Monee Rebrand: Geenius or Trageec?

CEO says it's 'simplee and cutee' ✌️

SeaMoney, the digital financial services arm of Sea Limited—parent company of e-commerce giant Shopee and game publisher Garena—has rebranded to Monee. A refreshed wordmark was introduced, while the existing logomark received a new colour scheme.

What's in a Namee?

Sea said this about the rebrand in a press release:

"The name Monee was chosen for its simplicity and ease of use across the markets it serves while immediately connecting to the company's purpose: to better the lives of consumers and small businesses through technology in every area related to money."

Monee and Shopee are deeply integrated—Monee manages ShopeePay, the mobile wallet used for Shopee purchases, and SPayLater, which is a consumption loan service on Shopee. The name change reflects a deliberate alignment with Shopee’s naming convention, reinforcing brand unity and improving consumer recall. It also makes sense given Shopee’s higher brand recognition and longer market presence.

Compared to the more literal “SeaMoney,” “Monee” feels casual, modern, and accessible. Some may question if the new name is too unserious or playful for a major financial services provider, but fintech brands have always embraced the casual and quirky—see names like Chocolate Finance and Fiuu (formerly Razer Fintech, pronounced “phew”).

A Cursive Touch and a Splash of Orange

Monee’s wordmark is the first in the Sea family to have stylistic treatment. The first three letters, “mon,” remain in a clean sans-serif typeface. However, the two “e”s are now interlinked in a cursive or handwritten style, evoking connection and friendliness. A diamond in Shopee’s orange shade floats above the end of the wordmark to perhaps signify destination or ambition, and helps break up the blue monotony.

The logomark retains its Chinese coin floating on two waves but swaps colours from shades of blue to a blue-orange combination, which reinforces the Shopee connection.

The lead designer for SeaMoney’s brand identity shared her team’s logo exploration process on her portfolio page, which is still relevant after the rebrand:

The Chinese coin design remains one of the most recognisable symbols of ancient currency, but its application in the Southeast Asian context is questionable, and a bit on the nose considering founder and CEO Forrest Li’s roots. Nevertheless, the logo is simple enough to be effective and here to stay.

Side note: MariBank, a digital bank managed by Monee, uses a variation of this logo, where the coin is replaced by an “M” within the circle, outlined for clarity. While it also has a blue-orange colour scheme, the blue is a different shade and the colours as inverted.

See and Garenee?

Some online joked that Sea’s other brands would soon change their names to end with two “e”s. This is unlikely as Sea is conveniently the acronym of the region it serves, and Garena operates in a more distinct ecosystem. Besides, Garenee does not quite roll off the tongue.

Sea marches to the beat of its own drum; as consumers we merely orbit this tech giant that owns the platform that is, for many of us, the first stop for online shopping. If any company can turn a funny-sounding brand into a multi-billion-dollar powerhouse, it is Sea.

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