EVOLET: How This Startup Tackles Financial Problems for Migrant Workers

In the era of digitalisation and e-payment, have you often wondered how migrant workers go about their day with minimal financial resources? It is not often that you encounter a random situation in a grocery store, which then became the source of an idea to create something impactful for society. And yet, that’s exactly what happened for tech entrepreneur Johnson Yu, founder and CEO of the EVOLET app.

WargaBiz had an opportunity to interview the mastermind behind EVOLET which now has over 10,000 download users and processes close to RM6 million in salary every month. The inspiration, he explained was when he witnessed some foreign workers having trouble buying groceries at a grocery store.

“It happened during the Movement Control Order (MCO). As you know, there was a lot of fear where F&B outlets and grocery stores would not accept cash. They preferred e-payments as transactions to reduce the spread of COVID-19. But, the problem was foreign workers, did not have e-wallets to make payments. Being a foreign worker – they did not have access to e-wallet services,” Johnson explains.

“That scenario made me realise that there is a big gap in the market in terms of foreign workers not having access to basic financial services. Long story short, that’s how EVOLET started,” he adds.

EVOLET: Bridge the gap between migrant workers and technology

Described as a “secured platform for migrant workers to have access to financial services”, EVOLET launched in 2020, focused on helping migrant workers to embark on digitalisation.

To further explain, EVOLET provides a secured salary management system for employers, financial services access, savings and basic needs for migrant workers. In essence, EVOLET creates financial accessibility for the unbanked.

“As our prime minister is pushing for a cashless society within the next 3 years, and everything to be digitalised, this would be something that we can assist the country with. We want to help in digitalising the untapped market which is the migrant workers.”

After researching, Johnson and his team found out that there are around 6 million migrant workers in Malaysia. Out of the 6 million, 2 million are unbanked, where the majority receive their salary in cash. They are exposed to multiple risks such as theft, along with problems of safekeeping as they are staying in hostels accommodating 20-30 people that would not have a safe place to keep their valuable belongings.

Making a positive impact on society

Another encounter that fuelled his dedication to creating the app was when a foreign worker had difficulty purchasing a new grass cutter.

“I saw him sitting at the roadside while holding his grass cutter, so I asked him why. He then told me his machine was broken. I suggested to him to buy a new one and to my surprise, he told me that he sent all his money back to his hometown. He would rather send all his money back home than get his money stolen. That made me think we need, with even more urgency to create a system that can improve the quality of living for migrant workers in Malaysia,” he enthused.

“This is where EVOLET can really make a difference because there’s a very big potential in this untapped market,” Johnson explains. He says predominantly available in the market, apps that serve migrant workers are always focused on remittance only. But for EVOLET, although remittance is one of their core features, they also provide additional services that can further benefit migrant workers.

“Our niche is that we want to provide an end-to-end basis – not only limiting to remittance. Added essential features like giving them access to healthcare, basic necessities, and financial services like virtual wallet, bill payment, and mobile prepaid – all within the app. The main goal is to help elevate the quality and standard of living for migrant workers via the app”, he elaborates.

Diversifying the offerings

Johnson further clarified that migrant workers do not have control over how their families spend the money that is sent back to their hometown. In some cases, their wives run away with the money or their sons do drugs or get into gambling.

For him, this predicament has become a land of opportunity for EVOLET. Putting users’ satisfaction as their utmost priority, EVOLET wants to help their users by reducing the amount of remitting money by directly shifting it to products and services that can be purchased through the app.

“We offer products and services as mobile reloads where they can directly purchase reloads for their family back home. In future, they will be able to purchase different types of reloading like cable TV reloads, pay utility bills and even pay their children’s fees and rentals, to the extent of buying groceries – all within the app. We are working hand in hand with our partners in Indonesia, Nepal and with many more to come,” adding Bank Negara Malaysia has approved Evolet as White Label E-Wallet & Prepaid Mastercard under ManagePay Services Sdn Bhd.

EVOLET: One of Malaysia’s fastest-growing companies

For Johnson, there is no greater satisfaction than seeing people happy with something you’ve created. When asked about his plans for the company, he reveals that they are expanding the target market.

“Our ambition is to expand the app to the B40 group. We see a similarity between B40 and migrant workers in terms of their needs and struggles. They want access to basic financial services and savings. So, this is something that we definitely want to expand to,” Johnson shares.

“Furthermore, we just launched a new feature which is called Salary Advance. This feature is not only limited to migrant workers but also to any staff within a company. I want to highlight that the feature will be relevant not only for migrant workers but for any SME companies.”

Johnson believes holding on to your principles is necessary to be a good CEO. “Starting up a company from the ground up is not easy. What you need is to surround yourself with capable personnel. The team needs to be very strong. When you have the right person in the company, everything is possible.”

“I want to quote a saying from the movie Armageddon played by Bruce Willis. People asked him how he became the best actor. He told them, “I’m the best because I work with the best” and that is what EVOLET is all about,” he concludes.