ASIA UNITED Bank Corp.’s (AUB) e-wallet HelloMoney is expected to have wider acceptance in Japan, supported by Alipay+’s expanded partnership with PayPay.

“We welcome the continued expansion of the Alipay+ network of partners as this enables AUB to bring HelloMoney closer to more users, making mobile banking easier as well as helping more merchants grow their business globally,” AUB Executive Vice-President and Head of Operations & Information Technology Wilfredo Rodriguez Jr. said in a statement on Monday.

Alipay+, through its recently expanded partnership with PayPay, one of Japan’s quick-response (QR) payment operators, will now connect over three million local merchants in Japan to global payment partners, including HelloMoney.

“HelloMoney users can enjoy seamless and secure payment and travel experiences at even more merchants in Japan this year-end travel season and beyond,” AUB said.

In Japan, HelloMoney users can now scan PayPay QR codes to make payments at merchant-presented mode stores, even if the merchants don’t have Alipay+ point of sale materials.

“Alipay+ will collaborate with PayPay merchants to launch a promotional campaign, which will run from Dec. 20, 2024 to Jan. 10, 2025,” AUB added.

AUB is currently the only Philippine bank that has a partnership with Alipay+, which also allowed it to become the first local lender with an e-wallet with cross-border mobile payments.

Besides Japan, HelloMoney can be used at all merchants that carry the Alipay+ logo in Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, and Hong Kong SAR.

Launched in 2019, HelloMoney now has a customer base of more than six million. Besides cross-border payments, the app also has other features and product offerings such as prepaid load, remittance via PeraPadala, QR code payments, bills payment, and automated teller machine withdrawals, among others.

AUB’s net income jumped by 71.44% to P3.35 billion in the third quarter amid higher revenues. This brought its nine-month performance to P8.78 billion, up by 40.97% from a year ago.

Its shares closed unchanged at P62.70 apiece on Monday. — A.M.C. Sy