From the skyscrapers of Bangkok to the bustling markets of Yogyakarta, Southeast Asians are going digital. 40 million people came online for the first time in 2020 alone. They shop for batik and bitcoin, attend meetings, and start new businesses online. And if they’re not already doing all that, they soon will.

Traveloka is one such regional trailblazer meeting the boom in demand for digital services. A tech unicorn valued at US$3 billion (S$4 billion), it has transformed in under ten years from its roots as an online travel agency (OTA).

This year, the company looks set to become Southeast Asia’s (SEA) latest lifestyle super-app.

“We see this region as an exciting market: a rapidly growing region with a digitally engaged and highly aspirational middle class that is currently underserved,” says Traveloka’s President Caesar Indra.

As the Indonesian company is proving, there are few better places in the world to be a tech pioneer than SEA.

Singapore: A globally connected tech node

Traveloka is also “stress testing” its local services offerings in Singapore. One example is Traveloka Xperience, which allows customers to make bookings such as attractions, healthcare, transport and food, was first launched in Indonesia and Singapore. It has since been expanded to Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Mr Indra explains that as Singapore is the most popular destination for Southeast Asian travellers, exposure to Traveloka’s local services products while in Singapore creates a positive ripple effect, as it starts to launch these products in other SEA markets.

The company is plugged into a network of ready partners that facilitate growth into new markets from Singapore. The city-state is home to 59 per cent of Asia regional headquarters for tech multinational companies.

Serving the underbanked in SEA

Traveloka is also growing fast in the fintech space. The company’s financial solutions build upon know-how honed as an OTA, such as providing seamless travel transactions and tapping unique user data.

Together with trust earned over the years and an understanding of each market’s pain points, Traveloka’s roots as an OTA offer an edge in offering financial products that are localised for each market, says Mr Indra.

24 per cent of SEA is underbanked, lacking full access to traditional financial services, such as banking, lending and insurance. With an eye to serve this group, Traveloka provides more than 40 payment options and financial services.

The Singapore team’s expertise is tapped on to build new solutions such as a personalisation platform that offers customised financial services products, and continuous improvement of an anti-fraud system to tackle issues such as payment fraud, lending fraud, and user fraud.

Notably, the team also enhanced lending capabilities on Traveloka’s credit service PayLater. “As demand for online transactions increased during the pandemic, our financial services products became increasingly important as a powerful enabler for customers and small businesses across Southeast Asia,” says Mr Indra.