AUB’s e-wallet HelloMoney expands to South Korea, Malaysia, and Hong Kong

ASIA UNITED Bank Corp. (AUB) has expanded the use of its e-wallet HelloMoney to South Korea, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, making the platform available in four countries or regions including Japan.

“We will continue to bring HelloMoney closer to more users to make mobile banking easier and for more merchants to help their business grow and thrive in the post-pandemic world,” said Wilfredo E. Rodriguez, Jr., AUB executive vice-president and head of operations and information technology, in a statement on Thursday.

“With Alipay+’s global presence through its integration with local merchants worldwide, our HelloMoney users will have a wider reach in payment acceptance while ensuring a safe and secure digital transaction,” he added.

The expansion into South Korea, Malaysia, and Hong Kong is powered by AUB’s partnership with Alipay+, along with several cross-border payments, and marketing and digitalization solutions operated by Ant International.

HoneyMonehy users may conduct transactions by scanning a Quick-Response (QR) code displayed in merchant stores abroad.

For South Korea, HelloMoney users can scan the ZeroPay QR, available in more than 1.7 million merchants nationwide.

In Malaysia, HelloMoney users can scan DuitNow QR, operated by PayNet, which is available in 1.8 million merchants.

Mr. Rodriguez said over the years, AUB has been building “a digital arsenal,” which he said includes “pioneering initiatives and innovations — from end-to-end digital account opening, to enabling clients to make banking easy through their mobile phone and merchants to sustain their businesses even with restricted mobility during the pandemic.”

HelloMoney was launched by AUB in 2019, as the bank looked to enable users to open an account without going to a physical branch and perform bank-to-bank fund transfers. 

Through the e-wallet, users may also buy prepaid load, remit money through PeraPadala, pay via QR code, settle bills, withdraw cash through ATM, and shop online using HelloMoney’s own virtual Mastercard.

“Members of state-owned Pag-IBIG Fund can also manage their account and perform banking transactions through the Pag-IBIG Loyalty Card Plus via HelloMoney,” AUB said.

As of end-October, HelloMoney transactions grew by 65% to 30 million from 19 million in the same period last year. This was equivalent to P115 billion, 82% higher than year-ago’s P63 billion.

AUB’s net income rose by 15.04% year on year to P1.95 billion in the third quarter amid continued core business expansion and lower provisions. — Aaron Michael C. Sy