MANILA, Philippines — US-based financial technology firm Abra has added a new feature in its mobile application, allowing users in the Philippines to invest in US stocks for as low as P300 for a fractional share.
The Abra app enables its users to send funds to one another and convert them to whatever currency they want. This app also introduces Filipinos to the US stock market and allows them to invest in more than 50 stocks and exchange-traded fun (ETF) products, including blue chips like Tesla, Uber, Apple, Amazon, Google, Netflix and Berkshire Hathaway.
“Abra has been in the forefront of financial sustainability. Our goal is to help people to send and receive money from each other. We also want to give people the opportunity to invest in companies they have only dreamt of or are unreachable. Our product continues to adapt with the new technologies that come out in the financial sector,” said Bill Barhydt, Abra founder and CEO.
He said mobile applications like Abra open up a new breed of investors in the financial market. “These are individuals who want something new and who are looking for non-traditional ways of investment.
Abra is a non-custodial platform unlike crypto exchanges or wallets that operate like traditional banks. This means the funds are stored on the blockchain, making the transactions more secure and private than centralized databases used by most crypto exchanges and wallets.
It now operates in 150 countries and has over 600,000 users, of which 20 percent or 100,000 are from the Philippines, making the country its second largest market next to US.
Abra is backed up by American Express Ventures, First Round Capital, Foxconn Technology Group, Arbor Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, RRE Ventures, Silver 8 Capital, and many others.