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YedPay forms partnerships to expand into Asean
Hong Kong fintech eyes interconnection between CBDC and traditional payment system
Patricia Chiu 20 Jan 2023

Hong Kong-based payment platform YedPay is expanding into Southeast Asia with the signing of three separate partnerships. 

YedPay has partnered with Thailand-based Venture Cap, an ASL Securities subsidiary, China UnionPay unit Easylink, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. 

“From 2023 onwards, Yedpay will expand its business abroad, with Thailand as its first stop, while making its way to other parts of the Asean,” says YedPay COO Beatrice Tai. 

In addition to its expansion plans, Yedpay aims to launch diversified financial products while also building an Asean payment hub that will connect Southeast Asia to Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China, Tai adds.

Cross-border remittance

Under the partnership with Venture Cap, the two companies will establish cross-border remittance and e-wallet channels between Thailand and Hong Kong, promising to provide an “efficient and secure payment system”. 

Wattana Kultavarakorn, executive managing director of ASL Securities, says the partnership will bring new opportunities for both companies and further promote interconnection and cooperation between the Thailand and Hong Kong fintech sectors.

YedPay’s partnership with EasyLink will provide a cross-border remittance system that is “compliant, legal, safe and convenient”.

Under the same partnership, users will be able to take advantage of an instant remittance system that is compatible with various electronic payment accounts, credit cards and e-wallets.

Users in Thailand and Hong Kong will also be able to remit to global UnionPay accounts through the UnionPay Global Express network (UnionPay MoneyExpress).

New technology

Finally, in cooperation with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, YedPay will develop a Tap-to-Phone technology, which the company envisions to be the first of its kind in the city. 

YedPay’s Tai says the new payment solution is envisioned to replace traditional point-of-sale machines with a mobile phone app. 

PolyU associate professor Haibo Hu says the Tap-to-Phone function is an industry-leading payment technology that will allow merchants to use their mobile phones to process transactions while ensuring data security.

The Tap-to-Phone technology is currently in the pilot phase but will be available to all YedPay business users by the early second quarter of 2023. 

In the same conference where YedPay announced the three partnerships, YedPay said it plans to establish the Yedpay Innovation Lab, which will study the feasibility of launching digital versions of the Chinese yuan and the Hong Kong dollar. 

“The company hopes to receive further support from the government, and also hopes to prove the feasibility of interconnection between the local central bank digital currency system and the traditional payment system, which is expected to solve the existing bottleneck of cross-border payment such as high cost, low efficiency, and low transparency,” YedPay says. 

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