This expansion builds on last year's integration of Weixin Pay (WeChat Pay) and Alipay, making the OCBC app Southeast Asia's most connected for wallet payments, with 10 wallets in total. The new connections are part of OCBC's ongoing strategic partnership with Visa, which began in 2024 to enhance cross-border payment capabilities. This feature is expected to significantly benefit Singapore's foreign workforce by simplifying remittances and helping them stay connected with loved ones.
With this expanded partnership, OCBC customers can make near-instant, fee-free transfers to Coins (Philippines), GCash (Philippines), GoPay (Indonesia), LinkAja (Indonesia), Momo (Vietnam), Ovo (Indonesia), PayMaya (Philippines), and Touch 'n Go (Malaysia). These wallets, in addition to the two Chinese wallets, collectively represent a total user base of up to 2.72 billion.
This pay-to-wallet feature on the OCBC app tackles key remittance challenges – speed, cost, and accessibility – especially for the region's large unbanked population. The foreign workforce in Singapore stand to benefit the most, as many still rely on slower and costlier over-the-counter services, cash agents, or manual bank transfers. 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.
Since launching the service with Chinese wallets a year ago, OCBC has processed over SGD 60 million in transfers, driving a fourfold increase in cross-border transfers to China, a key market for the bank. Ninety per cent of users have not visited a branch recently, and three-quarters are PMETs, mainly Chinese nationals sending money home. With this expansion, OCBC expects significant adoption among Singapore's 1.6 million-strong foreign workforce.
Mr. Sunny Quek, Head of Global Consumer Financial Services, OCBC said: "When we launched pay-to-wallet transfers last year, we promised to go beyond China and we have since delivered. By connecting OCBC accounts to eight of Southeast Asia's most popular wallets, we are removing friction from cross-border payments and making remittances faster, cheaper and more inclusive. We're not stopping here – our long-term goal is to connect customers to 50 digital wallets worldwide, giving them the most comprehensive wallet access of any banking app."
The OCBC app's pay-to-wallet capabilities are powered by Visa Direct, which provides access to nearly 11 billion endpoints, including 3.5+ billion accounts, 4+ billion cards, and 3.5+ billion digital wallets.
"Visa Direct is transforming the way money moves globally. By enabling direct bank-to-wallet transfers across Southeast Asia, we're helping to bridge financial gaps and support the millions of people who rely on remittances for daily needs. Our latest Visa International Remittances report shows that nearly six in ten Singaporean remittance users plan to maintain or increase the amount they send overseas this year—a testament to the resilience and digital maturity of Singapore's financial landscape," said Ms. Adeline Kim, Visa Country Manager for Singapore & Brunei.
"Our expanded partnership with OCBC enables us to connect additional digital wallets across Southeast Asia, empowering customers to send money quickly, securely, and conveniently. We look forward to extending our reach to more wallet partners in the near future," she added.Hashtag: #Visa
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About OCBC
OCBC is the longest established Singapore bank, formed in 1932 from the merger of three local banks, the oldest of which was founded in 1912. It is one of the world's most highly-rated banks, with Aa1 by Moody's and AA- by both Fitch and S&P. Recognised for its financial strength and stability, OCBC is consistently ranked among the World's Top 50 Safest Banks by Global Finance and has been named Best Managed Bank in Singapore by The Asian Banker.
OCBC is the second largest financial services group in Southeast Asia by assets. The Group offers a broad array of commercial banking, specialist financial and wealth management services, ranging from consumer, corporate, investment, private and transaction banking to treasury, insurance, asset management and stockbroking services.
OCBC's private banking services are provided by its wholly-owned subsidiary Bank of Singapore, which operates on a unique open-architecture product platform to source for the best-in-class products to meet its clients' goals. Its insurance subsidiary, Great Eastern Holdings, is the oldest and most established life insurance group in Singapore and Malaysia. Its asset management subsidiary, Lion Global Investors, is one of the leading asset management companies in Southeast Asia. Its brokerage subsidiary, OCBC Securities, is one of the leading securities firms in Singapore.
The Group's key markets are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China. It has close to 400 branches and representative offices in 19 countries and regions.
For more information, please visit www.ocbc.com.
About Visa
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, sellers, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.
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