Moolahgo, a leading Fintech headquartered in Singapore, has just announced the launch of its hassle-free, real-time payment service from Singapore to Indonesia eWallets. Available on its eWallet app under the aptly named feature “Pay Now to Indonesia”, it believes that it is likely the first fintech in Singapore to provide such a payment service by allowing its users to simply select a mobile number stored in the phone contacts list, making the cross-border payment now as easy as a local payment service such as Singapore’s PayNow fast payment system.

The service currently covers 5 major eWallet operators in Indonesia, namely OVO, Dana, GoPay, LinkAja! and ShopeePay, with a combined total of more than 300 million users.

This new service is a proven success story by commercial partners in achieving connectivity of fast payment systems. Such initiatives are in line with central banks’ efforts to link up national payment systems such as the MAS’ initiatives that have linked Singapore’s PayNow to Thailand’s PromptPay and to India’s UPI and Malaysia’s DuitNow in 2022.

Real-time cross-border payment is no simple construct. The complexity of integrating varied technology platforms and managing volatility of foreign exchanges were challenges that needed resolute to reduce remittance transactions from days to mere seconds. The Moolahgo team invested months of development to harmonize the technology stacks between the company and its Indonesian partners.

Banking services are still relatively inaccessible but mobile networks have improved in many rural parts of Indonesia. As such, many have turned to non-traditional payment methods like eWallets, driving the increasingly high adoption of digital financial services.

Now with Moolahgo’s new Pay Now to Indonesia service, Indonesians living and working in Singapore no longer need to rely on traditional costly and slow bank to bank transfers to send money home and can also avoid the unsafe practices of cash pick-ups.

“Most Indonesian foreign workers in Singapore are sole breadwinners of their families back home. When they send money home, it is usually a significant amount and they may feel anxiety during this ‘waiting time’ that money is late or lost. With real-time low-cost transfers, they can have a peace of mind that their hard-earned money reaches their loved ones immediately,” commented Ms. Stephanie Lu, Head of Marketing at Moolahgo.

Moolahgo’s Pay Now to Indonesia service costs much lesser compared to traditional remittances and bank transfers. As at the time of this writing, Moolahgo charges only S$0.50 per transaction and as part of the launch, it is waiving off all fees until further notice.  In addition, users get to enjoy the same competitive rates that moolahgo App offers for its remittance service. This service is now available in the latest Android version of the Moolahgo eWallet app while the iOS version will be made available in App Store in coming weeks.

As part of its Payment-as-a-Service offering, Moolahgo has also made this technology available on its API integration suite for its business clients and other payment service providers to leverage upon.