Ascend Money wants to finance millions of Thais ignored by traditional banks stuck in the past
Tanyapong Thamavaranukupt, co-president of Thai fintech Ascend Money, sees spending patterns—like magazine subscriptions or mobile bills—as a signal of creditworthiness, particularly in markets like Southeast Asia which have both a large underbanked population and underdeveloped financial institutions. “We don’t rely on traditional data to make our loan decisions,” he told Fortune. Instead, Ascend Money’s lending…