YouTrip plans entry into two more markets, launches new family offering in Singapore

[SINGAPORE] Singapore-headquartered fintech YouTrip plans to expand to two other new markets in the next 12 months.

Co-founder and CEO Caecilia Chu did not say which markets these were, but disclosed that the relevant licences have been obtained.

Meanwhile, the multi-currency mobile payment platform has launched a new product for families, allowing parents to get a mobile wallet and debit card for their children.

YouTrip Family offers up to 10 children’s accounts for each parent’s account; parents can cap and track their children’s spending. These children’s accounts have the same features as a regular adult account, including forex for travel or online use.

The idea for the product had its seeds in the experience that Chu had with her children. Her son was going on a school trip to Beijing in 2025, and had asked for some travel money.

She said: “I have been solving this problem for seven years, and yet, I had to go to the money changer to get some yuan for him because there was honestly no other way.”

A key difference between YouTrip Family and what the traditional banks offer for children is the facility to spend overseas, she said.

Children with accounts in YouTrip Family are given their own travel card and mobile wallet experience, and so are introduced to foundational money management skills such as budgeting, spending awareness and financial decision-making, YouTrip said in a statement on Thursday (May 28).

For now, the product will be available only in the Singapore market; plans have been made to launch it in YouTrip’s other markets, Thailand and Australia, after.

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Chu said that YouTrip Family will also help the fintech to understand and engage with future spenders, “because in 10 years’ time, they will be the main spenders and earners in the Singapore market”.

For now, parents looking to start an account for their child will need to use their SingPass to do so. There will be an option to graduate a children’s account to an adult one when the child is at least 15 years old.

This is the first of a slew of features that YouTrip is looking to launch for customers, with group spending and travel next on the list, said Chu. The new features will include facilities for group budgeting and bill splitting, slated for launch in the third quarter of 2026.

These features will be launched in Singapore, YouTrip’s home market, first.

Scaling up in other markets

Meanwhile, the fintech is still building its user base in its Thai and Australian markets, she said, though she declined to share the user-growth numbers there.

Rising oil prices have not quite affected YouTrip’s business so far, she said, because its Singapore customers are choosing destinations closer to home – such as Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong – rather than Europe.

The focus for Chu is to continue growing YouTrip in Singapore, Thailand and Australia; this includes rolling out more features to increase market penetration.

She is also focused on keeping the company’s culture intact as the fintech scales up its teams in its existing markets.

“No matter how much we have grown, we still want to make sure we do our job well for our users,” she said.