Tag: Digital payments

Manila, Philippines – ASEAN Fintech Group (AFG), a venture corporation focusing on fintech acceleration has acquired digital payments provider JazzyPay, marking the venture corporation’s expansion to the Philippines. The acquisition value of JazzyPay is valued at US$1.8m.

With the acquisition, AFG looks to leverage JazzyPay’s existing partnerships with leading national banks, e-wallets and payment processors of the metropolitan city. The platform’s team of founders and key management personnel will continue to spearhead the business’ growth, with accelerated resources and support at the group level. 

Kathleen Acosta-Marindo, co-founder and COO at JazzyPay said, “We believe working together and being a part of AFG’s fast-growing portfolio of companies will enhance our capabilities across ASEAN, fast-tracking the advancement of Southeast Asia’s fintech ecosystem and digital future.”

AFG’s expansion to the Philippines is part of its 2022 plans, which include expansion into Vietnam and Cambodia. AFG aims to create a regional omnichannel platform in the fintech space.

To date, AFG has in total invested more than US$10m to date on strategic mergers and acquisitions of burgeoning fintech startups within the region. Founders and institutional investors of the startups joining ASEAN Fintech Group were further incentivized with newly issued AFG shares, forming new partnerships with aligned interests towards the growth of the group. 

For Douglas Gan, executive director at ASEAN Fintech Group, with fintech in Southeast Asia seeing a tremendous growth in 2021, they are bullish that this rapid growth will continue into 2022 as they continue to acquire and merge with companies in the ASEAN region showing solid fundamentals.

“In fact, most of the companies that have joined us come with strong founders whose businesses are either profitable or near profitability. We also see a more matured fintech regulatory framework, guiding us through the complexities of each market. We are at a true inflection point for ASEAN fintech and we are honored to have the support of the fintech ecosystem at large,” Gan stated.

Manila, Philippines – As more and more Filipinos are using digital banking services, a large part of this new breed of users are now also showing a heightened interest in exploring the use of biometric-authenticated payment systems, a latest study from digital payment company Visa shows.

According to the study, awareness on using these types of digital payment services rose to 80% in 2020, in contrast to 60% in 2019. Furthermore, around 8 in 10 among Filipinos showed interest in biometric-authenticated payment systems, with a greater inclination to the younger and tech-savvy generation demographic in the country.

Biometric payment is perceived as a quick (62%) and innovative (61%) way to pay. In addition five in 10 Filipinos (55%) think it is a more secure way to pay. However, usage is low at 23 percent since its accessibility depends on market availability. 

Finger scan as one of the biometric authentication methods is most popular amongst Filipinos (59%) especially for making bill payments or purchases at the convenience stores. This is followed by facial recognition (31%) and retina scan (16%).

“As more digital-based solutions and trends emerge in the market, Filipinos are more open to new innovations that make payments and banking more convenient, accessible and seamless. There is opportunity in the country for traditional banks and new players to launch digital banking services in the country that will better serve the needs of underserved and underpenetrated segments,” said Dan Wolbert, country manager for the Philippines and Guam at Visa.

The study also noted that over eight in 10 Filipinos (83%) are aware and interested (81%) in using digital banking services. However, only 32% of respondents are currently using services offered by a digital bank. Top interest drivers for Filipinos to use digital banking services include access to banking services anytime of the day (68%), time saved from not having to queue at bank branches (68%) and convenience (67%). 

The general status quo of the Filipino digital payments scene

The study also showed that Filipinos are most keen to work with a financial services brand for digital banking services (93%) and traditional banks (92%), followed by new start-ups with digital banking services (72%). 

Filipinos interested in banking with digital banks are keen to use services such as paying bills (84%), transferring money locally (78%), making deposits and withdrawals (76%), and making payments for purchases at local retail locations (71%). However, the preference of using digital banking for traditional bank services such as investments (52%), international transfers (48%) and loans (46%) is lower.

In addition, 86% of Filipino respondents would switch current banking services to digital banking services if the bank provided better rewards and 85% would do so if they can benefit from lower costs for their banking transactions. Filipinos’ interest to use digital banking services increased to 80% compared to 70% in the previous year when the same research was conducted.

“We believe this will transform the banking and payments landscape in the country and at Visa, we are keen to work with all our partners to help them create better user interface and experience when they create and enhance their digital banking solutions,” Wolbert added.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Digital payment solution AsiaPay has partnered with Qiscus, a multi-channel conversation platform, to simplify digital payment processes for customers through the provision of a chat and call/meet software development kit.

Through the partnership, AsiaPay aims to extend its digital payment transaction services through conversation commerce via chat for its merchants’ customers which will enable businesses in Asia to accept digital payments through chat platforms so that customers can make direct payments to them easily and practically anytime. 

To customers, it further addresses the trends of making purchases during conversation, as customers find it simpler and more convenient. To merchants, it also helps businesses meet the challenges of changing customer behaviors with enhanced customer experience.

According to Joseph Chan, CEO at AsiaPay, the partnership recognizes the greater need of businesses to digitize their presence, especially as the pandemic brought to many companies unprecedented challenges, and has accelerated growth of volume and variety of digital interactions between customers and businesses.

“We are excited to partner with Qiscus to help drive conversational commerce and engage with consumers where they spend their digital lives on messaging platforms. This multi-channel chat enables entirely new experiences, and brings new sales conversion of merchants in Asia with online chat conversation. Besides, it provides merchants with flexible payment alternatives,” Chan stated.

Meanwhile, Delta Purna Widyangga, CEO at Qiscus, said that their partnership with AsiaPay will help synergize the need for chat-based transactions in particular sectors, such as retail, insurance, hospitality, and others. 

“Additionally, we are looking to include AsiaPay as our partner in their customer experience ecosystem. The Qiscus CX Ecosystem is a marketplace that allows existing Qiscus customers to choose a payment option provided by AsiaPay. Qiscus also expects to move forward with AsiaPay towards enabling a chat-based payment mechanism where sellers and buyers can transact seamlessly via a Conversational UI in a simple process,” Widyangga added.

Manila, Philippines –ShopeePay, Shopee’s in-app digital wallet, is fast becoming an entity of its own, with the e-commerce continuously introducing partners and features that move it beyond its primary function – as payment for orders on the platform. This time, ShopeePay in the Philippines has partnered with one of the leading supermarkets in the country, Puregold. 

The tie-up will see the leverage of the use of QR codes for over-the-counter grocery purchases. Puregold has over 406 branches nationwide. The shopper, once at the cashier of any branch, will only need to inform first that he intends to pay with ShopeePay. Once the shopper goes to his ShopeePay wallet action bar, he will need to tap ‘Scan’, and click QR / Barcode, and enter his 6-digit ShopeePay PIN. The shopper will then present the generated QR code to the cashier for scanning, and receive a confirmation of the payment once done.

“Puregold is excited to partner with ShopeePay for this initiative. At Puregold, we want to give our customers only the best kind of service and overall quality shopping experience, and that includes easier and safer payment methods. Through the convenience of digital payments, we aim to increase customer enthusiasm while consumers maintain their purchasing power,” said Ferdinand Vincent Co, the president of Puregold.

Meanwhile, Martin Yu, the director of Shopee Philippines, commented, “We are always thrilled to partner with one of the Filipinos’ favorite brands, such as Puregold. Through ShopeePay, we strive to ensure that users can shop and pay with ease. In addition to the ease of use, ShopeePay offers several benefits to users which include convenience, a seamless user experience, security, and greater cost savings.” 

By using ShopeePay, shoppers can also enjoy up to 20% cashback starting today, 21 April until 31 December 2021.

Singapore – YouTrip, Singapore’s multi-currency mobile wallet has forged a partnership with Visa, to accelerate its expansion to the rest of Southeast Asia, starting with Malaysia and the Philippines. 

Currently operating in Singapore and Thailand, the partnership comes a year after YouTrip’s first regional expansion to Thailand in partnership with Kasikornbank, one of Thailand’s largest banks. 

YouTrip believes the new partnership presents an opportunity to solve a unique pain point for Southeast Asian travelers, with regional travel poised to be the first step towards international travel recovery. 

“Unlike regional travel in other parts of the world such as Europe or the United States of America, traveling within Southeast Asia requires multi-currency spending. Coupled with the year-long pent up demand for travel and cross-border payment, this puts YouTrip in good stead for further expansion,” said the company in a press statement.  

It added, “Leveraging on Visa’s global network of 70 million merchant locations worldwide, YouTrip aims to enable Southeast Asia travelers with access to cross border payment solutions such as wholesale exchange rates and no foreign currency transaction fees in over 150 currencies.” 

YouTrip looks to Malaysia and the Philippines as the next potential markets in the next six to 12 months, where the company, referring to a PwC report, said both countries are two of the fastest-growing Southeast Asian countries in mobile payment adoption. 

Caecilia Chu, co-founder, and CEO of YouTrip shared, “Our partnership with Visa will enable our continued growth to drive the next generation of payment innovation of cross border payments. We are incredibly excited for the opportunities ahead to serve millions of consumers in Southeast Asia and empower them with the solutions they deserve.”

Kelvin Lam, regional general Manager of YouTrip, added, “In a short span of two years, we have established YouTrip as a leading multi-currency wallet in both Singapore and Thailand. With our strong foundation, we look forward to combining our market-winning expertise along with Visa’s payment innovations to the rest of Southeast Asia, starting with Malaysia and Philippines,” 

Meanwhile, Visa’s Head of Digital Partnerships for Asia Pacific Matt Wood commented, “We are excited to work with YouTrip across Southeast Asia to provide consumers and businesses with a multi-currency payment solution that is ideal for international eCommerce and cross-border travel. Together, we look forward to bringing faster, safer, and more convenient digital payments to people across the region.”

Sydney, Australia – Hong Kong-headquartered digital payment service provider and technology vendor AsiaPay has announced that it will further expand its payment platform in Australia and New Zealand thanks to a new partnership with Fat Zebra.

Similarly a payment platform, Fat Zebra is based in Australia and is said to be currently in partnership with over 25,000 merchants across the globe.

As part of the partnership, AsiaPay will leverage Fat Zebra’s processing infrastructure to access more Australian acquiring networks and domestic schemes, creating secure, seamless payments for its digital merchants across Australia and New Zealand.

Welcoming the announcement, AsiaPay Founder and CEO Joseph Chan said, “We are excited to partner with Fat Zebra and launch into Australia and New Zealand further. As part of international business expansion strategy, we identified the need for local experts to support in-market, definitely it will help AsiaPay accelerate our growth in Australia and New Zealand, while still allowing us full control and flexibility to create the digital payment values to merchants and best customer payment experience,” said Mr. Chan.

Meanwhile, Fat Zebra CEO Pred Dragila said Fat Zebra is proud to partner with AsiaPay.

“At Fat Zebra, we focus on modernising payments and giving our partners local market access through a single global platform,” said Dragila.

“Our aim is to remove the barriers to entry for our customers by giving them speed to market, the control that they need, and the optionality that they want. AsiaPay is a great trusted digital payment platform covering most of the Asian market and we’re excited to help them grow their international footprint. his partnership allows them to hit the ground running and offer its customers instant access to this region,” added Dragila.