Asia Tech Wire (June 26) -- Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) will invest $195 million in payments company Ascend Money, part of Thai retail and telecoms conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group, according to Nikkei.

The investment involves MUFG's Thai subsidiary Bank of Ayudhya, often called Krungsri, the report said.

According to the report, MUFG Bank and Krungsri will jointly invest in Ascend Money, taking a stake of about 10%.

Ascend Money operates TrueMoney, one of Thailand's most popular payment apps, which currently has more than 20 million users.

The app has a reputation for being the Thai version of Alipay, as Ant Group, the Chinese operator of Alipay, invested in Ascend Money for a 20% stake in 2016.

Meanwhile, there were reports that Ascend Money announced on Wednesday that it had closed a Series D funding round, despite not disclosing the exact amount.