AUB eyes bus payments via e-wallet

Asia United Bank (AUB) is looking to expand its e-wallet services on HelloMoney from goods payments to transport payments as it builds on the digital tool’s six million users.

AUB president Manuel Gomez told this to DAILY TRIBUNE during the relaunch of the e-wallet at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX), which serves at least 150 million bus passengers yearly.

“Paying bus fares through our e-wallet is something we’re trying to sell to our bus operators. That is our intention now,” Gomez said.

For now, HelloMoney can be used to pay for goods at retail stores, including merchants at PITX.

Aside from domestic payments, Gomez said AUB aims to upgrade and expand cross-border payments in Filipinos’ favorite destinations through its partnership with Alipay.

“We want to improve our services in the current countries we serve like Japan and South Korea because most Filipinos now are going there,” he said.

“We will scale up our partnership with Alipay. There are still a lot of untapped underserved customers in the provinces, especially in terms of payments. Our focus is to serve customers the larger banks have not yet covered,” Gomez added.

Launched in 2019, HelloMoney has been used by clients to buy prepaid loads, remit money through PeraPadala, pay via QR code, settle bills, withdraw via ATM, and shop online using its virtual Mastercard.

HelloMoney users can also manage their Pag-IBIG Fund accounts and perform banking transactions through the Hello Pag-IBIG app.

Moving forward, Gomez said AUB will introduce HelloMoney’s microinsurance and digital savings with smart savings solutions, goal-based saving features, and automated savings options.