ASIA UNITED BANK (AUB) revealed it is riding on the growing number of Chinese tourist arrivals in the Philippines by accrediting more local merchants that accept mobile payment transactions through WeChat Pay, the world’s biggest social and mobile payment platform.
The latest company to sign up with AUB is Direct Agent 5, Inc. (DA5), an authorized direct agent of Western Union Money Transfer. With over 1,000 company-owned and partner locations nationwide, DA5 offers international and local remittance services, airline ticketing, bills payment facility and cell phone loading services, foreign exchange transactions, and mobile payments.
“We continue to expand our partnerships that offer financial technology solutions and harness a safe and efficient online, cross-border platform for the payment acceptance of utility bills from Chinese nationals. Customers deserve this convenience at their fingertips as part of the high-quality service and assistance we seek to provide them,” said DA5 President and CEO Raymond Babst in a press statement.
Using WeChat Pay, Chinese nationals residing or working in the Philippines can pay their utility bills such as electricity and phone bills.
“They have work opportunities in the Philippines but since they use WeChat Pay in China to pay for all their utility bills, we would like to mirror their experience here as they consider Philippines as their new home,” said AUB President Manuel Gomez.
What’s needed?
AUB developed the AUB PayMate app in late 2017 to enable merchants to offer Chinese tourists a fast, secure, and convenient way to pay for their shopping, dining, hotel and airline bookings, and other tourism-related activities using WeChat Pay.
“We’ve come up with a streamlined process for accrediting merchants. They simply need to submit accreditation requirements, open an AUB deposit account, have a smartphone and internet connection, and download the AUB PayMate App to start accepting QR code-based transactions from their Chinese clients,” said AUB First Vice-President and Cards Business Group Head Mags Surtida. (PR)