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Tag: Singapore

  • Magnum Pleasure Store Singapore introduces coffee

    Magnum Pleasure Store Singapore introduces coffee

    A flagship for Magnum Pleasure Store Singapore has opened in Ion Orchard, offering Magnum coffee for the first time in Asia.

    Its design features special art installations such as the Singapore skyline made out of Magnum ice-cream bars and the sticks.

    There is also a Magnum Pleasure Bar where visitors can customise their ice-cream treats. Eighteen toppings available, including chopped almonds, cocoa nibs, rose petals, goji berries and chili flakes.

    In five styles, the new coffee is made from Magnum chocolate-infused coffee beans.

    Merchandise can also be bought at the store including a Magnum tumbler, notebook and a leather pouch.

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  • Singtel deploying Massive MIMO

    Singtel deploying Massive MIMO

    Singtel is deploying Massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) technology commercially on its LTE-Advanced mobile network to improve the mobile data experience during special events.

    A precursor to 5G technology, Massive MIMO is an advanced solution used to boost network capacity in highly dense environments. The company plans to use the technology to improve mobile data speeds by up to 200% during busy periods.

    Singtel teamed up with Ericsson, Huawei and ZTE for the deployment of Massive MIMO technology at the Marina Bay area. Singtel rolled out the network boost at yesterday’s National Day celebrations, with other deployments planned for the Singapore F1 Night Race and the New Year countdown event.

    “On the joyous occasion of our National Day celebrations, Singtel is pleased to be pairing our newly-acquired 2.5-GHz spectrum with Massive MIMO technology to expand our network capacity and offer our customers an enhanced mobile experience at this and other special events,” Singtel group CTO Mark Chong said.

    Globally, large crowds gathered at events, such as concerts and festivals, use high volumes of data to share their experiences via real-time videos on social media.

    This extraordinary behaviour generates a dramatic spike in network traffic, presenting a challenge for operators to provide fast and consistent data speeds.

    Singtel has identified Massive MIMO as one of the solutions to the problem. Singtel will use Massive MIMO base stations featuring a large array of 64 antennas that improve spectral efficiency and cell capacity using innovations in radio technologies.

    The innovative antenna system channels signals to users’ specific locations instead of broadcasting across a geographical area. This multiplies the number of data paths from the cellular base stations, thus increasing network capacity and improving user experience.

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  • Khun Thai Tea heading for Singapore

    Khun Thai Tea heading for Singapore

    Singapore’s Khun Thai Tea, the franchisor for the Thai iced black-tea brand that originated from a pushcart in Bangkok, is about to launch its first outlet in the city.

    This follows its establishment in the Philippines last year as its first step toward expansion in Asia.
    Elis Chai, who co-founded Khun Thai Tea along with fellow Bronze Media Singapore owner Jeremy Lee, says their company has retained global rights for the brand, based on a recipe created in 1955 by Auntie Marlee, the sole proprietor of a pushcart in Sukhumvit.

    “Her recipe for ‘cha-yen’ was restricted to her family members,” says Chai. “Her pushcart soon came to be Sukhumvit Soi 11’s best-held secret. Its popularity rose in tandem with the street’s fame, which was earning a well-deserved reputation as a dining and nightlife destination.”

    More recently, Auntie Marlee began searching for successors to continue and expand on her pushcart’s legacy, finally tying up with Filipino Nancy Padilla. This led to SM Mall of Asia in Manila becoming the first outlet outside of Bangkok to feature Auntie Marlee’s tea in June last year. Padilla owns and runs the Khun Thai Tea Shop (Philippines), including “khun” (Thai for “respect”) in the franchise name as tribute to Auntie Marlee.

    Two more Khun Thai Tea outlets followed: one at Star City Amusement Park in Manila, and another at MegaMall Manila in the Ortigas business district. Lee says more branches are set to open in Manila before the end of this year.
    With Khun Thai Tea established in Singapore as global franchisor, Lee says rapid expansion across Asia is planned. “We will strive to bring a Khun Thai Tea branch to every Asian shopping mall.”

    As well as the tea, the shops offer other Asian-influenced drinks as well as snacks. The drinks include the coffee and tea mix yuan yang, first brewed in Hong Kong, and ice bandung, inspired by a Malaysian recipe that combines rose syrup with milk. Taiwanese-style boba (small tapioca balls) are an optional extra.

    Snacks include Thai-influenced items such as crispy kangkong and tea toast.

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  • M1 launches nationwide NB-IoT network

    M1 launches nationwide NB-IoT network

    Singapore’s M1 has announced the launch of Southeast Asia’s first commercial nationwide narrowband IoT network.

    M1 and its partners are using the network to make available IoT solutions in fields including smart energy management for buildings, environmental monitoring, asset tracking and fleet management.

    The operator is today hosting industry partners and businesse to showcase the possibilities of IoT technology, including smart metering, smart NB-IoT GPS trackers, smart GPS locks, smart waste management through bins with alters to cleaners when they are full and even smart toilets that can detect when they need cleaning.

    “The launch of Southeast Asia’s first commercial nationwide NB-IoT network will accelerate our journey into a digital society,” M1 CEO Karen Kooi said.

    “The Internet of Things will open up an incredible array of fresh opportunities and innovation. We look forward to working closely with government agencies, technology partners, and customers to enable smart solutions for everything and everyone.”

    Rival Singtel has meanwhile announced plans to roll out a nationwide cellular IoT network supporting both CAT-1 and NB-IoT by end September.

    Singtel will use its cybersecurity operations to support businesses in deploying secure IoT solutions, and plans to invite business and technology partners to develop and test IoT solutions at its joint IoT Innovation Lab operated with Ericsson.

    “The launch of our network provides an ideal platform for the proliferation of IoT devices and applications,” Singtel CEO Bill Chang said.

    “With more businesses embracing the digital future, it paves the way for IoT adoption as Singapore advances towards becoming a Smart Nation. We welcome businesses to be part of the growing IoT ecosystem by leveraging on our robust infrastructure and network.”

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  • About 20,000 people get their caffeine fix at the Singapore Coffee Festival

    About 20,000 people get their caffeine fix at the Singapore Coffee Festival

    About 20,000 coffee fiends got their fix and more at the second edition of the Singapore Coffee Festival, which ended yesterday.

    The four-day event featured more than 90 exhibitors including coffee purveyors, equipment distributors and cafes, as well as workshops, talks and live entertainment at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre.

    Exhibitors and visitors who attended last year’s festival praised this year’s edition for its more spacious layout with 11,500 sqm spread over two floors, and greater variety of products on offer. Last year’s event was held at the F1 Pit Building.

    Many vendors reported brisk business at the weekend, with festival favourites such as The Coffee Academics’ Coffee In A Cone, cream muffins by bun-maker Hattendo and coffee-roasted pork chop buns by patisserie-restaurant chain Antoinette drawing long queues.

    Hattendo was left with just 100 cream muffins after yesterday’s brunch session, and had made about $3,000 in sales a day, said Hattendo Singapore chief executive Daisuke Ishioka.

    “We prepared more than 1,000 every day, and every day it has sold out. We are selling more than we expected to,” he said.

    Splitting each day into two sessions – brunch and sundown – helped with crowd control and gave vendors time to replenish stocks.

    Antoinette’s pork chop buns, created specially for the festival, proved so popular that they will be added as a weekend menu item at its restaurants soon, said its sales and marketing manager, Ms Wong.

    A repeat participant at the coffee festival, Antoinette has seen a doubling in sales this year, with up to 2,000 buns sold over the four days.

    A Barter Market, live music and fireworks displays at Sunrise Wharf on Friday and Saturday were among other highlights of the festival, which also hosted the 2017 Singapore AeroPress Championship by Common Man Coffee Roasters on Friday.

  • StarHub 1H17 profit falls 21%

    StarHub 1H17 profit falls 21%

    Singapore’s StarHub has reported a 21% slump in net profit for the first half of the year to S$85.7 million ($63.1 million), as  result of declining revenue and margins.

    Service revenue for the six-month period fell 2% year-on-year to S$1.08 billion due to lower mobile, broadband and pay TV service revenues.

    Total mobile revenue fell 1% to S$599 million despite an increase in postpaid and prepaid customers of 21,000 and 33,000 respectively.

    Broadband revenue fell 1% over the same period to S$107 million, but enterprise fixed revenue was up 2% to S$198 million, with enterprise data and internet services revenue up 5% to S$176 million.

    StartHub also reported a decline in ebitda margin to 31.6% from 34.2% a year earlier.

    “In the quarter, we announced our acquisition of Accel to enhance our enterprise-grade cyber security offerings. This acquisition dovetails perfectly with our strategy to grow our enterprise business and demonstrates our push for inorganic growth,” StarHub CEO Tan Tong Hai said.

    “In the consumer space, we are happy to see continual improvements in customer satisfaction levels… We remain focused on addressing our customers’ digital lifestyle needs by offering them relevant products and services to enjoy a better StarHub experience.”

    For the full year, StarHub is currently projecting flat service revenue and a group ebitda margin of between 26% to 28% of service revenue. The company expects capex payments to be around 13% of total revenue.

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  • Singapore consumers need mobile data

    Singapore consumers need mobile data

    Half of Singapore consumers would only be able to only last one day without using mobile data, according to a survey commissioned by MVNO Circles.Life

    The survey of over 900 respondents also discovered that many Singapore consumers are data deprived, with 2 in 3 saying that they need at least 6GB of mobile data per month to not worry about busting their mobile data limits. The industry average is between 3.5GB to 4GB of mobile data usage a month.

    “Findings of the survey are consistent with our internal market research, where we have discovered that consumers in Singapore needed more data, but did not have affordable access to it,” commented Rameez Ansar, co-founder and director of Circles.Life.

    “After we launched our 20GB for S$20 data Data Plus option in March, we saw a huge spike in the data usage of our subscribers to the current average of 8GB per month, more than double of the current industry usage. Singapore consumers are hungry for more mobile data and we expect that demand to grow as a nation.”

    The Circles.Life Annual Mobile Data Usage Survey 2017 was conducted by survey research firm, Survey Sampling International (SSI) of Singaporeans between 16 to 54 years old.

    The survey also revealed that many users were frustrated with their current mobile data limits and 9 in 10 felt frustrated when they reached their month data limits.

    In addition, 1 in 2 Singapore consumers have exceeded their monthly mobile data limits at least once in the last six months and of these, 24% exceeded their mobile data limits by at least 3GB.

    Survey respondents indicated that their most frequently used mobile app used each day was Whatsapp, followed by Facebook and YouTube. Dating apps were the least frequently used mobile apps.

    In conjunction with National Day 2017, Circles.Life is offering a free upgrade to its no-contract mobile plan for new subscribers. New subscribers joining in August will enjoy the 20GB for S$20 Data Plus option for free for the month of August.

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  • NEC opens first Advanced Centre for Experimentation (ACE) in Singapore

    NEC opens first Advanced Centre for Experimentation (ACE) in Singapore

    NEC Corporation and NEC Asia Pacific today announced the opening of NEC’s first Advanced Centre for Experimentation (ACE), aiming to facilitate the company’s global Research & Development capabilities.

    The ACE is strategically located in Singapore, with its favorable research ecosystem and infrastructure, and forms a key component of NEC’s growth strategy in the Asia Pacific region. Operated by NEC Laboratories Singapore (NLS), the ACE leverages NEC’s core technologies and advanced solutions, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and ICT platforms, to create new value and contribute to a safer, smarter living environment for people and communities.

    The facility allows co-creation of solutions and provides a “living lab” for proof-of-concepts foradvanced solutions that help customers and partners, including governments and enterprises, in areas such as public safety, transportation and healthcare. This enables close collaboration with NEC researchers in a real world environment, and makes it possible to clearly understand thebenefits of new solutions before commercial deployment and operation.

    In conjunction with the opening of the ACE, NLS, which currently is staffed with 33 researchers/solution engineers, will hire an additional 50 researchers/solution engineers within the next three years, mainly specializing in AI, the Internet-of-Things, Cognition and cyber security, thereby contributing to the further development of Singapore’s R&D talent pool.

    “We are delighted that NEC has chosen to establish their ACE in Singapore. This investment by NEC is a strong testament of Singapore’s talent pool and innovation capabilities to drive the digital transformation of industries.  The ACE will enrich Singapore’s digital ecosystem, and will foster new partnerships for the co-creation and commercialization of new solutions from Singapore,” said Tung Meng Fai, Director, Infocomms and Media, Singapore Economic Development Board.

    “The establishment of the ACE is a significant milestone for us as it is the first of its kind for NEC globally. NEC is investing more than S$100 million in the Asia Pacific region over the next five years mainly for research and development, and the set-up of the ACE in Singapore is the heart of this investment. This experiment facility underscores NEC’s strong commitment to business in Asia Pacific,” said Tetsuro Akagi, Senior Vice President of NEC Corporation and Chief Executive Officer of NEC Asia Pacific. “Leveraging NEC’s technological innovation in AI and big data analytics, we hope to innovatively help governments and enterprises across the region in their digital transformation journey.”

    Established in September 2013, NLS aims to accelerate time-to-market of NEC’s solutions for society. NLS core expertise is in the study of social concerns jointly with government, enterprises, and research institutes, and proposing a combination of advanced information communication technologies to form new solutions to solve a broad range of business and social challenges.

    NLS has conducted joint research projects with partners and customers around the world. This includes SMRT Buses, a public bus transport operator in Singapore. SMRT Buses and NEC launched Singapore’s first telematics monitoring system consisting of eco-drive sensors that monitor and analyze bus captains’ driving behavior in 2014. This has led to another innovative project with SMRT Buses to develop the Professional Learning and Training Management System (PROLEARN). PROLEARN provides a comprehensive approach to constantly monitor, proactively manage, and provide customized training for drivers with relevant operational and industry-specific competencies using NEC’s big data analytics technology.

  • Alipay Southeast Asia partners with Fave in Singapore

    Alipay Southeast Asia partners with Fave in Singapore

    Alipay Southeast Asia is partnering with Fave to roll out seamless cross-border payments via app, starting with Singapore.

    Fave, an online-to-offline (O2O) mobile platform and Alibaba Group’s financial affiliate Ant Financial will allow the Alipay app to be used for payments at restaurants and offline retailers that are part of the Fave ecosystem, with special offers and rewards for users.

    With 520 million users worldwide, Alipay is one of the world’s largest online and mobile payment platforms. As more than 3 million Chinese tourists are expected to visit Singapore this year, the ability to accept Alipay will greatly benefit local restaurants and retailers and Southeast Asia as a whole, according to Fave.

    “Restaurants and offline retailers are the backbone of the economy in Singapore, and we aim to help them succeed,” says Fave founder Joel Neoh. “While more than 90 per cent of retail spend is done offline, retailers are always looking for ways to reach out to mobile-savvy customers.”

    Regionally, Fave covers more than 10,000 restaurants and offline retailers, and has more than a million active users who can earn rewards in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

    “By partnering with innovators like Fave, we are giving Chinese travellers the safe, efficient and convenient payment services they are accustomed to at home,” says Alipay Southeast Asia head Dayong Zhang.

    According to Singapore Tourism Board (STB) preliminary estimates, more than 2.8 million Chinese travellers visited Singapore last year, proving the largest source of tourism receipts, spending more than S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) to the end of September alone.

    Launched 12 months ago, Fave covers such segments as F&B, beauty and wellness, and lifestyle and activities, and has acquired Groupon Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The company sprang from fitness sharing platform KFit.

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  • Delayed launch for Pablo Singapore

    Delayed launch for Pablo Singapore

    After a delayed launch, cheese-tart chain Pablo Singapore is set to open in Wisma Atria in the next couple of weeks.

    The Japanese brand had originally been scheduled to open this month.

    On sale will be the chain’s signature 15cm-wide tarts, plus two other flavours – the matcha cheese tart with shiratama mochi and azuki or red beans, and the chocolate cheese tart.

    As in other overseas outlets of Pablo, the “medium” version of the tart will be offered (in Japan, diners can also order a “rare” version that oozes molten cheese filling when sliced).

    There will also be a crustless premium cheese tart with a caramel glaze topping, inspired by creme brulee. Later this year mini-tarts will be added to the menu.

    With 78 seats, the cafe will occupy a 1400 sqft (130 sqm) space on the first level of Wisma Atria, formerly occupied by Omakase Burger.

    Pablo is being brought in by Caerus Holdings, which runs New York confectionery chain Lady M in Orchard Central, Westgate mall and South Beach Avenue.

  • HAWKR launches healthy ‘grab-and-go’ in heart of Quarray Bay

    HAWKR launches healthy ‘grab-and-go’ in heart of Quarray Bay

    Using the freshest ingredients and authentic flavours, HAWKR has reconceived Southeast Asian favourites for grab-and-go eating. Curries, soup noodle pots, Vietnamese and Thai baguettes and wraps, healthy breakfasts, bespoke HAWKR juices and tailored, house-blend coffees are on the menu at HAWKR’s new outlet in Quarry Bay.

    Inspired by the hawker food centres of Southeast Asia, serving a variety of regional dishes, HAWKR is newly opened on the ground floor of 36 Hoi Kwong Street, on the corner of Tong Chong Street and opposite the commercial complex of Taikoo Place.

    The contemporary grab-and-go takes on the region’s vibrant food culture from Singapore and Malaysia to Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia, and brings an innovative and much needed takeaway concept to Hong Kong’s culinary scene.

    In partnership with the founder of Myanmar based lifestyle concept Pun+Projects and restaurateur, Ivan Pun, and consumer private equity professional Jake Astor, pop-up dining and private kitchen chef Mina Park’s nutritious, fresh take on Southeast Asian street food is appealing to time-pressed young professionals and office workers amid the commercial mini-metropolis of Taikoo Place.

    Each dish has been conceived by Mina using the freshest ingredients and HAWKR’s own recipes. No MSG, artificial flavours or preservatives are used in any of the menu items.

    The day-long menu starts with light breakfasts including healthy superfood sabja and chia seed puddings, with fresh fruit, yoghurts and pastries.

    HAWKR is also standing out from the ‘grab-and-go’ crowd by developing its own bespoke coffee blends using only the highest quality beans. Each blend, developed by their resident barista, has an Indonesian coffee base, as well as a mixture of other beans, including Ethiopian and Brazilian.

    HAWKR’s beans are roasted to order by local artisan roaster, Happy Bean Roastery.

    HAWKR avoids MSG and artificial flavouring, and strives to use only ingredients that “we would feel comfortable eating ourselves every day,” said Mina Park.

    “We have worked hard to create dishes that highlight the flavours of Southeast Asia and incorporate the gorgeous herbs and spices that I love.”

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  • Dover Street Market opens in Singapore

    Dover Street Market opens in Singapore

    Dover Street Market has finally opened its doors in Singapore, the fifth location for the Japanese fashion retailer, conceived by fashion designer Rei Kawakubo, the founder of luxury label Comme des Garçons.

    Located inside an old army barrack, the latest market addition officially opened on Saturday, after it was first announced in December 2016.

    DSM Singapore is housed in a building that forms part of the COMO Dempsey complex.  The complex has been hailed as a “lifestyle destination” in Singapore, stocked with designer shops and restaurants.

    “I want to create a kind of market where various creators from various fields gather together and encounter each other in an ongoing atmosphere of beautiful chaos; the mixing up and coming together of different kindred souls who all share a strong personal vision,” said the Japanese designer, who designed the new store.

    DSM Singapore sells a curated range of luxury streetwear labels. Inside, Balenciaga, The Row, and Thom Browne are in their self-designed individual sections, alongside the mainstay Comme des Garçons — hung within two large glass-meets-steel fittings.

    Elsewhere, the Wire Fence Labyrinth boasts metal mesh walls and hosts women’s fashion from Jacquemus, JW Anderson, Molly Goddard and Vetements, while the store’s men’s apparel is found inside solo steel towers.

    DSM opened its first location in London in 2004. Today, it has locations in Tokyo, New York and Beijing.

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  • Cheers launches first unmanned, cashless store in Singapore

    Cheers launches first unmanned, cashless store in Singapore

    The Cheers outlet at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) looks like its a normal store – with shelves and fridges stocked with food and drinks – except there is no cashier or assistant in sight.

    The convenience store, fully managed by NYP students, is fitted with at least 10 closed-circuit cameras.

    Customers use a QR code found on the free “Shop It Yourself” mobile app to gain entry to the store. The doors lock automatically after entry.

    The store also features a unified self-checkout system that accepts various cashless payment modes, eliminating the need for multiple payment terminals.

    Customers can pay using Nets, credit card, ez-link, mobile and contactless payment.

    The outlet is also the first convenience store to accept Nets payment by QR code, a new form of payment that utilises DBS Paylah, OCBC Pay Anyone and UOB Mighty.

    There are also three vending machines dispensing ready-to-eat foods ranging from pastries and pizza to fried rice and hor fun.

    At the back end, a system tracks stock levels and automatically places orders when stocks are low.

    This unmanned format saves Cheers 180 man hours per week.

    At the launch of the store on Friday (July 28), Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran said the move by Cheers “raises the bar of what it means to be a convenience store of the future… (and) affirms that local retailers are more than equal to the task of remaining relevant and competitive”.

    This is especially the case when local retailers are now up against the likes of Amazon Prime Now, launched earlier this week, which uses artificial intelligence technology and offers delivery within two hours, he said.

    Mr Seah Kian Peng, chief executive of NTUC FairPrice which runs Cheers, said the store is a step towards offering a “differential and innovative retail concept”.

    “To stay competitive and relevant, a key approach is to provide value-added services that cater to the needs and convenience of customers,” he said. “Besides challenging industry norms, this store also aims to cultivate a self-service culture in Singapore.”

    The store will be fully run by NYP’s School of Business Management students specialising in retail, with help from their lecturers and advisers from Cheers. Over 50 of them will be selected annually and deployed in several batches throughout the year to run the store.

    Instead of having to man the store at the front end, the students will “move up the value chain… (and) take a more strategic approach to drive the success of the store”, said NYP principal Jeanne Liew.

    For example, they will use data and video analytics to study purchasing behaviour and customise the store’s inventory accordingly.

    The store at NYP opens from Monday to Friday between 7.30am and 7.30pm.

    Cheers plans to pilot another unmanned convenience store in Tampines by the end of August.

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  • Help for Singapore start-ups in Indonesia

    Help for Singapore start-ups in Indonesia

    Singaporean start-ups eyeing the Indonesian market can now look to a new innovation hub in its capital. Block71 Jakarta, a 1,500 sq m facility in the Kuningan district, officially opened its doors yesterday to 24 businesses from both countries. Operations had begun in March.

    The hub, a tie-up between the National University of Singapore’s entrepreneurial arm NUS Enterprise and Indonesia’s Salim Group conglomerate, will host conferences, business competitions and other start-up events.

    It is based on Singapore’s Block71 in Ayer Rajah Crescent.

    NUS Enterprise chief executive Lily Chan said: “Block71 Jakarta is open to all start-ups and entrepreneurs who are keen to explore the Indonesian market. In particular, we strongly encourage companies that are developing innovative technology solutions with the potential to scale globally to apply.”

    Start-ups are also expected to be able to tap the global networks of investors and industry players that NUS Enterprise and Salim Group are plugged into.

    The group’s executive director, Mr Axton Salim, said in a statement: “We have embarked upon this initiative as we want to support entrepreneurs as well as encourage new developments in Indonesia.

    “The Salim Group’s networks and experience will facilitate the entry of start-ups and innovations to the local market and benefit the community here.”

    His family business deals in a diverse array of sectors, with its units including real estate, telecommunications and manufacturing.

    Among the Singapore start-ups that have ventured into Block71 Jakarta is the pslove company, which sells heat patches to alleviate menstrual cramps. Founder Tan Peck Ying told: “As a consumer product company, we go where the demand is. For the past couple of months, we have been getting multiple requests from Indonesia and this is a natural move for us.”

    The Indonesian start-ups at Block71 Jakarta include 8villages, a social enterprise that provides rural farmers with a mobile information platform to communicate and do business.

    Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade) Lim Hng Kiang, who officiated the hub’s opening ceremony yesterday alongside his Indonesian counterpart, said: “Block71 Jakarta will be a launch pad for Singapore entrepreneurs and innovators to build ties with the Indonesian start-up community. We hope Block71 Jakarta will foster a healthy two-way exchange of ideas, innovation and expertise.”

  • Singtel adds virtual Visa account to Dash app

    Singtel adds virtual Visa account to Dash app

    Singtel has introduced a new virtual Visa account on its all-in-one mobile payments app Dash.

    New and existing Dash customers now receive a Dash Visa Virtual Account that can be used for mobile payments at over 50,000 merchant points across the island.

    To start paying on their mobile, customers can sign in on the Dash app and top-up their Dash Visa accounts and start using them at Dash merchants and on local e-commerce sites such as Qoo10, Zalora and HungryGoWhere.

    Customers with compatible NFC-enabled Android smartphones will also be able to pay using their Dash Visa accounts wherever Visa payWave is accepted.

    Singtel also announced future plans for Dash to be included in global wallets such as Apple Pay, and enable QR code payments to expand into hawker centres. In addition to Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Singapore Polytechnic, Dash is also working towards adding more educational institutions to its merchant list to widen its reach in the youth segment.

    But Forrester predicts that the future of mobile wallets will go far beyond mobile payments. Chinese digital juggernauts Alipay and WeChat have morphed their mobile wallets into rich customer engagement platforms. But even then, these functionalities will by no means guarantee their success in markets outside China.

    In a new report, Forrester senior analyst Xiaofeng Wang said market-entry obstacles like different business cultures, consumer behaviors, and regulations make it unlikely that Alipay and WeChat will operate directly in other markets beyond targeting Chinese travelers.

    However, the successful marketing use cases developed on Alipay and WeChat Wallet will inspire third-party players like Apple and PayPal to morph their mobile wallets into more powerful customer engagement platforms.

    Wang lists three trends that will shape the mobile wallet market in the future. Emerging mobile wallets will develop features similar to Alipay and WeChat. “We expect mobile wallet innovations to happen more quickly in emerging markets with less legacy and competition. Paytm in India is a good example,” she elaborated.

    Mainstream mobile wallets will add customer engagement features. For example, to help its mobile wallet attract more traffic to offline stores, PayPal added features like “stores nearby” and “order ahead.”

    Space will open up for third-party providers. The West’s different ecosystem creates added competition for its mobile wallet players, and gives third-party providers opportunities to add customer engagement features and offerings to Western mobile wallets and uncover the potential of marketing.

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