Axiata Digital and Singtel International Group collaborate to improve mobile phone users' experience

BARCELONA,Spain andSINGAPORE,Feb. 27,2019 -- In a move that will benefit millions of Malaysian mobile phone users,Axiata Digital and the Singtel International Group and signed a Memorandum of Understanding at MWC Barcelona to collaborate in the development of mobile financial and digital services that will boost ASEAN's digital economy.

Axiata Digital and Singtel partnership boosts users’ convenience

"Our partnership with Axiata Digital adds further momentum to the Singtel International Group'sgoal toempower consumers to transact seamlessly across borders and deliver more exciting entertainment choices and experiences through the ecosystem of digital services that we are creating," said Mr Arthur Lang,CEO of Singtel International Group.

Axiata Digital and Singtel partnership boosts users' convenience

The agreement paves way for Malaysia's leading mobile wallet,Boost Malaysia,to add over 66,000 merchant points to the alliance's network,expanding the reach of the payment service for millions of Singtel Dash and AIS GLOBAL Pay users already on VIA,the Singtel International Group's cross-border mobile payment alliance. Boost Malaysia's 3.7 million customers will also be able to use their mobile wallet at VIA's more than 1.6 million merchant partners in Singapore and Thailand.

Both Axiata Digital and Singtel plan to jointly promote and drive cross-border payments to grow their respective user bases and merchant networks and explore collaboration around rewards and loyalty programmes.

"Mobile wallet interoperability has been high on our priority list and we're excited to kick off this partnership with one of the region's biggest technology companies. Boost's merchant base is growing at a strong pace and we're looking forward to serving Singtel's e-wallet users when they visit Malaysia. At the same time,we are also excited to potentially help drive revenue growth for our merchant partners who can now benefit from having our neighbours across the causeway visit their outlets. Vice versa,Boost users will also enjoy the same convenience when visiting Singapore,Thailand and,in future,other countries across the region," said Mr Mohd Khairil Abdullah,CEO of Axiata Digital.

Echoing Mr Abdullah's sentiment,the CEO of Singtel's International Group said the agreement will also help them increase their reach.

"We are delighted to welcome Boost Malaysia on board the VIA alliance,which gives us presence in an important new market. This shows the tremendous potential for us to grow cross-border mobile payments even beyond the countries where Singtel's regional associates operate. VIA's continued expansion will provide consumers with the ease and convenience of using one mobile wallet to pay across multiple regional markets as they travel. We look forward to more partners joining VIA," said Mr Lang.

Enhanced services and seamless payments for customers

The MOU will also see Singtel International Group's Open Platform,a payment gateway that enables online retailers and service providers to easily connect to the payment platforms of all members of the Singtel International Group,partner with Apigate,Axiata Digital's new-breed Application Programming Interface (API) platform. This will enable cross-sharing of product portfolios-- allowing customers to securely and conveniently pay with their direct carrier billing and mobile wallets for world class digital content from over 300 gaming and entertainment service providers.

"This agreement opens the door for Singtel International Group to collaborate with Apigate's next generation API ecosystem to create innovative propositions for customers," said Mr Zoran Vasiljev,CEO of Apigate.

The Singtel International Group's partnership with Apigate will build an ecosystem of digital services with a focus on areas such as mobile financial services and content including videos and gaming to engage a combined mobile customer base of more than 1 billion across Asia.

About Axiata Digital

Axiata Digital Services (AD),the digital services arm of Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata),was established to support the increasingly digital lifestyle of Axiata consumers. AD's role has evolved from passive investor of 30 brands to a business operator with the portfolio now focused on 3 main pillars namely digital financial services (e-wallets,remittance,micro-insurance and micro-lending),digital advertising and platform services focused on API's (Application Programming Interface) through the following major brands: Boost,ada (analytics,data,advertising) and Apigate.

About Singtel

Singtel is Asia's leading communications technology group,providing a portfolio of services from next-generation communication,technology services to infotainment to both consumers and businesses. For consumers,Singtel delivers a complete and integrated suite of services,including mobile,broadband and TV. For businesses,Singtel offers a complementary array of workforce mobility solutions,data hosting,cloud,network infrastructure,analytics and cyber-security capabilities. The Group has presence in Asia,Australia and Africa and reaches over 675 million mobile customers in 21 countries. Its infrastructure and technology services for businesses span 21 countries,with more than 428 direct points of presence in 362 cities.

VIA was launched by the Singtel Group in October 2018,with partners AIS,Singtel's regional associate,and Kasikornbank,Thailand's digital bank,to create a region-wide payment network that will enable consumers to securely and conveniently pay with their mobile wallets when they travel in Asia Pacific. The Group plans to progressively expand this alliance to include other regional associates Airtel in India,Globe in the Philippines,Telkomsel in Indonesia,working within each country's regulations,as well as non-telcos.

For more information,visit www.singtel.com.

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/SingtelNews.

Media Contacts:

Chia Wan Fen

Manager,Group Strategic Communications and Brand,Singtel

+65-6838-5991

fen@singtel.com

Salim Abu Haniffa

Head,Marketing Communications

Axiata Digital Services

Tel: +6019-289-6830

Email: salim@axiatadigital.com

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190227/2387605-1