Ascend Money's mobile payment platforms expands across Asia
Thai mobile payments firm Ascend Money has launched its flagship product, TrueMoney Wallet, in five new countries, including the hotly contested Indonesian marketplace. The TrueMoney Wallet offers customers offline and online payments, as well as access to money transfers, bill payments and mobile top-up services. Ascend Money aims to increase its user figures from four million in October 2016 to five million by the end of 2017, and has partnered with Ant Financial to expand its footprint.
Ascend Money Targets Southeast Asia

August 25, 2017 By: Steven Anderson

It’s no secret that the southeast Asia is a major market for mobile payments. Since China is included in this package, it could be one of the sweetest pots of market around. That’s a point not lost on Ascend Money, a Thai mobile payments firm whose flagship product, TrueMoney Wallet, recently branched out to five new countries.

TrueMoney Wallet is now available not only in Thailand, but also in Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam. It’s that second one that’s particularly noteworthy; while each of these represents a significant advance in the field, Indonesia is also a popular target for other mobile payments providers.

You’ll remember back in April when Ant Financial, the guys behind Alipay, noted plans to take a run at the Indonesian market as well. Indeed, reports note, Ascend Money has been working with Ant Financial to bring TrueMoney Wallet to the Apple App Store, to iTunes, and Apple Music. Plus, Ascend Money has been working with 7-Eleven and several other major brands to bring TrueMoney to the table. The company also plans to step into peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers, along with travel accommodations like booking flights and hotels along with paying for food.

Future developments aside, TrueMoney Wallet will offer up plenty of services when it arrives. Users have access to money transfers, bill payments, mobile top-up services to keep the phones on in the first place, and both online and offline payments. It’s hoping for a fairly rapid expansion as a result, going from four million users in October 2016 to five million by the end of the year.

This is a great start, and given that many of these markets are developing markets—even Ant Financial wanted a stab at the Indonesian market—it could represent a chance for Ascend Money to gather up a lot of new users in fairly rapid fashion. While there won’t be a shortage of competitors with a similar idea, TrueMoney Wallet seems to have the features set both current and in development to make a real push on the field.

Only time will tell just how well this works for Ascend Money, but it seems to have a good plan, and a good shot at taking home substantial new users.