Ascend Money wants to finance the 10 million-plus Thais currently being ignored by traditional banks stuck in the past

What if a magazine subscription—say, to Fortune—helped you get a loan?

Tanyapong Thamavaranukupt, co-president of Thai fintech Ascend Money, sees spending patterns—like magazine subscriptions or mobile bills—as a signal of creditworthiness, particularly in markets like Southeast Asia which have both a large underbanked population and underdeveloped financial institutions.

“We don’t rely on traditional data to make our loan decisions,” he told Fortune. Instead, Ascend Money’s lending service...