Singapore-based multi-currency mobile wallet YouTrip has forged a six-year partnership with Visa to accelerate its expansion into the rest of Southeast Asia, starting with Malaysia and the Philippines.
The announcement comes a year after YouTrip’s first regional expansion to Thailand in partnership with Kasikornbank, one of Thailand’s largest banks with over 13.9 million online banking customers as of November 2020.
YouTrip looks to Malaysia and the Philippines as the next potential markets in the next six to 12 months. The two markets present massive untapped potential with outbound travel expenditure expected to reach US$12.4bn and US$12.0bn from Malaysia and Philippines respectively in 2021.
Additionally, Malaysia and the Philippines are two of the fastest-growing Southeast Asian countries in mobile payment adoption, from 17% to 40% and 14% to 45% respectively. The partnership presents YouTrip the opportunity to bring its hyper localised, ‘Truly No Fees’ proposition to a growing group of digitally adept travellers.
“In a short span of two years, we have established YouTrip as a leading multi-currency wallet in both Singapore and Thailand. With our strong foundation, we look forward to combining our market-winning expertise along with Visa’s payment innovations to the rest of Southeast Asia, starting with Malaysia and Philippines,” Kelvin Lam, Regional General Manager of YouTrip adds.
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Despite the pandemic, YouTrip continues to establish a strong foothold in the multi-currency space online. Most recently, YouTrip has successfully pivoted to overseas e-commerce payment and recorded a three-fold increase in quarterly transactions, compared to the same period last year.
Currently launched in Singapore and Thailand, YouTrip has amassed over one million downloads to date.
Matt Wood, Head of Digital Partnerships Asia Pacific, Visa said: “We are excited to work with YouTrip across Southeast Asia to provide consumers and businesses with a multi-currency payment solution that is ideal for international eCommerce and cross-border travel. Together, we look forward to bringing faster, safer and more convenient digital payments to people across the region.” – BusinessNewsAsia.com