Singapore's first mobile money solution for smartphones and feature phones
Singapore 12 April 2013 – Singapore took a giant step towards becoming a cashless society today with the launch of Singtel mCash, the nation's first mobile money solution that is a convenient and secure alternative to cash.
mCash enables users to make payments quickly and easily through their mobile phones, while on the move. It is available to subscribers of all mobile operators in Singapore. In the coming months, consumers will be able to pay for their daily necessities, such as transport, food and shopping, using funds stored in their virtual mCash account. They will also be able to use mCash to shop online, purchase online game credits and pay bills. This mobile money solution will be the first of its kind in Singapore to enable customers to pay their friends and family instantly, making tasks such as splitting bills in restaurants and overseas remittances a breeze.
Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, Singtel's CEO Consumer Singapore, said: “With mCash instant money transfers, a mobile phone will truly be all that you will need when you leave home. mCash is not just for Singtel subscribers and is not limited to terminal-based NFC transactions or NFC phones, making it ubiquitous and more powerful than other mobile commerce solutions in the market. For example, parents will be able to give pocket money to their kids via mCash. Friends can pay one another instantly after dinner. You will have the exact amount to pay the taxi driver without having to manage change from a $50 note.”
At launch, customers can use mCash to top-up Singtel prepaid mobile services and to transfer money overseas with their mobile phones via Singtel’s mRemit service (please refer to Annex 1 for details on mRemit). They can conveniently top up their mCash accounts at an expanding list of outlets, including AXS stations and Singtel Retail Shops, enabling them to perform transactions immediately.
mWallet mobile app
Together with the introduction of mCash, Singtel launched the mWallet smartphone app to allow mobile subscribers of any network to access their mCash easily and carry out transactions.
At launch, mWallet also offers Singtel mobile customers the convenience of using two contactless payment cards on their NFC smartphones: DBS One.Tap Mastercard ® and EZ-link virtual card. With a single tap, the DBS One.Tap Mastercard ® allows customers to pay for goods and services at more than 30,000 MasterCard Paypass payment points across the island, including cafes, cinemas and retailers. (Please refer to www.dbs.com.sg/OneTap for details.) The EZ-link virtual card can be used at over 20,000 points island-wide, for example, taxis, supermarkets and fast food chains. (Please refer to www.ezlink.com.sg/ez-link-card/where-to-use.php for more details.)
With secure 6-digit password protection, mWallet users do not need to worry about unauthorised usage of their mCash funds and stored-value cards.
Access to mCash is not restricted to smartphone users only. Feature phone users will also be able to perform key transactions via SMS. From 16 April 2013, they can SMS ‘mCash’ to 77766 to carry out transactions including international funds remittance and Singtel prepaid airtime top-up, without downloading the mWallet app. More features will be introduced this year.
Mr Yuen said: “For many of our customers, the mobile phone has become an indispensable part of life. The launch of mCash cements the role that the mobile phone plays as an all-in-one tool for commerce, information, entertainment and lifestyle needs. Singtel is excited to deliver new mobile experiences that simplify our customers’ lives and help them get important tasks done quickly and conveniently.”
For more details and information on signing-up, please visit www.singtel.com/mcommerce.
Android available at launch. iOS available in the coming weeks
