Hanoi (VNA) – Traveloka, Southeast Asia’slargest online travel startup, plans to launch financial services in Vietnamand Thailand as it eyes a listing in the US, its president said.

The 9-year-old Indonesian company is seeing a strong reboundin its business after the COVID-19 pandemic pummelled demand.

Traveloka’s Vietnam business had surpassed pre-COVID-19levels, and is nearly back to normal levels in Thailand, said Caesar Indra, thecompany’s president.

The worst has happened and now the firm is well prepared for2021, he said, domestic travel is driving recovery.

The company’s plan is to invest in fintech in a big way toallow more consumers to travel in the region, Indra said, adding that thetravel business had returned to profitability in late 2020.

Traveloka, which says it has 40 million active monthlyusers, is developing “buy now, pay later” services for Vietnam and Thailand.

Traveloka recently formed a joint venture with one of thelargest banks in Thailand to collaborate in the fintech space, Indra said. Thefirm is also talking to potential partners in Vietnam, but Indra declined to give the details.

Traveloka’s two-year old equivalent service in Indonesia,launched after the firm realised that customers would wait until their paydaysto book travel, has already facilitated more than 6 million loans, Indra said.

Last year, Traveloka launched “Paylater” credit cards withsome Indonesian lenders. It also offers insurance and wealth managementservices.

Indra said the business potential was huge in Indonesia,Southeast Asia’s largest economy, where only 6 percent of the population of 270million has credit cards.

When asked whether Traveloka might buy a bank in Indonesia,like other start-ups, to expand its financial services, Indra said, “alloptions were on the table.”

Traveloka, backed by Expedia (US), Jingdong (China), sovereignwealth fund GIC (Singapore) and East Ventures (Indonesia), has grown its locallifestyle services in Indonesia, where it offers restaurant vouchers and a fooddelivery service, as well as a popular rapid COVID-19 testing.

Indra said the company is Indonesia’s largest restaurantreview app.

Traveloka, which has been preparing for a listing, isholding discussions with special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, for aUS listing.

US markets have become more appealing because there’s moreand more appreciation of Southeast Asia as a flourishing region, and by listingin the US, Traveloka can also provide an opportunity for US investors to becomepart of Southeast Asia’s growth story, Indra said./.