Ksher, a cross-border payments solutions provider founded by a Chinese, aims to expand its Filipino client base to over 50 percent of all clients in Southeast Asia by partnering with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and hiring more local workers.

“We’re growing our reach to Filipino SMEs in order to trade intra-ASEAN. The Philippines has been a lucrative market for us,” Ksher Philippines president Siva Kumar Indrasen Ramanathan said Wednesday on DAILY TRIBUNE’s online show Straight Talk.

Ksher established its business in the Philippines two and half years ago after Thailand, as Ramanathan said Ksher founder Bryan Zhou aims to provide a safe and cost-efficient payment collection to merchants outside China.

Ksher was inspired by China’s two major e-wallets Alipay and WeChat Pay which facilitate payments through QR codes, such as those displayed at convenience stores.

ASEAN adopts China trend

“Bryan’s startup managed mobile payments and as he was walking around, he saw the trend in China happening also in ASEAN,” Ramanathan said.

“We will provide the infrastructure to collect your payments using your computer. This benefits Filipino SMEs selling goods to Malaysia which must get payments in Ringgit to the Philippines,” he added.

Ksher partnered with over 100,000 merchants in over 60 countries, including the Middle East and Japan.

Many Filipino SMEs started joining online marketplaces like Lazada and Shopee during the pandemic, while QR code mobile payments also began rising.

According to the World Economic Forum, ASEAN has the most internet users in the world, with 125,000 users daily and a projected $1 trillion contribution to the regional economy over the next decade.

To expand its services, Ramanathan said Ksher is looking to a roaming e-wallet, similar to the system of GCash by Globe Telecom.

“GCash must accept our digital solutions so that we can facilitate payments to partner merchants in Malaysia, for example. We want to create a roaming e-wallet so it doesn’t matter where you go as long as you are e-wallet partner with us,” he said.

While the Philippines-China conflict over the West Philippine Sea has stirred hostile perception on China-linked products, Ramanathan said Ksher has been employing Filipinos to help their countrymen SME owners to grow their business.

Ultimately, he said this leads to more job opportunities for Filipinos, especially in manufacturing.

“We invest in hiring people in each country and we don’t hide the fact that we are on the ground, talking to the people,” Ramanathan said.