Singapore – This Chinese New Year season, spending by Chinese and other Asian tourists surpassed that of CNY 2019, with Southeast Asia (SEA) as one of the top travel destinations globally, according to a press release by Alipay.
Notably, Alipay categorised SEA as one of the most popular travel destinations for Chinese tourists, with Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore combined seeing a 7.5% increase over 2019, and a 580% leap over 2023.
Going into more detail, the global top destinations in SEA are namely, Thailand placing 4th, Malaysia (5th), and Singapore (6th). Alipay+ played a role in the rankings of the aforementioned countries, enabling new international e-wallets to be used within each country.
In Singapore, Alipay enabled the use of six new e-wallets namely, Hipay (Mongolia), MPay (Macao SAR, China), MyPB by Public Bank (Malaysia), Toss Pay and Naver Pay (South Korea), and Tinaba (Italy).
On the other hand, Thailand also received these six options, with the addition of GCash (Philippines), Changi Pay (Singapore) and OCBC Digital (Singapore). Malaysia received these options as well, and gained access to HelloMoney by AUB (Philippines) and TrueMoney (Thailand).
Talking about this turnout, Cherry Huang, general manager of Alipay+ offline merchant services, Ant International, commented, “Based on the recent Chinese New Year spending trends, we can see that it has already far surpassed 2023 and back to 2019 levels. Other than Chinese tourists, we have also seen an increase in spending by other Asian tourists via our Alipay+ partner payment apps.”
Manila, Philippines – Top e-wallet in the Philippines GCash’s new service is a step forward in customer service and in fulfilling its brand promise of safe financial transactions. In partnership with Singapore-headquartered regional insurtech Igloo, GCash launches a first-of-its-kind online shopping insurance protection that will secure consumers from online marketplace fraud.
Igloo’s Online Shopping product is part of its Cyber Protection vertical, which secures financial loss arising directly from any online marketplace fraud. Through the partnership, GCash users will be protected from any transaction they make via online marketplaces such as Lazada, Shopee, including Viber, and Facebook marketplaces as long as their payment was fulfilled through the GCash platform.
GCash continues to be the leading digital wallet in the Philippines and is continually amplifying its services. The fintech has also recently announced that it is eyeing to launch a Buy Now Pay Later service within this year.
Martha Sazon, GCash’s president and CEO, said that the shopping insurance offering comes at a time when they have seen robust growth in online transactions and user base.
“With excellent customer experience being the heart of our business alongside value-added services through our platform, we are thrilled to launch this new product with Igloo that secures online transactions for our customers,” said Sazon.
Mario Berta, Igloo’s country manager for the Philippines, commented, “We are excited to partner with the leading e-wallet in the country, GCash, who shares the same vision of protecting digital consumers by pioneering innovative solutions to end-customers at an economical price. With the growing number of digital consumers in the country, now more than ever, is it most important to provide flexible solutions for the changing needs and processes of both businesses and customers.”
According to GCash, its users currently stand at 46 million. The app has also had over 13 million log-ins per day, peaking at almost 15 million in the second quarter of 2021.
GCash has been integrating insurance as one of its value propositions to users. Within the app, it currently offers a line of insurance products similarly powered by Singapore-grown insurance firm, Singlife. GCash’s offerings are mainly characterized by low-cost premiums and include a range of protection from income loss to health coverage such as Dengue and even COVID-19.
The Online Shopping protection is one of the first products Igloo will be launching with GCash but will soon be rolling out more products with the e-wallet in the next six months that will be geared towards MSMEs.
Singapore – Singapore’s multicurrency e-wallet YouTrip revealed in a press announcement that it will be undergoing a brand rehaul, slated for early 2022.
The advanced announcement comes as the fintech unveils its plans to establish an innovation lab in Singapore to fast-track its technology capabilities and product development. The fintech shared that the new lab will see its workforce double by 2022 which will be crucial in driving the development of a new suite of multicurrency products including the new brand identity.
YouTrip’s brand proposition is to offer the best mobile financial services by simplifying foreign currency payments and offering the best exchange rates. With the new branding, the fintech aims to reflect its transformation from a travel wallet to a broader digital payments app that drives its mission of simplifying multicurrency spending.
Together with a new brand debut, YouTrip will also be redesigned with new features such as a virtual card, an interactive exchange rates dashboard, and also YouTrip exclusive deals, as well as the ability to hold more popular currencies in the wallet.
YouTrip also revealed the launch of another product YouTrip Business, likewise to be released in early 2022.
YouTrip Business is a new multicurrency corporate credit card aimed at helping companies of all sizes save money and time on cross-border payments. Compared to the consumer product, the new business card promises higher spending limits while transacting at the best exchange rates in over currencies, with credit terms offered to selected business account users. YouTrip Business will also enable companies to issue multicurrency cards to employees.
Caecilia Chu, co-founder and CEO of YouTrip, commented that despite the travel standstill, there has been continued significant growth in overseas online spending which underscores the importance of cross-border payments for consumers and businesses.
According to YouTrip’s own cross-border e-commerce study for 2021, there has been an 84% year-on-year increase in online overseas purchases by Singaporean users from the period of July 2020 to June 2021.
Chu said, “With this shift in spending, our advancement in innovation to offer a wider suite of multicurrency is timely, and drives our goal of elevating the cross-border payment experience for our users in Singapore and the region. We are incredibly excited to embark on this next phase of our business growth and Singapore’s developed tech ecosystem provides the conducive conditions to propel this forward.”
She adds, “Singapore is a special place to us, being the first market where we introduced YouTrip to the world…we look forward to driving the next generation of cross-border payment innovations, and to help build a stronger pipeline of talents that will fortify Singapore’s position as a global fintech hub.”
Singapore – EZ-Link, one of the first to offer prepaid card payment in Singapore, has taken a major rebranding, at the same time, unveils new app enhancements to go in tandem with its new brand identity.
The branding comes as EZ-Link marks its 18th year in the market, having started in 2002. The product now carries the new brand direction “For Life’s Little Wins” to underscore the brand’s mission of “eliminating hassle and enabling possibilities for customers in their ‘little’ daily financial routines.”
For the new direction, the company has adopted a new logo and refreshed both its corporate website and EZ-Link app.
Still sporting the same cool colors of blue and green, the new logo now takes a brighter palette with a cleaner font – breaking off of the old one’s edgy typeface.
EZ-Link’s old (above) and new logo (below)
The more striking and almost neon hue is now adapted to both its website and app. The brand’s app also used to display sharp-edged navigation boxes, whereas, in the new one, edges have been carved and assigned more pastel hues.
The company’s old (left) and new (right) website
The company said the new visual identity “reflects [its] renewed focus on digital transformation, while still maintaining key elements that have become strongly associated with the brand.”
EZ-Link’s old app
For the past 18 years, EZ-Link has been a trusted local brand and an integral part of many Singaporean’s daily lives. However, a lot has changed since we launched the first EZ-Link card almost two decades ago. Consumers’ lifestyles have evolved and the world is set on its path to a digital future
Nicholas Lee, CEO at EZ-Link
To kick off the brand refresh, EZ-Link has launched its enhanced mobile EZ-Link Wallet, which is now integrated with EZ-Link’s Rewards program.
Introduced at the start of this year, the EZ-Link Wallet can be used at local merchants that accept e-payments via the Singapore Quick Response Code (SGQR), Singapore’s unified QR label.
With the integration, users are offered a new avenue to earn and accumulate points that can be redeemed for benefits from over 200 EZ-Link Rewards merchants. Similar to EZ-Link card transactions, every S$0.10 spent on the EZ-Link Wallet will earn one point.
In addition, Android and iOS users can now top-up their EZ-Link cards anytime and on the go via the EZ-Link Wallet, and receive direct cashback and reward credits in their accounts when they spend with the e-wallet.
With the latest upgrade, EZ-Link said it aims to deliver a more seamless and rewarding experience for users’ transport and retail transactions.
Lee said, “As we push forward in our digitalization journey, we must always put people at the heart of our innovation. This is in line with our new brand direction, which is rooted in the belief that our everyday life is lived in small moments that can be turned into little wins.”
In accordance with its branding move and to better differentiate its offerings, EZ-Link’s new and existing products will now be housed under three sub-brands: EZ-Link Rewards, EZ-Link Wallet, and former EZ-Pay, EZ-Link Motoring, which is the brand’s upcoming solution for electronic toll and parking payments.
We use cookies to improve your experience and to analyse our traffic. To find out more, please click here. By continuing to use our website, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.