Singapore — IT and fintech company Digital Wallet Group (DWG) has launched the Smiles Remittance application in Singapore. Its subsidiary, Digital Wallet Singapore, will manage the operations with local partner bank CIMB Bank Singapore. The initial outbound remittance corridors from Singapore are the Philippines and Indonesia, with other countries expected to be added by 2023.
Created by DWG’s subsidiary, Digital Wallet Corporation, Smiles is Japan’s first mobile remittance service providing a convenient and user-friendly mobile experience, low remittance fees, and 24/7 accessibility. The mobile app offers a simple, fast and transparent, six-step in-app remittance process. It also provides a range of payout options, including bank credits and cash pickup in thousands of locations globally. Besides English, Smiles offers language options in Tagalog and Bahasa Indonesia, with Vietnamese and Spanish in the pipeline.
Eiji Miyakawa, founder and CEO of Digital Wallet Group, said, “Our purpose is to support foreign workers and ensure the lifeline to their families is timely and convenient by providing a secure, round-the-clock mobile remittance channel. We are confident that the extension of our Smiles network to Singapore will benefit the foreign worker community and further support our continued expansion across the Asia Pacific.”
On April 16 2022, the Philippine ambassador to Singapore, H.E. Joseph del Mar Yap, graced the opening of the Smiles Studio. He also met with selected foreign workers in Singapore who were recognized for their long-term support of families back home. The personal stories behind these long-time overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) exemplify the spirit of Smiles’ ‘Pride of OFW’ campaign, a platform for personal stories of challenges and triumphs shared by OFWs.
The global pandemic has impacted the cross-border movement of foreign workers severely affecting in-bound chances during their off days when they usually visit over-the-counter remittance services. However, mobile remittance applications like Smiles enable foreign workers to overcome such challenges and have full access to financial services to support families at home.
Roland Pagdanganan, MD of Digital Wallet Singapore, shared, “With the launch of Smiles in Singapore, I would like foreign workers to experience our innovative mobile remittance service, where the customer experience, service delivery, and community support are in our DNA. Additionally, a portion of our Singapore revenue will go towards Smiles donation campaigns to help organizations for disaster and humanitarian relief.”
The introduction of the Smiles app in Singapore follows and complements DWG’s acquisition of RediMoney Express in August 2021, commencing the conversion process of its retail and app assets to Smiles.
