Ascend Money Aims to Provide Financial Services to Over 10 Million Thais Excluded by Traditional Banks

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What if a magazine subscription—for instance, to —aided you in obtaining a loan?

Tanyapong Thamavaranukupt, co-president of Thai fintech firm Ascend Money, identifies spending patterns—such as magazine subscriptions or mobile phone bills—as markers of creditworthiness, especially in markets like Southeast Asia, which have both a large underbanked population and underdeveloped financial institutions.

“We do not depend on traditional data to make our lending decisions,” he told . Instead, Ascend Money’s lending service, Ascend Nano, relies on data from the company’s digital wallet—a service used to store, transact, and make payments. “We can observe the types of transactions users engage in, where they spend their money, and the kind of phone they use,” he explains. 

This enables the creation of a customer risk profile that does not rely on traditional proof, such as financial statements, payslips, or credit bureau assessments. Consider a magazine subscription: Tanyapong suggests that a user who regularly reads a publication might be marginally more educated, potentially earning a higher income—and thus could be a safer candidate for Ascend to lend to. 

Tanyapong estimates that around 20 million Thais, within a total population of 70 million, should be able to access a loan. Yet the country’s formal banks are only extending loans to approximately 5 million customers. This leaves roughly 15 million Thais without access to financing, even though they may be creditworthy. “It is not because they are unqualified,” Tanyapong says. “It is simply that traditional players … employ the exact same model that has existed for the past 30 years.”

Micro- and small-sized businesses often lack financial statements, meaning they cannot persuade banks to offer them loans. Many traditional lenders also depend on credit bureaus, which do not cover many underbanked individuals, once again denying them access to financing. 

If banks don’t step in, loan sharks will

Financial access is a regional issue. Around in Southeast Asia lacked access to a formal bank account in 2021, according to calculations by the Center for Impact Investing and Practices. Approximately 350 million people could not access formal financing. Additionally, the SME Finance Forum in 2018 found that more than half of the region’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) could not obtain financing.

Those in need of funds then turn to informal lenders, who can charge exorbitantly high interest rates. Tanyapong states that Ascend Money’s nano loans can help individuals exit the informal lending market, where loan sharks may charge as much as 20% interest per month. (Ascend Nano, by contrast, charges just 2%.)

Ascend is not the sole company in Southeast Asia mining customer data to build risk profiles. Grab, Southeast Asia’s most successful super-app, has attempted to use data gathered from its ride-hailing and GrabPay services to assess creditworthiness. Other regional platforms, such as the Philippines’ GCash and Vietnam’s Momo, also utilize data collected from their digital wallets to assist in extending loans to users.

Ascend Money is the fintech arm of Thailand’s CP Group, a major conglomerate with interests in retail, agriculture, and manufacturing. Ascend began with payments and money transfers, but low profit margins prompted the company to expand into other financial services. Ascend Nano was one of the company’s first initiatives, offering “nano finance”—small loans as low as $20—to consumers and small businesses in Thailand.

Ascend Money’s efforts to provide financing to Thailand’s unbanked and underbanked populations helped the fintech company secure a spot on ’s 2025 “” list, which recognizes businesses that do good .

Ascend Nano’s connections to the broader CP Group also aid in acquiring new customers. Tanyapong notes that many of their clients, particularly those running small roadside stalls, purchase their products wholesale from the broader conglomerate. “Based on their purchase history, we can provide them with a credit line to buy from CP Makro [the CP Group’s cash-and-carry wholesaler],” he explains, adding that customers have managed to grow their businesses by up to twice their working capital.

Tanyapong spent 15 years in Thailand’s finance industry, including roles at GE Capital (Thailand) and KrungSri Ayudhya Bank. He later led retail banking at , one of the highest-ranked Thai companies on the Southeast Asia 500, at No. 57. He joined Ascend Money as its co-president in 2016.

Small-scale lending is a competitive market. The top 5% of services capture half the region’s users, according to from Bain, Temasek, and . The remainder is served by a “long tail of smaller, aggressive apps” in markets with high demand for “fast credit.” Half of these services close within two years.

Ascend is also exploring other “nano-” versions of financial services, including insurance and investing. “We frequently find that our customers do not even have insurance,” Tanyapong says. “We have more than ten million motorcycle drivers, and they are constantly involved in accidents.”