This release is posted in BNEW and provides a brief description of a new partnership in the ASEAN region. A Singaporean company called NETS (not to be confused with the company Nets, which was acquired by Mastercard) is partnering with Singtel and AWS to provide a new service for cross-border payments.
NETS manages the Singapore debit scheme and is a leader in payments and clearing solutions. Singtel has something called ConnectPlus Managed Network, which provides global coverage. AWS will, of course, provide the cloud services.
‘ETS Group CEO Lawrence Chan said: “We are very excited to embark on this collaboration with Singtel through which NETS will be well-positioned to facilitate cross-border commerce by integrating ASEAN+ travel corridors whilst making payments simple and easy for consumers….“Furthermore, NETS merchants in Singapore will be able to accept selected overseas partner wallets from visitors in the region, and benefit from operational cost efficiencies by connecting to a broader range of payment partners to provide a better experience for their customers.”
While at this point the partnership seems to be targeting retail merchants and consumers across the ASEAN region, we assume there could be a B2B play at some point as well. Singapore consumers can make purchases at foreign retail outlets, and visitors to Singapore can use their e-wallets to pay at NETS merchants. Making cross-border payments easier has been the focus of many new innovations during the past couple of years, so add this to the growing list and we’ll keep tracking it.
‘Singtel MD Lim Seng Kong said: “Our ConnectPlus Managed Network that will enable NETS to dynamically allocate enterprise resources across multiple locations, optimizing network performance and operational efficiency to offer secure, swift and reliable cross-border financial transactions.”…In addition to Singtel’s network infrastructure, NETS will also leverage AWS cloud services like database, containers, serverless storage, and security….AWS MD for ASEAN Conor McNamara said: “NETS has been a leading payment services company for over 30 years.’
Overview by Steve Murphy, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
