OCBC app adds 8 digital wallets across S-E Asia as bank aims to hit target of 50 globally
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Coins, GCash and PayMaya of The Philippines, Indonesia’s GoPay, LinkAja and Ovo, as well as Vietnam’s Momo and Malaysia’s Touch ‘n Go will join the ecosystem.
PHOTO: OCBC
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SINGAPORE – OCBC app users here can now transfer funds directly from their OCBC bank accounts to eight digital wallets across South-east Asia, increasing the number of wallets to 10.
Coins, GCash and PayMaya of the Philippines, Indonesia’s GoPay, LinkAja and Ovo, as well as Vietnam’s Momo and Malaysia’s Touch ’n Go will join the ecosystem.
It comes after the integration of Weixin Pay (WeChat Pay) and Alipay in 2024.
Including the two Chinese wallets, the 10 wallets collectively represent a total user base of up to 2.72 billion, OCBC said on Nov 20.
Singapore’s second-largest bank by assets noted that the pay-to-wallet feature on the OCBC app tackles key remittance challenges – speed, cost and accessibility – especially for the region’s large unbanked population.
The foreign workforce in Singapore stands to benefit the most, as many still rely on slower and costlier over-the-counter services, cash agents or manual bank transfers, it added.
Further, recipients do not need to have a bank account or visit a physical location to receive the funds, as the funds can be sent directly to their home country’s wallets.
Mr Sunny Quek, head of global consumer financial services at OCBC, said the goal is to go beyond China.
“By connecting OCBC accounts to eight of South-east Asia’s most popular wallets, we are removing friction from cross-border payments and making remittances faster, cheaper and more inclusive,” he said.
He added that the bank’s long-term goal is to connect customers to 50 digital wallets globally.
Since launching the service with the Chinese wallets a year ago, OCBC has processed over $60 million in transfers, driving a fourfold increase in cross-border transfers to China, a key market for the bank.
Ninety per cent of users have not visited a branch recently and three-quarters are professionals, managers, executives and technicians, mainly Chinese nationals sending money home.
With this expansion, OCBC expects significant adoption among Singapore’s 1.6 million-strong foreign workforce.
DBS on Nov 13 announced that more than three million users of DBS PayLah! will be able to make QR code payments in over 100 markets via Ant’s Alipay+ network.
The two companies are also exploring near-instant remittances between DBS customers and 1.8 billion Alipay+ accounts, using global financial messaging standards.
They aim to support the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises as well, and scale up same-day and near instant cross-border payment solutions for these firms.
