: https://www.mk.co.kr/news/business/10725791