Tenspace, a Seoul-based credit scoring services firm, said Wednesday that it has recently joined forces with Singaporean lender Money World to run a joint venture named Aster World, which offers microloans in Southeast Asia.

Although demand for credit loans has increased in the region, the infrastructure for credit scoring is not mature enough. The new joint venture will offer lending services based on alternative credit rating measures to make up for the outdated credit rating system in the local markets, according to Tenspace.

The South Korean fintech company owns Aster, a software platform that evaluates credit data based on so-called trust communication management technology, which uses behavioral psychology. Aster decides credit scores based on applicants’ online activities using their real names.

“Money World will not spare efforts to nurture the joint venture to become the best fintech company in Asia,” Money World CEO Agnes Siew said.

The Korean firm said Aster World will target some 100 million people who need small credit loans within the 400 million-strong combined populations of Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. As part of the partnership, Money World plans to launch a lending service in Korea.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)