APRILASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK9NEWSROOMBIGPAY PARTNERS WITH THREDD TO BOOST PAYMENT PROCESSING ACROSS SOUTHEAST ASIABank of Hangzhou, a commercial bank in China with assets totaling $275 billion, has partnered with Maybank, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, to assist Chinese companies entering the Southeast Asian market. The collaboration aims to "enhancing cross-border business and advancing digital innovation", as stated by Maybank. This encompasses providing services like cross-border financing, currency clearing in Southeast Asia, and greater interbank collaboration within China. The duo will spearhead initiatives to improve cross-market customer services by jointly exploring digital banking possibilities. Maybank's announcement highlights data governance, artificial intelligence, analytics, fintech product innovation, talent development, and knowledge sharing as primary areas of focus."Together, we will be involved in co-development of AI and digital offerings to facilitate the `going global and bringing in' of businesses from both countries," comments Siew Chan Cheong, group chief strategy and transformation officer of Maybank.Dato' Khairussaleh Ramli, president and group CEO of Maybank, adds: "This collaboration would create a lot of opportunities for both banks by leveraging our strengths of extensive footprint and experience in ASEAN."We aim to provide comprehensive financial services as a stop centre to support the Chinese enterprises expanding into Southeast Asia."Established in 1960, Maybank is now one of the largest comprehensive financial service companies in Southeast Asia, catering to clients in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Southeast Asian fintech firm BigPay has teamed up with paytech company Thredd to enhance its payment processing features throughout the region. Established in 2017, BigPay provides a financial services application to more than 1.4 million users in Singapore and Malaysia, offering features such as local and international payments, global transfers, micro-insurance, personal loans, and expense analytics. It intends to broaden its services to Thailand this year, with Indonesia and the Philippines set to come in early 2024. "As we prepare to bring BigPay to new markets across Southeast Asia, we need a payments technology partner with a deep understanding of digital banks, embedded finance, and the complexities of the region," states Mitherpal Sidhu, chief operating officer (COO) at BigPay. Sidhu points out that Thredd's payment system is "well-known for its reliability and flexibility, and their investment in dynamic emerging technologies, like generative AI, is a real differentiator".Previously called Global Processing Services (GPS), Thredd asserts that it has achieved "record revenue growth" throughout the Asia-Pacific region this year, securing contracts in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia. The firm asserts that it handles "billions" of debit, prepaid, and credit transactions each year, supporting more than 100 fintechs, digital banks, and embedded finance entities in 44 nations. BANK OF HANGZHOU, MAYBANK PARTNER TO BOOST TRADE AND DIGITAL INNOVATION
< Page 8 | Page 10 >