Yuno’s $25M Push into Asia: Jonathan Hall Discusses Growth and Challenges

Yuno, a global provider in the payment space, has recently secured a $25 million Series A round to expand aggressively in key Asian markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand. The investment round was led by prominent investors such as DST Global Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global, Kaszek Ventures, and Monashees.

Founded to democratize access to finance across diverse markets, Yuno has rapidly grown into a trusted partner for businesses navigating the complex payment landscapes of over 60 countries. 

The platform supports more than 300 global payment providers, offering tailored solutions that cater to the unique payment preferences of each region. By leveraging advanced technologies like AI-enabled smart routing and robust anti-fraud measures, Yuno empowers businesses to thrive in competitive markets, from multinationals like McDonald’s and Avianca to emerging startups.

AsiaTechDaily conducted an exclusive interview with Jonathan Hall, Head of Asia at Yuno, who shared the company’s strategic goals for the region and the challenges and opportunities presented by Asia’s diverse payment ecosystems. 

In this discussion, Jonathan delves into how Yuno plans to leverage its recent $25 million Series A funding to drive expansion in key Asian markets and differentiate itself within the region’s competitive fintech landscape. Here’s what he had to say.

Yuno recently secured a $25 million Series A round to support launches in key Asian markets like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand. Can you elaborate on Yuno’s strategic goals for these markets and how the funding will be utilized?

We are proud to have completed this funding round despite difficult global fundraising conditions, which highlighted the confidence of our investors, including DST Global Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global, Kaszek Ventures, and Monashees, in Yuno and our mission. This funding is helping us scale internationally, including across Asia, where we have recently hired more staff in key markets, including Singapore, Malaysia, and China.

As Head of APAC, my primary strategic goal is to strengthen our regional presence, with a focus on key markets like Singapore and Hong Kong, where many of our clients incorporate. Expanding our footprint in these pivotal locations will help us significantly amplify our impact across the entire region. While we are fortunate to support many clients in their domestic markets, we are also helping more multinationals solve cross-border complexities, as this is where our solutions create substantial value.

How does Yuno plan to differentiate itself in highly competitive markets like Singapore and Hong Kong, which are known for their advanced fintech ecosystems?

At Yuno, we believe that localization is the key to our success. This commitment is embedded in every aspect of our operations – from maintaining dedicated Yuno teams for each client’s target geography to providing local payment methods and tailored technology solutions. It may surprise some that many fintechs still avoid this investment. Yet our experience helping leading brands like McDonald’s, inDrive, TaDa of ABinBev, and Carrefour consistently shows that localization is crucial for delivering optimal results and maximizing client success.

Asian markets exhibit diverse payment preferences. How does Yuno tailor its platform to accommodate local payment methods and preferences across different countries?

The Asian payments market is extremely diverse! Therefore, we take a strategic and nuanced approach to planning before entering new markets and selecting which payment methods to offer. We hire local experts to ensure that our team at every level has a deep understanding of the local landscape and its unique payment requirements. We also carefully pinpoint our customers’ needs and objectives to determine how we can best serve them.

Once established in a country, we make sure to stay abreast of new market developments, monitor trends and seek customer feedback to continually update and optimize our platform. This proactive approach ensures we remain ahead of emerging payment trends and consistently provide clients with market-leading payment capabilities.

Our platform currently supports over 300 global payment providers and payment methods, enabling businesses to accept the most popular payment options in each country, from e-wallets in the Philippines to QR code payments in Indonesia.

Asia has seen unique developments in payment infrastructure. What regional trends have you observed, and how is Yuno adapting its platform to meet these trends?

Over the past decade, the payments ecosystem in Asia has experienced significant innovation, making it an exciting time to be a payment orchestrator. Mobile-first solutions have surged, with e-wallets and QR code systems becoming ubiquitous in China, India, and Southeast Asia. Real-time payment networks like India’s UPI and Singapore’s PayNow have revolutionized instant transfers, while super apps like Grab have fundamentally transformed the payment landscape by integrating multiple services and payment options into single platforms.

Business expectations have evolved dramatically as well. A decade ago, companies primarily focused on the basic functionality of accepting online payments. As the market matured, the focus shifted to incorporating a wider range of local payment methods, often through payment aggregators. However, these aggregators introduced challenges such as higher costs, limited redundancy, and slower innovation due to their dependence on underlying providers.

In the past three years, businesses have increasingly recognized the need to outsource payment management to specialized providers, akin to the shift towards outsourcing cloud infrastructure. Managing multiple non-core third-party payment partners in-house has proven too complex, costly, and time-consuming.

Yuno is addressing this demand by offering businesses access to over 300 global payment providers and methods alongside innovative features like one-click checkout, AI-enabled smart routing, and robust anti-fraud measures. Our solution helps businesses reduce costs, quickly integrate local payment methods, and boost revenue, thereby supporting their growth and competitiveness in a dynamic market.

How does Yuno navigate regulatory challenges in Asian markets, particularly those related to financial technology and cross-border payments?

Navigating regulatory challenges in Asian markets, particularly in the fintech and cross-border payments space, requires a multifaceted approach. At Yuno, we prioritize building strong local partnerships with banks, payment processors, and other fintech companies. We then utilize those strong partnerships together with our team’s experience working in Asia, including my own and that of our Chief Business Officer Carol Grunberg, who was previously Global Head of Growth & Strategic Partnerships at Ant Group, to ensure we are fully compliant with local regulatory requirements.

Using this approach helps us to understand and comply with regulatory requirements and customize our solutions to meet local compliance standards and data localization laws. Additionally, we proactively engage with regulatory bodies to stay ahead of changes, ensuring our platform remains compliant and secure.

Beyond this, we also invest heavily in fraud detection and cybersecurity measures to protect our clients and their customers. By developing solutions that facilitate seamless cross-border transactions while adhering to local regulatory requirements, we turn regulatory challenges into opportunities. This strategic approach positions Yuno as a trusted partner for businesses navigating the complex and dynamic regulatory landscape of Asian markets.

How does Yuno leverage its experience and expertise from other international markets to address challenges and opportunities in the Asian region?

Our experience in other fragmented markets like Latin America has been a game changer for us as we tackle the challenges and opportunities in the Asian region. Both regions are home to diverse payment landscapes dominated by alternative payment methods, and both experience significant rates of fraud, necessitating robust fraud prevention strategies.

Working with major clients like McDonald’s and Rappi, we’ve developed the agility and expertise necessary for Asia’s fast-paced markets. We’ve built great teams and internal tools to quickly integrate new payment methods, adapt to regulatory changes and provide localized solutions at speed.

Our strong track record in managing fraud risks in Latin America also gives us a good foundation to tackle similar issues in Asian markets, where fraud rates often exceed the global average. For example in the Philippines, 8.3% of all digital transactions by consumers were suspected to be fraudulent in 2023, significantly above the global average of 5%. While online scams in Thailand resulted in financial damage totaling 63 billion baht (approximately $1.6 billion) between March 2022 and May 2024. 

Yuno aims to democratize access to finance across a broad spectrum of companies and consumers. Could you share examples of how Yuno’s platform facilitates this, particularly in markets with high rates of fraud and significant unbanked populations?

At Yuno, we’re committed to fostering financial inclusion and making the payment landscape more accessible to all. Our platform empowers businesses to integrate over 300 global payment providers and methods swiftly and efficiently. This is particularly transformative for smaller companies with global ambitions that previously lacked the resources to expand into new geographies due to the complexity and cost of integrating local payment systems. By simplifying the integration of local payment methods, we’re helping level the playing field, enabling fair competition.

In markets with high rates of fraud and significant unbanked populations, Yuno’s impact is multifaceted. We enable merchants to easily offer popular alternative payment methods like QR codes and e-wallets (such as GoPay in Indonesia and GCash in the Philippines), helping our clients significantly expand financial services to previously underserved populations. Our platform also incorporates advanced anti-fraud measures, giving businesses the confidence to operate in higher-risk markets while ensuring transaction integrity. By addressing both the technical and security challenges of digital payments, Yuno is not just facilitating transactions; we’re actively contributing to the broader goal of financial inclusion across Asia and beyond.

Yuno operates in 60 countries and serves international giants like inDrive, McDonald’s, and Avianca. How do these global partnerships influence Yuno’s strategy and operations in Asia?

The opportunity to empower established and dynamic companies that operate across both developed and emerging markets definitely influences our strategy in Asia. These partnerships not only validate our capabilities to potential new clients in the APAC region but also drive continuous improvements in our products and services. 

In particular, the valuable feedback we receive from clients helps us stay ahead of industry trends and refine our offerings to meet evolving market needs. As we continue growing, the large volume of transactions and data we manage on behalf of our clients provides us with critical insights that benefit all our customers in APAC and beyond, helping Yuno deliver more efficient, tailored, and innovative payment solutions.

As Yuno expands across Asia, the company’s focus on localization, innovation, and financial inclusion remains key to its strategy. With Jonathan Hall leading the way, Yuno aims to transform payment systems in the region and build a more connected and inclusive financial future.

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