TravelWallet, a foreign exchange payment fintech firm, has selected NH Investment & Securities and KB Securities as lead underwriters ahead of its initial public offering (IPO). TravelWallet said it plans to further strengthen the competitiveness of its core foreign exchange and payment business as it targets a KOSDAQ listing next year.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry Tuesday, TravelWallet said it had selected NH Investment & Securities and KB Securities as lead IPO underwriters that day. TravelWallet began its underwriter selection process in April this year by sending requests for proposals (RFPs) to major domestic securities firms. It then narrowed down the final candidates through competitive presentations involving six securities firms that submitted proposals.
TravelWallet said it selected its underwriters based on a comprehensive assessment of their fintech and financial platform IPO track records, research capabilities, and global institutional networks. Both NH Investment & Securities and KB Securities have extensive experience listing major fintech companies. NH Investment & Securities arranged the KOSPI listing of internet bank K Bank earlier this year, while KB Securities previously served as lead underwriter for the Kakao Pay IPO.
TravelWallet said it plans to strengthen the foundation of its core business with the goal of a KOSDAQ listing next year. Known as a foreign currency charging and overseas payment service provider, TravelWallet recorded cumulative card issuance of 9.6 million as of June this year and cumulative transaction value of more than 9.8 trillion won. Building on this, it recently launched a digital wallet service for local users in Japan, accelerating its expansion into global markets.
The company is also expanding the scope of its business-to-business (B2B) payment infrastructure business. The core of the business is to provide a package of functions needed for overseas payments, foreign currency clearing, and overseas card issuance by combining TravelWallet's cloud-based payment system with its capability to integrate with global card networks. For partner companies, the advantage is that they can quickly implement financial services without building separate infrastructure themselves.
"TravelWallet has grown by popularizing foreign currency charging and overseas payment services and by advancing its own foreign exchange and payment infrastructure," said TravelWallet CEO Kim Hyung-woo. "Having proven our service competitiveness in the domestic foreign exchange market, we judged that it is time to challenge a larger market based on our global digital wallet and B2B payment infrastructure businesses."
He added, "The IPO will be an important turning point for our leap into a global foreign exchange and payment infrastructure company. With the goal of a KOSDAQ listing in 2027, we will fully prepare alongside our underwriter group and grow into a sustainable fintech company equipped with both technology and profitability."
