Xendit closes 2021 as a year of growth and lays down its 2022 roadmap

In a year-ender event with media, Xendit Philippines said that it is ending 2021 on a high note, hitting several milestones on its first year of operations in the country.

A key accomplishment of Xendit is becoming a Southeast Asian unicorn after securing $150 million in Series C funding. The payments infrastructure startup is now one of 35 unicorns in the region, with a current valuation of $1 billion.

Xendit Philippines‘ Managing Director, Yang Yang Zhang and COO, Christian Reyes, were present to give a rundown of all the milestones in 2021.

A year of growth

Xendit grew 25% month-on-month; total payments volume increased 200% year-on-year. In less than 12 months, it has processed more than two million debit transactions worth $10 billion from more than 350,000 linked bank accounts. To meet the volume demand of transactions, their Philippine team also grew tenfold.

Xendit also had a series of firsts:

1. It became the first Philippine payment gateway to offer all 3 of the top e-wallets: GCash, GrabPay, and PayMaya.
2. Xendit was the first to launch a Direct Debit solution in partnership with the country’s top banks, including Bank of the Philippine Islands, UnionBank, Banco de Oro, and Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation.
3. Xendit is the first to provide a Buy Now, Pay Later solution with BillEase.

Empowering SMEs

In 2021, the startup launched the Level Up Grant, a campaign built specifically for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This eliminates cost barriers by waiving two months of transaction fees across all channels. Xendit aims to empower businesses of all sizes to send and accept payments.

Strategic partnerships

Xendit forged partnerships with other platforms. In August, it partnered with DragonPay, a pioneering Filipino financial technology company that enables businesses to accept digital payments. A few months later, it also partnered with the global software as a service (SaaS) e-commerce platform ECWID by Lightspeed.

What’s in store for 2022?

Xendit is already planning to introduce in 2022 new business solutions to help contribute to e-commerce growth.

1. xenCapital – This is a lending solution with flexible financing options. This will serve as an alternative to traditional financial institutions, grounded on simplicity, speed, and service. Xendit promises minimal requirements so businesses can quickly scale.
2. Illuma – This is a value-added service that lets businesses leverage data and strengthen business processes. Illuma will grant SMEs the ability to validate contacts, accounts, and identity documents, and screen for fraud.
3. xenRemit – This aims to accelerate innovation within the remittance field.

It looks like Xendit Philippines’ first year in the country has done very well. It will be exciting to see how they will become an even larger player in the FinTech space.