YouTrip inks partnership with Visa in South-east Asia expansion drive

SINGAPORE'S multi-currency mobile wallet YouTrip has inked a six-year partnership with Visa to accelerate its expansion into the rest of South-east Asia - with an eye on Malaysia and the Philippines as potential markets in the next six to 12 months.

Currently launched in Singapore and Thailand, YouTrip has garnered over one million downloads to date, YouTrip and Visa said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

The fintech startup has a separate partnership with Mastercard that covers Singapore and Thailand.

The latest announcement comes a year after YouTrip's first regional expansion to Thailand in collaboration with Thai bank Kasikornbank, which has over 13.9 million online banking customers as at November 2020.

Unlike regional travel in other parts of the world such as Europe or the US, travelling within South-east Asia requires multi-currency spending, the companies said.

This, coupled with the year-long pent up demand for travel and cross-border payment, puts YouTrip in good stead for further expansion, they added.

"Leveraging Visa's global network of 70 million merchant locations worldwide, YouTrip aims to enable South-east Asia travellers with access to cross-border payment solutions such as wholesale exchange rates and no foreign currency transaction fees in over 150 currencies," YouTrip and Visa said.

"Together, we look forward to bringing faster, safer and more convenient digital payments to people across the region," added Matt Wood, head of digital partnerships for the Asia-Pacific at Visa.

- With additional reporting by Claudia Chong