Asia Digest: BigPay adds 3 new services; Wise to double SG headcount

Fintech company BigPay is adding three new services to its Major Payment Institution Licence, while global payments firm Wise is optimistic about raising its headcount in Singapore to 400.

BigPay adds three new financial services in Singapore

BigPay, the fintech unit of Malaysia’s Capital A, is adding three new services to its Major Payment Institution (MPI) Licence — account issuance, domestic money transfer, and e-money issuance.

The firm, which received the MPI licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said the new services will “continue to fuel our growth” and would allow it to double down on its mission of improving the financial well-being of customers.

BigPay is licensed under MPI to carry out the business of cross-border money transfer services and the three new services in Singapore. It now holds four out of seven key regulated activities under the licensing framework.

So far this year, the firm said it has more than doubled its user base in Singapore and will be accelerating its growth further with the issuance of the three new licences.

Since its inception in 2017, BigPay has over 3.3 million users and has doubled its wallet limit from 10,000 ringgit to 20,000 ringgit. Most recently, BigPay added 38 new countries in the UK and Europe to its international remittance service.

Wise raising Singapore headcount to 400

Global money transfer company Wise, formerly Transferwise, announced that it is on track to double its headcount in Singapore to 400 before the year ends.

Wise operates a cross-border payments network for consumers and businesses. It had over 200 employees in the Singapore office at the start of this year. The city-state is now the company’s Asia-Pacific hub.

The company also operates in Australia, the US, UK, Switzerland, the European Economic Area, Japan, and Malaysia.

Wise, which is one of Europe’s largest fintech startups, raised an additional $280 million in 2017 to further expand into Asian markets.

Founded by Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann in 2011, Wise (previously TransferWise) is a fintech firm that offers payment infrastructure to its customers.

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