Tag: Southeast Asia

Singapore – Singapore-based social platform for sustainability, abillion, has launched a new peer-to-peer e-commerce feature for buyers and sellers to interact and transact online with a conscious shift in focus from revenue earned to resulting impact.

abillion is a global digital home to sustainability and plant-based natives. Its sellers set aside a percentage of their revenue to be donated to impactful causes. The buyer then dedicates this sum of money to one of the platform’s more than 60 non-profit partners.

The new feature will be first enjoyed by members in Singapore. They will be able to list sustainable products via the marketplace tab, which is found on the navigation bar at the bottom of the app, Meanwhile, buyers will be able to see the impact of each purchase they intend to make from the starred green value, which is found on the right hand side of each listing.

Vikas Garg, abillion’s CEO and founder, shared that their goal is to become the world’s leading catalyst driving sustainable entrepreneurship and conscious consumerism, powering the growth of the sustainable sector.

“We know that in the near future, everyone will care about sustainability and our planet. abillion will be at the centre of this, acting as the go-to information and digital superhub for all. Here, regardless of whether you’re a buyer or a seller, you will be able to measure the positive impact your transaction has on the world. Through this, we will be able to eat, shop and live our way to a brighter future,” said Garg.

The platform said that it is planning to launch the marketplace by the year-end of 2022 to its largest markets, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, and Spain, as well as the UK, and the US.

Manila, Philippines – PH telco PLDT has launched ‘GoCamNorte’, an official tourism application for the country’s province Camarines Norte, during the annual Bantayog Festival and the province’s celebration of its 102nd founding anniversary. Developed in collaboration with telco Smart and media company InnoPub Media, the new ‘GoCamNorte’ app aims to boost the number of visitors in the Bicol region’s northernmost province as travel restrictions are gradually lifted. 

With the new app, tourists and locals will be able to learn more about Camarines Norte’s best destinations and heritage sites even before they visit the province using mobile technology. It also has interactive markers that provide contactless delivery of information through QR codes.

Moreover, the new app also links visitors to important government hotlines and accredited tour operators, resorts, and accommodations. This gives tourists the assurance that the businesses they patronise have undergone the necessary training so they can offer a safe and memorable experience.

Stephanie Orlino, Smart’s assistant vice president and head of community relations, said, “Smart continues to empower the communities we serve through our technology-enabled programs. Now that we are slowly opening our doors to visitors, our digital tourism application can help provinces like Camarines Norte share and promote the many wonderful sites to visit, as well as travel guidelines for tourists.”

Meanwhile, Mariano “Bong” Palma, the provincial tourism officer of Camarines Norte, noted, “This digital innovation gives the public easy access to necessary information about the province. The platform also allows us to push messages quickly for updates.”

Max Limpag, InnoPub Media’s co-founder, said, “With the use of smartphones, we can enable safe and contactless delivery of tourism, cultural and historical information, right in the hands of travellers, enhancing their overall experience.”

The ‘GoCamNorte’ app can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store or from the Apple App Store.

Singapore – After Singaporean neobank YouTrip hinted on the launch of its new B2B product, the fintech officially unveiled YouBiz, its corporate credit card for SMEs, in partnership with Mastercard. This development follows YouTrip’s recent US$30m Series A funding.

The new product is integrated with a unified control centre bringing together multi-currency accounts, local and domestic transfers, corporate expense management, and credit features in a single hub.

YouBiz offers SMEs unlimited cashback on all spends with no cap, eliminating the need to manage and optimise their spending types. Together with savings from YouBiz’s zero foreign currency transaction fees, companies can rack up additional funds to power other business operations. Spending and managing individual employee expenses is also convenient with YouBiz’s ability to generate physical and unlimited virtual cards for payments in over 150 currencies at more than 80 million Mastercard merchants worldwide, online and in-store. This not only reduces the risk of card-sharing, custom spend limits on each card also prevent employees from overspending.

Moreover, YouBiz allows SMEs to receive, hold, and spend in nine currencies currently and make an immediate exchange at competitive rates and no fees. Doing business is also more accessible than ever with free local transfers and low, transparent pricing for international remittance. All transactions are delivered and streamlined in YouBiz’s unified control centre, making expense management and reconciliation a seamless process.

Arthur Mak, YouTrip’s co-founder and chief product officer, said that the concept of borders has blurred during the pandemic as SMEs increasingly do business internationally, and their cross-border payment needs are definitely going to rise – yet, many of their financial needs remain unmet due to the lack of a tailored financial solution. 

“Our continued partnership with Mastercard empowers us to establish YouBiz as a valuable and reliable partner for SMEs to grow beyond borders. Promising efficient and purpose-built financial solutions at the best value, we help businesses save time and cost as they focus on scaling worldwide,” added Mak.

YouBiz is also introducing a credit facility that offers flexible business financing to SMEs. Combining transactional data and machine learning, YouBiz allows businesses to obtain unsecured and collateral-free term loans with no hidden or early repayment fees. The application is fuss-free and loans are disbursed seamlessly into the YouBiz account within 48 hours.

In addition, YouBiz has collaborated with Google to provide businesses with direct support for digital marketing services, and established travel partners like Agoda, Booking.com, and Qatar Airways on additional savings for travel expenditure, especially as business travel resumes.

Mak shared that they have invested heavily in building their multi-currency technology infrastructure and obtaining a full set of licences for YouBiz. 

“Having this control over our value chain enables us to offer the most customisable and cost-effective financial solutions for businesses. We look forward to partnering closely with SMEs to innovate and customise our offerings to meet their shifting demands,” said Mak.

Meanwhile, Deborah Heng, Mastercard’s country manager for Singapore, noted that partnering with YouTrip on this innovative product will complement the work Mastercard has already done to help SMEs drive their overall digital transformation and harness the opportunity of rapid growth in online marketplaces. 

“As these digital merchants expand their business across borders, they will come to recognise both the competitive advantage and the savings they will enjoy from zero foreign exchange fees, unlimited cashback, integrated expense, and cashflow management. YouBiz also comes at a fitting time with the recent uptick in global travel and accelerated e-commerce growth, further supporting SMEs to scale and transact easily, both locally and abroad,” said Heng.

Vietnam – GroupM’s influencer marketing solution INCA has appointed Loan Menuge, senior digital planning and integration manager at Japanese advertising and public relations company Hakuhodo Inc., to lead its expansion in Vietnam. 

In his new appointment, Menuge will be responsible for INCA’s overall business growth and customer success. He will also be overseeing a strategic go-to-market plan that fosters deep customer engagement, strengthens partnerships, and builds a powerful network of alliances

Menuge has over eight years of experience in orchestrating and optimising multiple full-fledged projects. His expertise ranges from implementing innovative initiatives for digital transformation, to conceiving omni-channel communication directions for the world’s top brands. During his stint at Hakuhodo, Menuge was tasked with establishing and growing the group’s digital capability from the ground up.

Commenting on his appointment, Menuge said, “I am thrilled to be joining the GroupM family as INCA’s Lead in Vietnam, where I will work closely with brands to maximise the returns on their digital investments. Influencer marketing is exploding in Vietnam, and I’m excited to collaborate with GroupM to implement INCA’s influencer marketing solutions to the country.”

Tomasz Kuisz, GroupM’s chief product officer for Vietnam, commented they are happy to welcome Menuge on board to lead the growth of INCA in Vietnam, and his experience and insights are invaluable in helping Vietnamese brands scale up their digital campaigns through their best in class AI-enabled influencer marketing technology.

“Thanks to experts like Loan we can maximise the potential of our unique technology to guarantee not only effective marketing but also connect brands with relevant, authentic influencers and publishers. I am confident that Loan will be influential in driving INCA Vietnam’s next chapter of growth,” said Kuisz.

Philippines – Gushcloud International, a global technology-driven digital talent and media company, has launched its new live commerce unit GC LIVE, which operates premium live commerce shows distributing global brands into SEA. This launch comes after Gushcloud’s move to further establish itself as a global business.

GC LIVE operates premium Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) production with top influencers. Open Broadcaster Software is an open-source streaming software for mixing and producing live video content. Powered by this technology, GC LIVE aims to provide and create high-definition live streaming shows all over Southeast Asia. 

To lead the live commerce division, Gushcloud has appointed Mary Shynne Santos, former head of Kumu Live, to be its new regional head of GC LIVE.

Santos believes that live commerce is the future and the GC LIVE team is ready to take on more global brands and content and localise it into the region. 

“GC LIVE produced ‘Reel K-Hauls with Jessica Lee’, the first-ever cross-border show for Lazada PH and I’d say we started off with a bang! I believe that teamwork is the key to every successful project and the team definitely showed that. The show ran for 3 months and we hit our targets and all items were sold out,” said Santos.

Meanwhile, Felice Olondriz, Gushcloud’s head of talents for the Philippines, said, “The launch of GC Live would definitely open doors for our talents and GCPH. Our team is excited to roll out live commerce executions that utilise our roster talents. This is not just a new revenue stream that we’re excited to have, but more importantly, an avenue for talent growth and multifaceted upskilling.”

Jamie Paraso, Gushcloud’s country director for the Philippines, noted, “The roll-out of GC Live is only the beginning and will open opportunities for the whole ecosystem that we look to grow and thrive, especially here in the Philippines. I look forward to the future shows that our Live Team, led by Shynne, will be able to produce.”

Manila, Philippines – As Mother’s Day celebration draws near, GrabAds, the advertising unit of superapp Grab, has revealed that in 2021, the celebration emerged as the day with the highest user traffic on the app in the Philippines.

The report found that more consumers use the Grab app on Mother’s Day than on Christmas Day, the second-highest day in terms of user traffic for the entire 2021. It also showed that an overwhelming majority of 89% intend to purchase their gifts via apps like Grab this time round.

Moreover, the report showed that consumers in the country are more willing to spend more on Mother’s Day, forking out an average of more than 40% more money per order on GrabFood and making over 30% more GrabFood orders than the average day for the celebration.

The same report also found that while it is expected that flowers will continue to be a perennial favourite for Mother’s Day, Grab saw an increase by four times in deliveries for cakes during the celebration last year. Meanwhile, international cuisine and pizza also saw a surge in orders on GrabFood twice, while pork-based dishes experienced an increase in the volume of orders on Mother’s Day last year.

Ken Mandel, Grab’s regional managing director and head of GrabAds and Brand Insights, shared that since the pandemic has trained consumers in the Philippines to shop on their phones, they anticipate that online-to-offline superapps will play a much bigger role in shaping the shopper behaviours for the coming Mother’s Day.

“This is where a superapp like Grab is positioned to capture some of these shifts in behaviours, to help brands and consumers meet their needs for a great Mother’s Day celebration,” said Mandel.

Manila, Philippines – The Philippine-based telco giant Smart has partnered anew with event and tournament organiser Eplayment Entertainment for the fifth season of Liga Adarna, the country’s all-female esports league.

The event has already kicked off last 19 April and will be running until 30 June 2022, with the theme ‘Ikaw Ang Bida’, which in English translates to ‘You are the star’. It will be showcasing once again the skills and strategic gameplays of the country’s top female esports players in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB), and for the first time this season, Liga Adarna has also added PlayerUnknown’s Battleground (PUBG) in its tournament.

Avid gamers and enthusiasts can watch the games live on the Facebook pages of Liga Adarna, Smart, and SMART Sports.

“The latest season of Liga Adarna is in line with Smart’s long-standing support for the Philippine esports to cultivate the passion, skill, and talent of Filipina gamers,” the telco said.

In March 2022, Smart has also celebrated the launch of its Smart GIGA Arena, an online arcade and esports tournament platform, by hosting an exhibition match last 9 March 2022, which features some of the best Filipino esports players and content creators of MLBB.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Boost, the fintech arm of Axiata Group, and RHB Banking Group have secured the digital bank licence (DBL) issued by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).

This partnership between Boost and RHB to form a Digital Bank consortium was announced last June 2021, with Boost owning a majority stake of 60%, and RHB owning the remaining 40% in the Digital Bank to drive innovation, increase competitiveness, and fast-track the country’s digital transformation ambition.

To deliver on the key criteria established by BNM, both parties will combine their deep expertise in specific areas – Boost’s extensive fintech experience and RHB’s intimate knowledge in banking services and risk management, to build a comprehensive suite of affordable and accessible digital banking and financial solutions. The aim will be to create greater access for financial inclusion digitally amongst the underserved and unserved segments.

Dato’ Izzaddin Idris, Axiata’s president and group CEO, and is also the chairman of Boost, said that this is a significant milestone for Axiata’s fintech business and validation of the strong value proposition they bring to the table with their partner RHB Banking Group.

“Securing this license in our home ground delivers multi-pronged opportunities to address ongoing digitalisation shifts across our businesses. On one hand, we can now deliver financial inclusion to underserved and unserved segments such as the MSMEs community as they scale for growth to support the nation’s economic recovery. At the same time, we’re able to actively meet demand from our expanding digital-first consumer base seeking convenient, improved, and secure user experiences for banking and credit access. This development also reinforces Boost’s experience and capabilities to pursue regional opportunities in this high-growth segment,” added Idris.

Over the past few years, Boost has been laying the foundation and building the essential blocks for a digital bank, one of which is through a large lending business via Boost Credit. Through this, the fintech player has developed a large digitally engaged core customer base with deep data-driven insights to break new grounds to build strong value propositions that solve the pain points of the underserved. Partnering with RHB, Boost will be able to leverage the latter’s banking expertise, as it has been making significant investments in building technology platforms and hopes to be able to launch the service in the near term.

Both will also leverage RHB’s Agile@Scale model to achieve speed in delivery and productivity as well as in building successful digital offerings similar to what has already been achieved in existing innovative offerings such as the RHB MyHome app, RHB SME eSolutions, SME Online Financing, RHB Reflex, and eKYC onboarding solutions.

Moreover, Boost has signed an MOU with Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia (CGC) in June last year through its subsidiary, Boost Credit for a potential digital bank guarantee. The MoU encompasses two key parts – the first is a commitment to explore extending a Portfolio Guarantee for the future Digital Bank’s MSME focused loans, and the second involves collaboration with CGC in taking up referrals to provide financing for eligible MSMEs without collateral.

Sheyantha Abeykoon, Boost’s group CEO, noted that the Digital Bank will be a catalyst for greater financial inclusion and aligns with the fintech’s core mission to financially empower and support users and merchants. 

“The award of the digital banking licence now fulfils our vision of becoming a full spectrum fintech player in the region to better serve the underserved and as one of the pioneers in the industry, we look forward to this very exciting journey in creating an inclusive digital and financial ecosystem for all Malaysians together with RHB via the digital bank,” said Abeykoon.

Meanwhile, Mohd Rashid Mohamad, RHB’s group managing director and group CEO, commented that they are privileged to be part of this exciting chapter for the financial services industry in Malaysia, as the Digital Banking license granted to RHB and Axiata is an important step in reinforcing their commitment to continuously enhance their value propositions and better serve their stakeholders, particularly in providing quality financial services to a wider range of customers, in this case – underserved businesses and individuals in Malaysia. 

“Our joint customers will gain access to credit that is digital, nimble, and secure. Which ties in well with RHB’s brand commitment to delivering simple, fast and seamless experiences. We look forward to playing our part in charting the industry’s evolution into this exciting era of digital banking and making progress happen for everyone,” said Mohamad.

Singapore – Global partnership management platform, impact.com, has announced new several client wins in the Southeast Asia region for the first quarter of 2022. The additional renowned brands include Crocs.com, Eqonex, and Yolofoods.

Antoine Gross, impact.com’s general manager for SEA, commented that they are delighted that the strong demand for affiliate and influencer marketing in SEA has enabled them to quickly scale up their operations.

“The online advertising landscape keeps evolving rapidly and is becoming increasingly challenging for brands to grow. Moving towards a cookie-less world, where mistrust among consumers towards traditional advertising is rising, it’s our mission to provide alternative ways for advertisers to grow beyond the duopoly of Facebook and Google and reach new customers and drive revenue for their businesses through partnerships,” said Gross.

Scaling up the team within SEA, impact.com has also appointed key hires, including Nicole Quah, the new head of influencer partnerships for SEA, and Cris Tan, the new partner development manager.

Jakarta, Indonesia – ​Indonesia-based telco Telkom has partnered with tech giant Microsoft to accelerate Indonesia’s digitalisation and strengthen intelligent infrastructure. This partnership is a continuation of the memorandum of understanding signed by Telkom and Microsoft in August 2021.

The partnership aims to support Telkom’s vision as the digital telecommunications company of choice in order to advance society and empower the country’s digital economy, as well as support Microsoft’s Empower Indonesia initiative. It will also explore new opportunities in the market, and empower organisations in various industry segments by leveraging the telco’s infrastructure.

Moreover, the partnership will see Telkom accelerating the level of enterprise adoption of cloud-based services and a secure cloud environment, as well as increasing competence through training and Microsoft certification. This will help TelkomGroup to increase employee productivity, simplify the collaboration process, automate work processes, increase customer engagement, and create innovation, as well as increase the efficiency of operational activities safely.

In terms of intelligent infrastructure, Telkom and Microsoft will also collaborate in developing national intelligent infrastructure. The cooperation being explored, for example, includes the use of Telkom’s Hyperscale Data Center infrastructure assets to support the country’s digital transformation journey and several operational activities for Microsoft’s upcoming data centre region in Indonesia as announced in 2021.

Ririek Adriansyah, Telkom’s president director, shared that the initiative to establish strategic partnerships with a number of global tech companies is expected to have a positive impact on Telkom’s business development, especially in the digital platform and digital services domain.

“We really welcome this collaboration with Microsoft in the hope that it will not only bring benefits to both parties, but more importantly, it can provide the greatest benefit to the digitisation of Indonesia,” said Adriansyah.

Meanwhile, Dharma Simorangkir, Microsoft’s president director for Indonesia, said, “Technology is the cornerstone of industrial digital transformation. Through strengthening collaboration with Telkom, we hope to be able to further assist Indonesia in every stage of the national digital transformation, and build personalised services that bring us closer to Digital Indonesia.”