The financial services start-up with big regional ambitions is collaborating with both Mambu as it accelerates its lending business across Asia.

Cloud banking service provider Mambu's lending architecture will form the core system of Gobear as it expands to the Philippines in 2020, with additional markets to follow, it announced in a statement on Monday.

Mambu’s partnership with Gobear was established after a recommendation from long-term Mambu partner CredoLab, which provides Gobear with alternative credit scores based on smartphone metadata, the announcement said.

«Having access to responsible credit should be a financial right for all. Tapping into fintech solutions like Mambu’s and CredoLab’s brings us one step closer to making this a reality for the region’s 296 million unbanked or underbanked,» Mike Singh, GoBear’s chief lending officer, said.

Regional Ambitions

Founded in 2015, Gobear operates a platform for insurance, banking and lending products. It operates in seven markets in Southeast Asia and has registered more than 55 million site visitors.

In May, Gobear acquired Singapore-based AsiaKredit, which provides financial products to the underserved in the Philippines with a mobile app – «pera247» – that boasts over 1 million loan applications

Earlier this month, Gobear added $17 million from long-term investors Walvis Participaties and Aegon, bringing its total funding to $97 million.