Latest news with #TrueMoney
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Worldpay expands into Thailand with domestic acquiring capabilities
Payments firm Worldpay has expanded its operations to include domestic acquiring capabilities in Thailand, enhancing Asia Pacific footprint. With this expansion, Worldpay aims to provide global merchants with the tools to serve Thai consumers by offering local payment options. The company now offers domestic acquiring services in a total of nine Asia Pacific markets, which includes Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, India, and South Korea. With this move, local merchants can process transactions and settle funds in the Thai currency. Furthermore, the company has launched support for four alternative payment methods prevalent in Thailand: LINE Pay, TrueMoney, PromptPay, and online banking. Worldpay also provides local merchants with additional services, including fraud protection, dispute management, and access to global data insights. Worldpay president of global enterprise Gabriel de Montessus said: 'The payments landscape is rapidly evolving in Thailand as we're seeing a significant shift from cash use to digital wallets and account-to-account (A2A). 'Our in-market experts help merchants optimise their offerings, navigate complexities, and ensure they accept the right mix of payment types enabling them to unlock growth opportunities.' For merchants operating on a global scale, Worldpay offers a unified point of integration, facilitating business transactions in more than 170 countries. The announcement follows the company's recent expansion into other markets, including Colombia, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates. Last month, Worldpay partnered with Early Warning Services to provide the Paze checkout option to its network of US merchants. "Worldpay expands into Thailand with domestic acquiring capabilities " was originally created and published by Electronic Payments International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
02-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Thailand's Chearavanont Brothers Lead Their CP Group Into A Digital Future
Dhanin Chearavanont, senior chairman, CP Group. Zhang Ling/Xinhua via Getty Images This story is part of Forbes' coverage of Thailand's Richest 2025. See the full list here . The Chearavanont brothers' agribusiness-to-telecoms conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group) has lately been on a digital and regional expansion drive. In June, its fintech arm Ascend Money secured approval to establish a virtual bank, which paves the way for the firm to leverage its digital platform TrueMoney, with its countrywide base of 34 million users. A month earlier, True IDC, the data center and cloud services arm of the group's telecoms giant True, teamed up with a BlackRock unit to invest $1 billion over the next three to five years to build data centers in Thailand, which is aspiring to become an ASEAN digital hub. After its 2023 merger with rival Total Access Communications, True is now the country's largest mobile operator with nearly 49 million subscribers. With an eye on regional expansion, CP Group will be setting up a $1 billion private equity fund with Philippine sovereign wealth fund Maharlika Investment Corp. to invest in agriculture, digital innovation and renewable energy in the Philippines. Over the past 12 months, the net worth of the Chearavanont brothers has gone up by $6.7 billion to $35.7 billion.
Business Times
23-06-2025
- Business
- Business Times
TrueMoney stands out in Thailand's virtual banking shake-up after licence win
[BANGKOK] Thailand is shaking up its sleepy banking sector. The Thai Finance Ministry's decision to grant virtual bank licences to three consortiums on Jun 19 is set to inject fresh new competition to Thailand's staid financial sector – but for these newcomers, turning a profit may prove elusive. Five consortiums threw their hats into the ring in February 2024, vying for a shot at Thailand's first new bank licences in decades. Only three made the cut. The winners must launch fully operational virtual banks within a year, each backed by at least five billion baht (S$196.4 million) in startup capital. The three successful bidders are: Ascend Money, owned by Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group) and the main stakeholder in the TrueMoney e-wallet, backed by Ant International (an affiliate of Alibaba); SCB X, the holding company of Siam Commercial Bank, in partnership with South Korea's Kakao Bank and China's WeBank, both established digital banks; and Krungthai Bank, which has teamed up with telecom operator AIS (a unit of Gulf Energy) and OR, the retail arm of state energy giant PTT. The two bidders who lost out were a Bangkok Bank-led consortium with Singapore's Sea Group, and a grouping of BTS Group (the Skytrain operator), Thailand Post, Saha Group and Lighthub Asset Group, which teamed up with Hong Kong-based fintech WeLab. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) hailed the move to award the new licences as a way 'to help promote healthy competition in the system both in terms of quality and price… without affecting stability of the financial system.' A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up This means the central bank does not expect the virtual banks to be particularly disruptive of the well-established, very stable and quite profitable existing commercial bank system. Thailand has around 16 commercial banks, but the top six – Bangkok Bank, SCB, KBank, Krungthai, Krungsri and ttb – dominate the market, accounting for 82 per cent of all loans and deposits. There are also several government-owned banks set up to provide financial access for the 'underbanked' including SME Bank, Government Savings Bank, Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives and the Islamic Bank of Thailand. The new virtual banks are expected to focus on expanding financial access by targeting Thailand's 'underbanked' population, rather than merely poaching customers from the incumbent banks. But some are not convinced. 'I am skeptical because the market is pretty saturated,' said Parson Singha, banking sector analyst at Fitch Ratings Thailand. 'It is going to be pretty difficult for them to get market share.' Thailand's commercial banks and their state-run counterparts have done a reasonably good job over the years in extending credit to corporates, homebuyers, car owners, credit card users and even small and medium-sized enterprises. The result is that Thailand now has one of the highest household debt levels in Asia, with debt amounting to 89 per cent of gross domestic product. That high ratio has barely budged over the past decade of sluggish growth – largely because GDP, the denominator in the household debt equation, has remained weak. 'The problem is not the lack of credit, but the lack of growth, lack of income,' said Singha. 'At the end of the day in depends on the wider economy as well, and this is not a great economy to bank in.' Thailand's GDP is now projected to grow 1.6 to 1.8 per cent – one of the lowest rates in the region. While GDP growth was decent in H1 2025, driven by exports and tourism, these two engines are expected to lose steam in H2. This is when US President Donald Trump's tariffs may kick in, leading geopolitical tensions to worsen and domestic politics to become more uncertain. No one's expecting a sudden turnaround when the new virtual banks enter the market, slated for June 2026. But observers believe the new banks could begin making waves within the next three years. Of the three licensees, the one with the most 'disruptive potential' is the one led by True Money. This is due to its significant reach in the country's key sectors from telecoms (True Corp, with 36 million subscribers) and agribusiness (chicken, pork, shrimp farms, feed and processed foods) to retail, where it has a presence in 15,000 7-Eleven outlets, Lotus' supermarkets and Makro wholesale stores – and now, banking. CP has been operating e-wallet True Money since 2003, and currently has an estimated 20 million users – higher than some banks' customer bases. The app allows investors to make deposits and withdrawals (currently via a connection with Kiatnakin Phatra Bank), and invest in stocks and bonds. A virtual bank licence gives the e-wallet provider the option to sever ties with Kiatnakin Bank and focus instead on building synergies across the vast CP Group ecosystem. 'With the banking licence, they can reach out to all those 20 million people right away, and most of them are living upcountry and are currently underserved... (they) will disrupt,' said Chonladet Khemarattana, president of Thai Fintech Association. He pointed out that the real gamechanger is access to alternative data such as spending patterns and revenue flows captured through the e-wallet platform. With a banking licence, True Money can also start providing more financial services to the CP Group, such as supply chain finance and cash management at CP's 15,000 7-Eleven outlets. Meanwhile, SCB X stands to benefit from technology transfer from Kakao and WeBank (Tencent Group), while Krungthai has access to the AIS data base – some 50 million subscribers – as well as its own banking data. Note that Krungthai was used as a conduit for the government's various relief programmes during Covid-19, and has thus acquired personal data on millions of underbanked Thais. While each consortium brings its own strengths to the table, they will all have to grapple with Thailand's lacklustre economy alongside the challenge of making partnerships work. The track record does not imbue much confidence. 'All of them are individually good, but can they cooperate?' asked Chonladet. 'To be honest, I haven't seen many successful joint ventures or consortiums in Thailand.'
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Adobe and Antom Forge Strategic Partnership to Empower Digital Creativity with Seamless Payment Access Across Asia
Antom's unified payment solutions help Adobe enhance flexibility and accessibility for more customers and achieve further growth. Adobe and Antom will explore AI-powered promotions through A+ Rewards to enhance user engagement. SINGAPORE, April 15, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Adobe and Antom, a leading provider of unified merchant payments and digitisation solutions under Ant International, today announced a strategic partnership to launch an optimized payment experience and tailored digital marketing offerings for Adobe's customers across Asia. "At Adobe, we're always looking to deliver elevated and localized experiences for our customers. As our base of customers in Asia fast expands, we're excited to announce our partnership with Antom to integrate localized payment options for our customers and unlock new growth opportunities in the various markets we're expanding with Antom into," said Matt Wegner, Vice President, Global Payments, at Adobe. Adobe will integrate localized payment solutions to strengthen its global footprint with its user-centric approach. Leveraging Antom's comprehensive acquiring network, advanced payment technology and broad local payment method coverage across Asia, this partnership will help Adobe optimize transaction flows, increasing conversion rates, and ensuring fast, secure and cost-effective payment settlement. In the first phase of the collaboration, 8 new alternative payment options will be rolled out across 8 key Asian markets, including AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR, China), DANA (Indonesia), GCash (the Philippines), Kakao Pay (South Korea), Momo (Vietnam), PayPay (Japan), Touch 'n Go (Malaysia) and True Money (Thailand). Moving forward, both companies may explore opportunities to introduce additional payment methods to include credit cards, bank transfers, digital wallets, and more. "We are excited to collaborate with Adobe, a pioneer in leveraging AI to enhance creativity and productivity for its users. Through this partnership, we aim to make Adobe's advanced tools more accessible to a broader customer base in high-growth markets. Adobe's AI strategy aligns closely with our commitment to supporting merchants with unified payment solutions powered by AI, and we look forward to driving greater synergy together," said Gary Liu, General Manager of Antom, Ant International. Beyond payments, the two parties will explore opportunities to introduce Adobe into Antom's A+ Rewards, an in-App digital marketing platform powered by privacy-preserving computing and AI technologies. It connects brands with hundreds of millions of e-wallet users by embedding with leading e-wallets in Asia. This collaboration is expected to help Adobe improve customer acquisition and engagement through targeted campaigns integrated into users' everyday digital payment experiences. "We work with global industry leaders to enhance their presence and advance digital innovations in Asia and beyond, and the partnership with Adobe is part of that effort. We look forward to enabling professionals and enterprises, especially small businesses, to adopt cutting-edge technology and fully unlock their potential," Liu added. Overall, the Antom-Adobe partnership will enhance accessibility to creative professionals, businesses and educational institutions, helping them leverage Adobe's products with greater flexibility. Region-specific payment options built on Antom's robust payment infrastructure will allow Adobe to respond to the evolving needs of customers in the Asia market via an omnichannel marketing approach that will deploy curated offers and content that is supported by their most preferred payment methods. About Antom Ant International's Antom is the leading payment and digitisation services provider for merchants around the world. It offers unified, vertical-specific digital payment solutions to serve businesses of all sizes. Antom supports merchants in over 50 countries and regions, enabling them to connect with consumers in more than 200 markets, with the flexibility to accept payments in more than 100 currencies. Beyond payments, it provides digital marketing solutions and merchant digitisation services to help merchant streamline operations and enhance customer engagement. To learn more, please visit View source version on Contacts Media Contact Ant InternationalJanice Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Adobe and Antom Forge Strategic Partnership to Empower Digital Creativity with Seamless Payment Access Across Asia
Antom's unified payment solutions help Adobe enhance flexibility and accessibility for more customers and achieve further growth. Adobe and Antom will explore AI-powered promotions through A+ Rewards to enhance user engagement. SINGAPORE, April 15, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Adobe and Antom, a leading provider of unified merchant payments and digitisation solutions under Ant International, today announced a strategic partnership to launch an optimized payment experience and tailored digital marketing offerings for Adobe's customers across Asia. "At Adobe, we're always looking to deliver elevated and localized experiences for our customers. As our base of customers in Asia fast expands, we're excited to announce our partnership with Antom to integrate localized payment options for our customers and unlock new growth opportunities in the various markets we're expanding with Antom into," said Matt Wegner, Vice President, Global Payments, at Adobe. Adobe will integrate localized payment solutions to strengthen its global footprint with its user-centric approach. Leveraging Antom's comprehensive acquiring network, advanced payment technology and broad local payment method coverage across Asia, this partnership will help Adobe optimize transaction flows, increasing conversion rates, and ensuring fast, secure and cost-effective payment settlement. In the first phase of the collaboration, 8 new alternative payment options will be rolled out across 8 key Asian markets, including AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR, China), DANA (Indonesia), GCash (the Philippines), Kakao Pay (South Korea), Momo (Vietnam), PayPay (Japan), Touch 'n Go (Malaysia) and True Money (Thailand). Moving forward, both companies may explore opportunities to introduce additional payment methods to include credit cards, bank transfers, digital wallets, and more. "We are excited to collaborate with Adobe, a pioneer in leveraging AI to enhance creativity and productivity for its users. Through this partnership, we aim to make Adobe's advanced tools more accessible to a broader customer base in high-growth markets. Adobe's AI strategy aligns closely with our commitment to supporting merchants with unified payment solutions powered by AI, and we look forward to driving greater synergy together," said Gary Liu, General Manager of Antom, Ant International. Beyond payments, the two parties will explore opportunities to introduce Adobe into Antom's A+ Rewards, an in-App digital marketing platform powered by privacy-preserving computing and AI technologies. It connects brands with hundreds of millions of e-wallet users by embedding with leading e-wallets in Asia. This collaboration is expected to help Adobe improve customer acquisition and engagement through targeted campaigns integrated into users' everyday digital payment experiences. "We work with global industry leaders to enhance their presence and advance digital innovations in Asia and beyond, and the partnership with Adobe is part of that effort. We look forward to enabling professionals and enterprises, especially small businesses, to adopt cutting-edge technology and fully unlock their potential," Liu added. Overall, the Antom-Adobe partnership will enhance accessibility to creative professionals, businesses and educational institutions, helping them leverage Adobe's products with greater flexibility. Region-specific payment options built on Antom's robust payment infrastructure will allow Adobe to respond to the evolving needs of customers in the Asia market via an omnichannel marketing approach that will deploy curated offers and content that is supported by their most preferred payment methods. About Antom Ant International's Antom is the leading payment and digitisation services provider for merchants around the world. It offers unified, vertical-specific digital payment solutions to serve businesses of all sizes. Antom supports merchants in over 50 countries and regions, enabling them to connect with consumers in more than 200 markets, with the flexibility to accept payments in more than 100 currencies. Beyond payments, it provides digital marketing solutions and merchant digitisation services to help merchant streamline operations and enhance customer engagement. To learn more, please visit View source version on Contacts Media Contact Ant InternationalJanice
