[SINGAPORE] Local bank OCBC on Thursday (Nov 20) said that it has added eight digital wallets from South-east Asia, enabling customers in Singapore to transfer money directly from their accounts to these wallets via the bank’s app.
The new wallets are: Coins, GCash and PayaMaya from the Philippines; GoPay, Ovo and LinkAja from Indonesia; Momo from Vietnam; and Touch ‘n Go from Malaysia.
This venture builds on the integration of China’s WeChat Pay and Alipay last year, making the OCBC app South-east Asia’s most connected for wallet payments, with 10 wallets in total.
It is also part of OCBC’s ongoing strategic partnership with Visa, which began in 2024 to enhance cross-border payment capabilities.
The 10 wallets collectively represent a total user base of up to 2.7 billion.
The feature is expected to significantly benefit Singapore’s foreign workforce by simplifying remittances and helping them stay connected with loved ones, said the bank.
“With OCBC’s app, workers or their employers can send money directly to their home country’s wallets, removing the need for recipients to have a bank account or visit a physical location,” it added.
OCBC has processed over S$60 million in transfers since launching the service with Chinese wallets a year prior – driving a four-time increase in cross-border transfers to China, which is a key market for the bank.
Sunny Quek, head of global consumer financial services at OCBC, said that the venture is “removing friction” from cross-border payments and making remittances faster, cheaper and more inclusive.
He added that the bank plans to go further. “Our long-term goal is to connect customers to 50 digital wallets worldwide, giving them the most comprehensive wallet access of any banking app.”
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