News & Updates
August 21, 2017
DBS Bank has started a contactless payment trial with Old Tea Hut, using a phone app called FasTrack. Queuing up time has been cut from 20 to six minutes. Photo: Ernest Chua In late 2014, the Singapore government unveiled plans for Singapore to become a Smart Nation. This entailed harnessing the power of networks, data and info-comm technologies to create economic opportunities and build a closer community. As Singapore ramps up plans to build a Smart Nation, the prospects for mobile payments companies like WeChat Pay, Alipay and Apple Pay appear to be bright. Mobile payments fit into the Smart […]
August 18, 2017
FOMO Pay invited to share payment solutions at this year’s SMEICC The 19th Small and Medium Enterprises Infocomm Commerce Conference (‘SMEICC’) and SME Expo was recently held on 16-17 August 2017 at the Suntec Convention Hall. SMEICC is an annual event organised by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (‘SCCCI’), an organisation with a membership of more than 4,000 companies and over 150 trade associations. The event presented a valuable opportunity for solutions providers like FOMO Pay to share and showcase the latest and newest technology enterprise solutions available for SMEs to utilize. It was also a chance […]
August 17, 2017
Mobile payments: China’s cashless revolution In an earlier report, we highlighted the case study of a Channelnewsasia reporter who experimented living a day in China without cash. The conclusion of that report is that it is indeed very possible to live in China without any physical cash if you have WeChat Pay or Alipay installed on your smart phone. However, while the facilities are there in place to enable a ‘cashless’ lifestyle, just how prevalent are mobile payments in China? In Q1 2017, Chinese consumers spent 18.8 trillion RMB (S$3.84 trillion) via mobile payments last year. This is nearly 50 […]
August 16, 2017
WeChat Pay applies for license to offer local payment services in Malaysia In its latest push to enter international markets, WeChat Pay has applied for a license in Malaysia to offer local payment services. If WeChat Pay’s application is successful, this would symbolize a watershed moment for both Tencent and its WeChat payment app. Although WeChat Pay is currently available in many countries worldwide (including Singapore), overseas users are still unable to pay for goods and services if their WeChat accounts are not linked to a Chinese bank account. Should the Malaysian government accept WeChat Pay’s application, this would mean […]
August 14, 2017
FOMO Pay to help more SMEs reach out to mainland Chinese customers with new FOLAH (易码付) service Singapore, August 14, 2017 – Local payments company FOMO Pay enhances its existing services to help small and medium-sized enterprises in Singapore attract mainland Chinese customers. Starting from July this year, merchants without a point of sale (POS) terminal will be able to use FOLAH (易码付) to allow customers to pay via Chinese mobile payment methods such as WeChat Pay and Alipay. FOLAH (易码付) is a QR code based technology that aggregates several payment methods. Each participating retailer will obtain its own unique […]
August 14, 2017
Alipay vs WeChat Pay – A scramble for overseas markets We are all too familiar with the ‘David vs Goliath’ allegory. However, where the clash is between two companies controlling more than 92% of an 18.8 trillion yuan (S$3.84 trillion as at time of writing) mobile payments market in Q1 2017, it becomes more of a ‘Goliath vs Goliath’ type of situation. Despite their market dominance, both WeChat Pay and Alipay are not content with the status quo. Instead, they have been increasingly rolling out new measures through dishing out a slew of incentives (e.g. cash rebates and free bus […]