Article by: Kang Wan Chern Assistant Business Editor The Strait Times

SINGAPORE – Local fintech start-up Moolahgo has secured a partnership enabling its e-wallet users based here to transfer cash to their Weixin wallets in China, according to a Thursday announcement. Weixin is the Chinese version of WeChat.

The partnership with Tencent Financial Technology, which runs Weixin, allows Moolahgo’s users in Singapore to top up their Weixin wallets and send money to bank accounts in China via Weixin.

This can now be done with just the recipient’s name and mobile number, making cross-border payments to mainland China safer and quicker, without the need to provide traditional bank details, said Moolahgo founder and chief executive John Hakim.

The tie-up is expected to be most beneficial to the 200,000 Chinese citizens working in Singapore. “Besides being seamless and real-time, this service is, more importantly, safe and legally approved by China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange,” Mr Hakim added.

He said transfer fees between Moolahgo and Weixin will be around $8 per transaction, which is lower than the $20 or more charged by some other remittance providers for transfers between Singapore and China.

“This will benefit unbanked migrant workers here who in the past may have had to resort to unsafe money transfer services, resulting in issues such as frozen funds and bank accounts.”

Incorporated in Singapore in 2017, Moolahgo has been a major payment institution licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the new Payment Services Act since January 2020.

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