Tag: Partnership

Bangladesh – Bangladesh-based private commercial bank BRAC Bank has partnered with Singapore’s consumer bank DBS, aimed at allowing Bangladeshi migrants working in Singapore to easily transfer their hard-earned income to their families back home, with minimal fees and in real-time using DBS Remit, a remittance service integrated within the digital banking platform, DBS digibank. 

The new partnership will enable DBS and POSB customers in Singapore to remit funds to any of BRAC Bank’s 187 branches and more than 700 agent banking outlets across Bangladesh. Furthermore, customers can credit their remittances via DBS Remit to any bank account in Bangladesh. By the end of 2022, customers will also be able to use DBS Remit to transfer funds to Bangladesh’s mobile wallet bKash, a subsidiary of BRAC Bank.

For remittances to Bangladesh, DBS Remit has no service fee charges, provides guaranteed exchange rates, as well as real-time automated deposits to any bank account there. BRAC Bank’s extensive network also allows recipients in Bangladesh to easily collect funds in cash if they prefer. For remittances deposited to a BRAC Bank account, BRAC Bank customers can use the bank’s app, Astha, to pay for utilities, insurance and loan installations, credit card and phone bills, as well as transfer funds to any bank account or mobile wallet in Bangladesh. They can also withdraw their cash at any ATM around the nation.

Rhidoi Krishnakumar, the regional head of DBS Remit, commented that they are very pleased to partner with BRAC Bank, one of the most innovative financial institutions in Bangladesh, to enhance their DBS Remit capabilities and provide more accessible, affordable and secure remittances for their customers. 

“We also look forward to enabling remittances to bKash wallet by the end of this year so customers can remit to even more touchpoints across Bangladesh,” said Krishnakumar.

Meanwhile, Selim R.F. Hussain, BRAC Bank’s managing director and CEO, shared that inward foreign remittance is one of the backbones of the economy, and they are always working hard to facilitate its continuous growth. 

“We joined hands with DBS Bank, the leading digital bank in the world because they, like us, offer their customers the best service experience, backed by the most advanced technologies,” said Hussain.

Philippines — Telecommunications company PLDT’s wireless division Smart communication is partnering with SM to bring back SM Cyberzone Game Fest this year, a gaming event that features esports tournaments, a meet-and-greet with influencers, new product displays, sales and many more.

Precy P. Katigbak, FVP and head of national key accounts at PLDT and Smart, commented that they are excited to support Filipino esports athletes and gaming enthusiasts from all walks of life, by providing the best experience and the fastest LTE and 5G mobile network to power their game.

“With our massive network rollout and through our partnership with SM Cyberzone, we hope to empower our digital-savvy customers as they pursue their passions in mobile gaming and technology,” Katigbak said.

Mark Ramilo, group marketing manager of Cyberzone, said, “Throughout the years, we have been supporting the gaming community here in the country. Through SM Cyberzone’s Game Fest, we provide them with a venue to celebrate their passion for gaming. We want to help them further elevate their game through the latest tech-assured products that we have in Cyberzone.”

Smart also introduced GIGA Arena at the event. GIGA Arena is the country’s first all-in-one platform that aims to bring the total esports experience to the fingertips of subscribers. Open to all Smart and TNT customers, GIGA Arena lets users match up with fellow players to compete in daily, weekly, and monthly tournaments on gigarena.smart for prestige and cash prizes.

Aside from enabling users to compete in live tournaments, the all-in-one platform also comes with innovative features that allow mobile gamers to set up tournaments, stream live competitions, play arcade games, purchase e-load, and conveniently link their e-wallet to secure their tournament winnings via GigaPay with PayMaya, among others.

In partnership with Smart, SM Cyberzone Game Fest also recently held its first all-women Mobile Legends tournament. Smart and SM Cyberzone are also set to enable other community tournaments all throughout the three-month campaign.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – Consumer research and analytics company Milieu Insight has announced a strategic partnership with dentsu International to improve the agency’s Consumer Connection System (CCS), the agency’s end-to-end communications planning platform, in their Vietnamese market.

Using Milieu Portraits that will fuel higher quality and up-to-date data, the partnership will enable dentsu to use advanced research and analytics tools to help its clients undertake fast turnaround studies and craft effective business and communication strategies. In addition, Milieu’s consumer profiling tool, when integrated into the CCS, will complement and help unlock more use cases ranging from campaign measurements to optimising the activation of digital ads. 

Another service that will be utilised will be Milieu Activate, an automated brand tracking solution and programmatic activation, which leverages millions of data points to serve ads to the right mobile audiences, enabling Dentsu to help their clients drive stronger metrics in terms of click-through rates and conversions. It uses programmatic lookalike modelling to identify target audience with access to mobile device IDs.

Gerald Ang, CEO at Milieu Insight said that their strategic partnership with Dentsu is an important step towards providing the industry with a highly differentiated and data-driven audience targeting solution that will lead to better and more effective campaigns.

“The real-time dynamic nature of Milieu Insight’s consumer engagement platform and the wide range of data that it holds will empower dentsu to help brands gain a competitive edge and build stronger relationships with their customers,” Ang said.

Meanwhile, JP Salustiano, chief strategy officer at dentsu Services Vietnam, commented, “We’re able to offer our clients a higher level of insight and accuracy because of the quality and depth of data Milieu Insight’s Canvas provide, at the speed with which it can be augmented. We are already able to build planning segments for our clients that were not possible before, which gives us greater ability to drive return on marketing investment.”

Lastly, Navin Dhanpal, CEO at Carat, commented, “Through our partnership with Milieu Insight, CCS in its new digital avatar is going to fundamentally shift the media research industry and give our brands the latest insight into not just ‘what’ media their target consumer is consuming and ‘when’ – but more importantly, ‘how’ they are consuming that media and ‘why’.”

London, United Kingdom — Reddit, the social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website, has entered into a long-term consultative partnership with global marketing communications company, WPP. The partnership, a first of its kind for Reddit, and led by its global agency development team, will strengthen Reddit’s on and off-platform commerce offering by closely aligning with WPP’s industry-leading commerce roadmap.

The partnership will tap into the commerce and technology expertise across WPP and its media agencies within GroupM through quarterly advisory meetings. Teams will consult on Reddit’s commerce strategy, ensuring it incorporates the latest insights and intelligence from across the WPP network. WPP will receive a first look at Reddit’s commerce solutions with early access to alpha and beta tests so both companies can collaborate on joint products to take to shared clients. The joint collaboration will also include a joint research piece, to test the effectiveness of future commerce products on Reddit, along with a training program through Reddit Ads Formula, which soft-launched last year.

Reddit builds on its existing partnership with WPP media arm, GroupM, which was one of the very first to meet with Reddit’s ads product team when it was first introduced, this partnership will widen the aperture of Reddit’s relationship with WPP and help inform Reddit’s long term commerce strategy, firmly cementing its role in the wider commerce mix.

Harold Klaje, global EVP and president of advertising for Reddit, commented, “Online communities are not new but they have emerged throughout the pandemic as an integral part of the commerce mix thanks to the highly influential role they play in the consumer path to purchase. I am excited to further strengthen our relationship with WPP and its suite of clients as we continue to collaborate and build together, tapping into the holding company’s impressive expertise and working towards mutually beneficial outcomes for our advertising partners.”

Meanwhile, Amanda Grant, vice president, managing partner, and global head of social for GroupM, said that being a part of the Reddit product council in the past year has given them a seat at the table in terms of early product design, leading to better-aligned product development and advertiser interest.

“The partnership brings key stakeholders in early enough to steer concepts rather than confirm a formed hypothesis. GroupM and WPP are approaching commerce evolution much more methodically with our partners, as our performance expertise helps to connect user behaviours, to platform utility, and finally advertiser need. We are looking forward to richer contributions and partnership with Reddit,” Grant said.

Many WPP client brands are already working with Reddit to drive commerce solutions through Reddit’s highly engaged user base and 100,000+ communities. WPP was also an instrumental part of Reddit’s Product Council, which launched last year as a first-look and feedback session for key partners regarding Reddit’s evolving ads product roadmap. This new partnership will see Reddit and WPP continue to partner on client campaigns with a particular focus on lower-funnel education, strategy, and tactics to drive the strongest purchase outcomes.

The partnership comes as Reddit continues to grow its Global Agency Development team, which has recently appointed London-based Susanne Schmid who joins from Facebook where she was regional agency lead and will serve as Reddit’s global agency lead for WPP. Additionally, former VP, global head of partnerships at Verizon Media, John Baylon has also joined the team as the regional agency lead for Europe, the Middle East, and Asia (EMEA), and will be responsible for servicing all holding companies across EMEA in a newly-developed role.

London, United Kingdom — Financial institution HSBC has announced its partnership with The Sandbox as it acquires a plot of LAND, a virtual real estate in The Sandbox metaverse, where it plans to engage and connect with virtual communities through gaming and esports in the future.

Suresh Balaji, chief marketing officer of HSBC Asia Pacific, said that the metaverse is how people will experience Web3, the next generation of the Internet — using immersive technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality and extended reality.

“At HSBC, we see great potential to create new experiences through emerging platforms, opening up a world of opportunity for our current and future customers and for the communities we serve. Through our partnership with The Sandbox, we are making our foray into the metaverse, allowing us to create innovative brand experiences for new and existing customers. We’re excited to be working with our sports partners, brand ambassadors, and Animoca Brands to co-create experiences that are educational, inclusive and accessible,” Balaji said.

Sebastien Borget, COO and co-founder of The Sandbox, commented, “We’re pleased to see large, trusted institutions such as HSBC join The Sandbox open metaverse and embrace the culture of Web3, connecting with users through entertainment, gaming and user-generated content. We believe this is the beginning of broader adoption of Web3 and the metaverse by institutions driving brand experiences and engagement within this new ecosystem.”

HSBC joins over 200 existing partnerships including Havas Group, Warner Music Group, Gucci, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, and Atari, all following The Sandbox’s vision of empowering players to create their own experiences using both original and well-known characters and worlds.

The agreement opens the door for other global institutions to continue innovating in Web3 as consumer adoption demands more robust experiences in the metaverse through decentralized and gamified offerings.

Vietnam – Life insurance company AIA in Vietnam has extended its exclusive partnership with Vietnam’s private bank VPBank, changing the originally planned 15 years partnership to 19 years for the distribution of insurance through banks.

VPBank said that it has developed a strong cooperative relationship with AIA Vietnam since 2017, and the extension of their partnership is not only a good sign for them but also good news for customers. 

Through the extended partnership, both companies will continue to help customers access and experience top quality life insurance products and services, along with the preferential benefits of many comprehensive health care plans. In addition, products will be more innovative and many connecting activities in terms of mental, physical, and financial health will also be deployed in accordance with each customer group of the bank.

Wayne Besant, AIA Vietnam’s general director, said, “The extension of the exclusive partnership between VPBank and AIA Vietnam will allow AIA to continue to strengthen its long-term and relevant financial protection solutions. With the healthcare needs of many families in Vietnam, helping them live healthier, longer, and happier lives.”

Meanwhile, Nguyen Duc Vinh, VPBank’s general director, commented, “In addition to improving the quality of services for customers, we are delighted by the extension of this partnership to bring to the market new products, and more innovative services, providing more financial solutions to customers for their future lives.”

Hong Kong — Choco Up, the Hong Kong-based financing and growth platform, has announced its partnership with fintech company Airwallex to support the future growth of cross-border e-commerce. By combining Airwallex’s proprietary global payments infrastructure with Choco Up’s flexible recurring funding solutions, the collaboration enables a comprehensive and integrated finance solution for e-commerce companies across Asia.

Leveraged by Airwallex, Choco Up is able to offer a one of its kind, turnkey solution covering cross-border payments, collections, and growth funding, and addresses the needs that will enable e-commerce firms of all sizes to grow beyond geographical boundaries without financial constraints.

Kai Wu, CEO of Airwallex Greater China, commented that they are pleased to have been chosen as Choco Up’s partner as they continue to support the growth of e-commerce companies across the region.

“Businesses today require easy-to-use, accessible, safe and cost-efficient payment options and our global financial infrastructure can enable that for businesses like Choco Up. Our scale API solution offers a centralized way to manage cross-border payment complexities, so businesses can easily transact internationally. We look forward to continuing our partnership in APAC and beyond, empowering businesses of all sizes to operate anywhere, anytime,” Wu said. 

Choco Up provides e-commerce companies with flexible funding ranging from US$10,000 to US$10m to accelerate their growth. Choco Up’s proprietary fintech platform allows for a seamless, automated funding process. By connecting the companies’ sales and marketing accounts to their data integration platform, Choco Up can efficiently conduct artificial intelligence-driven risk assessments on applicant companies within hours. The information gathered enables e-commerce companies to see all their business performance data in one place, helping them identify pain points, optimize their businesses, and stay on top of the competition.

Brian Tsang, co-founder and COO of Choco Up, said that the pandemic has propelled even faster growth of e-commerce companies over the past couple of years, many of whom are in search of new funding and payments options to enable more sustained long-term growth regionally/internationally.

“Partnering with Airwallex allows us to build a comprehensive hassle-free payment and funding infrastructure in Asia to empower these businesses to scale across borders without complications and co-create a better future for cross-border e-commerce in Asia,” Tsang said.

Bringing together Airwallex’s global payment technology with Choco Up’s funding platform and analytics tools, this solution will serve as a one-stop-shop for e-commerce companies looking to expand internationally. Airwallex’s global payment software lets e-commerce businesses make cross-border payments in more than 130 currencies at significantly lower costs because of their market-leading foreign exchange rates. In addition, Airwallex Borderless Cards will enable e-commerce merchants to make digital payments across borders that are more secure, transparent, and efficient.

Last January, Airwallex launched its fintech platform in Singapore.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Advertising company Taboola has announced an exclusive partnership with KapanLagi Youniverse, one of the largest publishing conglomerates in Indonesia. 

Through this two-year partnership, the publisher will implement several Taboola products, including Taboola Video, Taboola Newsroom and its integrated Feed with a mid-article unit, which provides readers with personalised content and targeted ads to increase engagement and revenue opportunities.

The integrated Taboola News feed will enable users to access content recommendations, designed to boost engagement and drive digital growth.

The publisher has more than 110 million monthly unique visitors and 50,000 articles produced each month.

Adam Singolda, CEO and founder at Taboola, said, “We’re excited to partner with KLY, a key destination for news and entertainment in the Indonesian market. KLY is really looking to drive growth opportunities by creating content that resonates more soundly with its audience. I’m confident that integrating Taboola technology will help KLY thrive, particularly as the demand for up-to-the-minute, engaging news content continues to grow.”

Meanwhile, Danny Purnomo, deputy CEO at KLY, commented, “We’re looking forward to working with Taboola to engage more actively with our audience. With millions of people turning to our site for updates, we want to ensure our readers are getting the best experience, every time, with a focus on content that is relevant to them. Taboola’s ability to enhance content discovery, coupled with its data-driven approach, will be critical to our strategic growth plans.”

The KLY partnership follows Taboola’s recent announcements of partnerships with NBA Philippines and the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s leading English-language news media.

Philippines — Gushcloud in the Philippines, the technology-driven digital talent and media company, has announced the recent signing of known local fashion designer, Rajo Laurel, to help him grow his digital presence. In this collaboration, the digital talent and entertainment agency will be working closely with Laurel to represent him, manage key brands, and provide strategic channel management support.

The fashion icon shared his thoughts on the partnership, saying, “I’m very much looking forward to the new collaborations that Gushcloud and I will be able to make. Transitioning to digital can be daunting, but I am excited about this journey because this would open avenues for me to engage and interact with my followers and fellow designers,” Laurel said.

Laurel holds an extensive understanding of the creative industry and with over 30 years of experience in fashion, he was able to launch his own brands namely RAJO and House of Laurel. Through the partnership, Laurel hopes to connect more with his followers, giving them a glimpse of his passion, sense of purpose, and even giving a peek of his personal life. He is also excited to collaborate with fellow content creators and brands.

Felice Olondriz, head of talents of Gushcloud Philippines, commented that for this year, Gushcloud wants to take up space not just through their influencer marketing capacity, but in the digital entertainment stage as well. Olondriz added that the exciting collaboration with Rajo Laurel is only the beginning of opening up his influence to brands and consumers alike through representation and channel management.

“Ultimately, our vision as partners is to leverage Gushcloud’s more advanced entertainment efforts such as NFTs and new digital channel explorations, so Laurel can create a more positive influence amidst the clutter in digital marketing and advertising. Time and again, Gushcloud proves how our strength on digital strategy is not only for our brand campaigns but also for our exclusive talents who want to finally expand their digital footprint,” Olondriz said.

Jamie Paraso, country director of Gushcloud Philippines, said, “At Gushcloud, we are welcoming 2022, true to our theme of stronger and smarter! It is our pleasure to have the privilege to represent one of the fashion icons in our country, Rajo Laurel. As a digital talent and entertainment agency, our goal is to create a sustainable ecosystem where brands, influencers and content creators can grow together and create a strong positive influence. This collaboration aims to strengthen Rajo Laurel’s digital presence but I also believe that it will create ripples that can inspire the minds of like-minded individuals.”

Aside from Laurel, Gushcloud has also recently signed celebrity wedding videographer, Jason Magbanua, and gaming creator Chin Valdes, among others.

Last January, Gushcloud helped spearhead Sneakertopia’s expansion in Asia.

Manila, Philippines – UnionDigital Bank, the digital bank entity of the Union Bank of the Philippines, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with global play-to-earn guild Yield Guild Games (YGG) during its first-ever Managers’ Summit held last 3 to 6 March 2022 in the Philippines.

The partnership aims to make financial products and services more accessible to the play-to-earn and Web3 communities in the country. It will also further propel the rising Play-to-Earn community in the Philippines, addressing the communities’ emerging needs in the space.

UnionDigital Bank said that it aims to tech up and services the underbanked, enabling Filipino communities, businesses, problem solvers, and regulators to leverage innovative financial technologies in order to achieve nationwide financial inclusion.

Arvie de Vera, UnionDigital Bank’s co-founder and CEO, shared that their partnership with YGG brings to life their ambition to serve the growing Play-to-Earn community here in the Philippines.

“We are very excited to bring in our trailblazing leadership in Fintech, Blockchain, and Open Finance to the YGG community, providing them with services that best suit their needs in the P2E space,” said de Vera.

Meanwhile, Luis Buenaventura, YGG Pilipinas’ country manager, commented that this partnership with UnionDigital will give their play-to-earn community exclusive access to crypto services that are sorely lacking in the local ecosystem.

“We are confident that it will enable all kinds of interesting and new use cases, and continue to push the industry forward,” said Buenaventura.