The Singtel Group and Malaysia’s Axiata Digital have inked an MoU at MWC Barcelona to collaborate in the areas of mobile financial and digital services that will support ASEAN’s efforts to grow the digital economy.
The agreement will pave the way for Boost Malaysia, Axiata Digital’s mobile wallet, to join VIA, the Singtel Group’s cross-border mobile payment alliance, and grow VIA’s footprint beyond Singapore and Thailand to Malaysia. As Malaysia’s leading mobile wallet, Boost Malaysia will add over 66,000 merchant points to the alliance’s network, expanding the reach of the payment service for millions of Singtel Dash and AIS GLOBAL Pay users already on VIA. Boost Malaysia’s 3.7 million customers will also be able to use their mobile wallet at VIA’s more than 1.6 million merchant partners in Singapore and Thailand.
Both Singtel and Axiata Digital plan to jointly promote and drive cross-border payments to grow their respective user bases and merchant networks, and explore collaboration around rewards and loyalty programmes.
VIA was launched by the Singtel Group in October 2018, with partners AIS, Singtel’s regional associate, and Kasikornbank, Thailand’s digital bank, to create a region-wide payment network that will enable consumers to securely and conveniently pay with their mobile wallets when they travel in Asia Pacific. The Group plans to progressively expand this alliance to include other regional associates Airtel in India, Globe in the Philippines, Telkomsel in Indonesia, working within each country’s regulations, as well as non-telcos.
Enhanced digital suite of services and seamless payments for customers
The MOU will also see the Singtel Group’s Open Platform, a payment gateway that enables online retailers and service providers to easily connect to the payment platforms of all members of the Singtel Group, partner with Apigate, Axiata Digital’s new-breed Application Programming Interface (API) platform. This will enable cross-sharing of product portfolios, and also allow world class digital content from over 300 gaming and entertainment service providers to be offered to consumers who can securely and conveniently pay with direct carrier billing and mobile wallets.
Arthur Lang, CEO, Singtel International Group
Our partnership with Axiata Digital adds further momentum to the Singtel Group’s goal to empower consumers to transact seamlessly across borders, and deliver even more exciting entertainment choices and experiences through the ecosystem of digital services that we are creating.
