AI finance platform Afinit is accelerating its push into Vietnam's AI alternative credit scoring (ACS)-based digital finance market.
Afinit said on the 5th that it signed separate memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Shinhan Vietnam Finance (SVFC), a Vietnamese affiliate of Shinhan Card, and Lotte Finance Vietnam (LFVN), a Vietnamese affiliate of Lotte Card, to build "data-driven digital finance partnerships."
The agreement focuses on improving credit access for "thin-file" customers and the financially underserved by using Afinit's proprietary AI ACS. The plan is to expand opportunities to use financial products by applying credit scoring based on nonfinancial data such as telecommunications and payments to customers who have faced disadvantages in loan reviews due to limited traditional credit histories.
To that end, Afinit will jointly build digital loan products, underwriting processes, and credit evaluation systems with Shinhan Vietnam Finance and Lotte Finance Vietnam.
Shinhan Vietnam Finance and Lotte Finance Vietnam have broad customer bases and networks in the local consumer finance market, and combining them with Afinit's data technology is expected to produce tangible results in expanding credit access.
Vietnam is considered a market with strong demand for alternative credit scoring. About 33 million thin-file individuals are active in the economy without formal credit histories, but the infrastructure to assess them is not yet fully in place. As smartphone penetration and mobile payment use rise quickly, demand for digital financial services continues to grow.
With this collaboration, Afinit plans to apply in Vietnam its ACS-based financial inclusion model proven in India and use it as a springboard to expand into Southeast Asia. Based on AI credit scoring technology accumulated over more than 10 years in India, the company has provided rapid credit assessment services to middle-class and working-class customers with limited credit histories, and it is preparing to enter Indonesia after Vietnam.
Victor Choi, Afinit chief international business officer (CIBO), said, "Vietnam is already a market where many Korean financial institutions operate, so we will work with the local financial ecosystem to build a new digital finance model," adding, "Based on the technology and successful experience we accumulated in India, we will improve credit access for the financially underserved in Vietnam and expand our customer base."