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- Fatfish (FFG) is set to acquire a buy now pay later player with exposure to the early wage access market in South-East Asia for $4.14 million
- BNPL Next owns 60 per cent of Circo, a fintech company that offers a service where employees can access their wages between pay cycles
- Circo says it has paid more than $500,000 to employees in Southeast Asia to date
- Consideration for the $4.14 million buy will be satisfied entirely in FFG shares
- Fatfish Group shares are up 19.7 per cent and trading at 9.1 cents
Fatfish (FFG) is set to acquire a buy now pay later player with exposure to the early wage access market in South-East Asia for $4.14 million.
The buyout target — BNPL Next — owns 60 per cent of Circo, a fintech company FFG describes as a pioneer in providing earned wage access in Southeast Asia which allows employees to access earned wages between traditional pay cycles.
Through Circo, more than $500,000 is estimated to have been paid via access earned wages to employees in Southeast Asia, a service regarded as a fast-growing employee financial benefit solution.
Circo has also entered into a service agreement with payroll and human resources solution providers according to FFG, including the Singapore subsidiary of fellow ASX-lister Paygroup.
Under earned wage access employer arrangements, employees can make a withdrawal request at any time prior to payday, at which time Circo pays the employee the amount requested and takes a fixed processing fee.
Circo will then recoup the full amount paid to the employee plus a processing fee from the employer on payday through payroll deductions.
Broadly, Fatfish affirms the solution allows employees to access their wages to meet short-term financial requirements that arise between pay cycles without reaching for credit cards or personal loans.
Consideration for the $4.14 million buy will be satisfied entirely in FFG shares.
BNPL Next currently owns 60 per cent of Circo with the remaining 40 per cent held by its founder Lim Kah Wui.
Fatfish Group shares were up 19.7 per cent and trading at 9.1 cents at 11:11 am AEST.
