The Singapore start-up taking on money changers in Southeast Asia

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As an ex-McKinsey consultant and a frequent business traveller, Hongkonger Caecilia Chu was all too familiar with having to fork out foreign transaction fees on her credit card. Calculated over time, the amount could range from hundreds to even thousands of dollars.

Eager to find a solution that would eliminate such fees, Chu decided to launch her own fintech start-up, YouTrip, with co-founder Arthur Mak. Specifically targeted at countries in Southeast Asia, YouTrip offers users a multicurrency mobile wallet with better foreign exchange rates than traditional credit cards and no foreign transaction fees.

Although companies in Europe – such as UK firms Transferwise and Revolut – have already pioneered such models, Chu wanted to offer a similar model in Southeast Asia, where the digital financial services and mobile payments markets are still fragmented and there is no dominant player.

“In this region, mobile payments and digital financial services are not yet as developed as [somewhere like] China,” said the CEO. “In Southeast Asia, it is just starting.”

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