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Tag: TrueMoney

  • Alibaba supports Thailand’s TrueMoney

    Alibaba supports Thailand’s TrueMoney

    Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding is backing Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand’s TrueMoney payment service, which will expand to Bangkok’s train services as early as September.

    Passengers will be able to pay fares and shop at station kiosks by scanning a QR code on their smartphone screen.

    Alibaba’s Ant Financial owns about 20 per cent of TrueMoney, which aims to expand its network 10-fold to 100,000 locations by the end of this year. Users can charge their accounts at Thailand’s more than 10,000 7-Eleven convenience stores, which are run by the Charoen Pokphand group in Thailand, or link them to a credit card or bank account. The group also has 27 million subscribers of its telecom company True.

    Next, say industry observers, cafes and fast-food chains, including KFC, are on the radar for TrueMoney, which aims to overtake Rabbit Line Pay, the market-leading service from Japanese messaging app provider Line and elevated train service BTS Group Holdings. About 60 per cent of Thailand’s population uses the Line chat app, with users of the mobile pay service now numbering about 3 million.

    Alibaba partnered with Philippine conglomerate Ayala last year and launched mobile payments mainly at shopping malls and supermarkets.

  • TrueMoney Wins Payment Services License in Vietnam, Launches TrueMoney Wallet

    TrueMoney Wins Payment Services License in Vietnam, Launches TrueMoney Wallet

    TrueMoney Vietnam (“TrueMoney”), part of Southeast Asian Fintech company Ascend Money, has obtained the Intermediary Payment Services License from the State Bank of Vietnam to operate digital financial services in e-money, e-payment, wireless transfers, and payment gateways. TrueMoney is processing over one million transactions per month, with 500,000 customers a month transacting with TrueMoney agents and TrueMoney Wallet.

    Tanyapong Thamavaranukupt, President of Ascend Money, said, “Winning the license to operate digital financial services cements our presence in Vietnam, an important market for Ascend in our expansion throughout Southeast Asia. This means TrueMoney is now able to deploy a broad range of safe, affordable and convenient digital money solutions to Vietnam’s population of 90 million. In particular we hope to provide equal access to financial services for the unbanked.”

    Consumers can now use TrueMoney Wallet to make online purchases, pay bills and top up their pre-paid mobile and gaming cards, as well as to transfer money from their bank accounts to the digital wallet and from their wallet to other wallets. Offline and online merchants can use TrueMoney’s system as a payment gateway. Companies will soon be able to disburse payroll to their employees via TrueMoney Wallet.

    TrueMoney has a network of over 5,000 agents across 40 provinces in Vietnam. Agents are small business owners who conduct financial services for customers, enabling the largely underserved Vietnamese population to access fast and easy services such as top-up and bill payment near their location. TrueMoney Vietnam will soon offer additional financial services such as loans and insurance, in the second quarter of 2018.

    Vietnam has one of the lowest banking penetration rates in the region, with only one third of the population having an account with a formal financial provider, compared to the regional average of 69%.

    “While Vietnam has the potential to surpass China in GDP growth by 2020, the country urgently needs to connect its people and businesses to financial services, to reap the benefits of inclusive growth. As Southeast Asia’s fastest growing mobile commerce market, as well as one of its largest unbanked populations, Vietnam poses a key opportunity for TrueMoney to innovate and scale,” Tanyapong continued.

    TrueMoney, an e-payment and financial services provider for digital and unbanked consumers, is the only Fintech company with e-money licenses to operate financial services in Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines, and Vietnam. Across Southeast Asia, Ascend Money has reached over 35 million customers in 2017 and aims to reach 100 million customers by 2020.

    Vietnam, along with the Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar, has been identified by the World Bank as among the top 25 countries to focus strategic efforts on financial inclusion. According to the World Bank, in 2014 Vietnam had the lowest credit card usage in Southeast Asia, and only 50 per cent of the debit cards in circulation were in use.

    Tanyapong added, “The blurred lines between the unbanked and the underbanked—those with formal access but limited engagement—points to the need for not just access to bank accounts, but the regular use of banking in the daily lives of the population. This means that digital financial services can reach a much larger segment of the population if delivered through a comprehensive platform—addressing not just the need for a digital wallet, but also broader daily needs of merchants and users to transition from offline to online payment methods seamlessly. By strengthening the overall prevalence and convenience of e-money in daily life, Ascend Money plays a leading role in unlocking the potential of the digital economy in Southeast Asia for digital consumers and the underbanked alike.”

    Vietnam is the second country in the region to launch TrueMoney Wallet after Thailand. Following the successful roll-out of TrueMoney Wallet across Thailand in major retail outlets such as 7-Eleven convenience stores, with almost 10,000 branches nationwide, Ascend has continued to expand in markets that are among the region’s lowest in financial inclusion rates.

    TrueMoney Wallet was officially launched in Vietnam this year during the Lunar New Year with the TrueGift campaign, in which celebrities and users sent virtual red packets (hongbao) to their fans and friends to celebrate the special holiday.

    The Asian Development Bank estimates that bringing digital financial services to Southeast Asia’s unbanked population can boost the GDP of economies by as much as 6%.

  • Fintech Firm TrueMoney Reaches 13,500 Customer Service Points in Indonesia

    Fintech Firm TrueMoney Reaches 13,500 Customer Service Points in Indonesia

    PT Witami Tunai Mandiri, the Indonesian operations of Southeast Asian fintech firm TrueMoney, has reached 13,500 Indonesia customer service points. Through these agent-managed service points TrueMoney provides a suite of e-money solutions, including depositing and withdrawing cash, paying for online purchases, and domestic fund transfers, which are fully compliant with Indonesian central bank regulations.

    TrueMoney is now one of the largest non-bank e-money providers, and the first non-bank fintech firms to hold a remittance license as well as a Shariah-complaint e-money license, critical for reaching a large percentage of Indonesian consumers.

    Alfamart, one of Indonesia’s largest convenience store operators, is TrueMoney’s latest partner, bringing its 13,168 outlets onto TrueMoney’s agent network. With TrueMoney’s suite of e-money solutions, Alfamart’s customers – many of which have no bank account or credit/debit card – can use digital financial services – pay, purchase, and transfer – that they may otherwise have no access to.

    Nussy Aryanto, President of TrueMoney Indonesia said, “Far too many of Indonesia’s people have no, or very limited access to financial services. By being mobile first and working with a number of partners such as Alfamart, we are able to offer access, convenience and completely new financial products to this large population. Our mission is to bring basic financial services to every single Indonesian.”

    According to the International Finance Corporation about 20%-25% of Indonesia’s 255 million population has a bank account, but there are around 325 million mobile subscriptions. With 85% of the population owning a mobile phone, about half are smartphones. This means digital services, including digital financial solutions, can reach a much larger segment of the population if delivered, at least in part, through mobile devices.

    Hans Prawira, President of Alfamart said, “We have millions of customers across Indonesia, especially outside of major cities. We are always trying to serve their needs, and our partnership with TrueMoney will bring a whole new set of products and services that will improve our customers’ lives. It will now be much easier and cheaper for them to send and receive funds from relatives, using cash at our outlets; their lives will be changed.”

    Marketing Magazine recently awarded TrueMoney Indonesia “The Best Innovation in Marketing” for it efforts at building an agent network of roadside shops and grocery stores to provide financial services across Indonesia.

    TrueMoney provides a number of e-payment services across Southeast Asia, including TrueMoney Wallet, WeCard (with MasterCard), TrueMoney Cash Card, Kiosk, Express, Payment Gateway, and Remittance. It also provides cash-in and cash-out services, which will be especially useful in Indonesia where a large number of the population is unbanked or underserved by banking and financial institutions. They can do this at any of TrueMoney’s 13,500 agent locations in ten provinces.

    Today, TrueMoney Indonesia introduced its newest service TrueMoney Remittance, with Alphamart as the service provider. TrueMoney Remittance is a cash-to-cash service which allows customers to send and withdraw cash from any of Alphamart’s 13,168 stores.

    TrueMoney launched its operations in Indonesia in June 2016. The partnership with Alfamart follows a number of important partnerships across Indonesia, including Samsung. TrueMoney is a subsidiary of Thailand-based Ascend Money, one of the largest fintech companies in Southeast Asia with over 20 million customers. Ascend Money is backed by Thailand’s CP Group and has recently secured a 20% investment by ANT Financial Services Group, operator of China’s most popular e-wallet Alipay.

  • TrueMoney adds support for Apple digital purchases

    TrueMoney adds support for Apple digital purchases

    Thailand’s True Corp has introduced the ability to pay for purchases over Apple’s digital platforms using its TrueMoney digital payment service.

    All TrueMoney customers are now able to purchase items through the App Store, Apple Music or iTunes directly from their TrueMoney accounts, the company announced.

    Customers with new or existing Apple IDs will be able to select TrueMoney is a payment method in their account settings for the three digital stores from their Apple devices or PCs in the case of iTunes.

    The payment option will allow for one-tap purchasing from Apple devices including iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and Apple TVs.

    Last week, Vietnam’s Vinaphone became the last of the nation’s major mobile operators to introduce carrier billing for Google Play over the Fortumo payments platform.

  • TrueMoney Transfer is Thailand’s first affordable remittance solution for migrant workers

    TrueMoney Transfer is Thailand’s first affordable remittance solution for migrant workers

    TrueMoney, a subsidiary of Ascend Group, announces the launch of TrueMoney Myanmar and the launch of its fund transfer solution, TrueMoney Transfer.

    TrueMoney Myanmar aims to be a leading financial service provider, offering bill payment, mobile topup, remittance, and cash collection services. With two offices, one in Yangon and one in Mandalay and a network of 3,000 agents nationwide, TrueMoney Myanmar is working  continuously to expand its services and agent network to fulfill its mission of enabling everyone access to innovative financial services, leading to better lives because we believe that financial access should be a basic right for everyone.

    TrueMoney is also launching TrueMoney Transfer, the company’s first international money transfer solution. Fast, easy, safe, and affordable, TrueMoney Transfer enables real-time fund transfers from Thailand to Myanmar, allowing Burmese migrant workers to significantly reduce the expense and risks associated with sending money to family back home.

    Fast with real-time fund transfers, easy with 250 transfer spots in Thailand by end-2016 and 681 transfer spots in Myanmar, safe with a passcode to receive the money that only the sender knows, and affordable with transaction fees starting at 50 Baht. To celebrate the launch of the TrueMoney Transfer service, TrueMoney is waiving the transfer fees for all transactions until October 31, 2016. Transfer fees usually start at only 1,818 MMK  per transaction.   

    Migration within and across Myanmar’s long borderline has been long-standing. In an aim of improving relatives’ standard of living, many Burmese have chosen to cross borders in search of decent work and income. To date, according to the United Nations (UN), Thailand is home of almost 2 million hard working Burmese sending 2,8 billion Kyat back home annually, namely 1 million Kyat per person per year. 

    Transferring money to loved ones has undoubtedly become a crucial need for Burmese migrants and their families. However, a large number of Myanmar workers remain unbanked, due to a variety of reasons such as, but not limited to legal status, language barrier, and access to banking services. We have developed TrueMoney Transfer to give a faster, safer, more secured and affordable alternative to the commonly used informal channels”, said Ms. San Thaw Da Wun, Country Director of TrueMoney Myanmar. 

    Indeed, sending money from Thailand to Myanmar can be very expensive and uncertain. Because no other options are available to date, Myanmar migrant workers are placing their trust and savings within informal networks, which are complicated, time-consuming – it can take up to 4/5 days to send funds –, and unsafe – there is no guarantee that the intended receiver will ever receive the money.

    Mr. Lawt Aung, Senior Product Executive of TrueMoney said, “TrueMoney Transfer will deeply change the lives of millions of hard-working people who do not have access to proper banking services. The network we have built throughout Myanmar is the stronger existing. Our 681 TrueMoney Transfer spots in Myanmar cover 91 percent of migrant workers hometowns such as Mon, Tarintharyi, Kayin, Shan, Yangon, and Bago, bringing services for money transfer in rural areas where banks don’t even have a representation. The solution will enable money transfer from Thailand to Myanmar only. By end of 2016, the 250 transfer spots in Thailand will be concentrated in areas with a large population of Myanmar migrant workers such as Bangkok, Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakarn, Tak, Ranong, Kanchanaburi, and Phuket.

    Ms. San Thaw Da Wun added, “It has never been that simple to transfer money internationally”.

    Users can simply register a user account at one of TrueMoney’s official agent shops in Thailand, show their ID, and instantly transfer funds to Myanmar. After informing the agent of the receiver’s name and mobile number and the amount to be transferred, the sender will be told the exact amount the receiver will receive. The sender will also receive an 8-digit code via SMS. The receiver can immediately use the given code, in addition to their identification and mobile phone number, to receive cash at any of the TrueMoney Transfer spots in Myanmar.

    TrueMoney has developed this new innovation to offer a cross-border remittance service that is fast, easy, safe, and affordable to upgrade the standard of living of everyone.

    TrueMoney Transfer – Fact Sheet

     

    TrueMoney – Key information

    About TrueMoney Thailand Company

    TrueMoney is an Ascend Group subsidiary and the first epayment provider in Thailand that has been granted a license from the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Thailand to offer cross-border remittance service

    About TrueMoney Transfer solution

    TrueMoney has been developing the TrueMoney Transfer solution to help unbanked individuals as well as migrant workers to safely send money to their loved ones and to give them an alternative to costly and unsecured informal money transfer solutions

    Key information about TrueMoney Transfer

    • TrueMoney Transfer, Thailands first fast, easy, safe, and affordable remittance solution for migrant workers
    • With 250 TrueMoney Transfer spots in Thailand by end- 2016 and 681 in Myanmar, a very affordable cost as well as no fee applied for receiving money, this is the most accessible platform available to date
    • You can transfer up to 30,000 Baht per transaction and up to 200,000 Baht per day
    • The transfer fee is waived until October 31, 2016 (normally 50 Baht for 100-5,000 Baht transferred)
    • TrueMoney Transfer is available for individual customers only

    Process to setup an account

    • To use TrueMoney Transfer simply register for the service by showing your ID and mobile phone number at one of TrueMoneys official agent shop. This process is one time will take just a few minutes.
    • Then, youll need to give the receivers details and mobile phone number before handing over the money you wish to transfer. The TrueMoney Transfer officer will let you know exactly how much money the receiver will get in the destination currency.
    • You will then get an 8digit transaction code via SMS to your registered mobile phone number.
    • The receiver simply need to show the 8digit transaction code, ID, and their mobile phone number to any TrueMoney Transfer spot in Myanmar to get the cash right away.

    Target users

    Unbanked individuals and migrant workers who wants to transfer money back to Myanmar

     

    Transaction fee (Conditions as stipulated by the company)

    Remittances from 100 Baht to  5,000 Baht

    Transaction fee at 50 Baht

    Remittances from 5,001 Baht to  10,000 Baht

    Transaction fee at 100 Baht

    Remittances from 10,001 Baht to  15,000 Baht

    Transaction fee at 150  Baht

    Remittances from 15,001 Baht to  20,000 Baht

    Transaction fee at 200 Baht

    Remittances from 20,001 Baht to  25,000 Baht

    Transaction fee at 250 Baht

    Remittances from 25,001 Baht to  30,000 Baht

    Transaction fee at 300 Baht

     

    TrueMoney Transfers user profile

    Myanmar migrant workers Key data

    Number of Myanmar workers in Thailand to date

    2 million workers, 50% nonregistered

    Gender

    • 57% male
    • 43% female

    Age

    • 1624: 21%
    • 2534: 52%
    • 3555: 27%

    Location

    • Bangkok Outskirts: 38%
    • South: 27%
    • North: 16%
    • Central: 13%
    • Bangkok: 6%

    Occupation

    Fishing worker, Farm worker, Factory worker, Rubber worker, Construction worker, Housekeeper

     

    Myanmar’s remittance market

    Average number of fund transfers per individual per year

    6 times a year

    Average amount sent per transfer per individual

    6,650 THB

    Total number of transactions per year

    12 million THB

    Total amount of money transferred per year

    77 billion THB