SmartPay will utilise the HomeSend remittance hub, which was formed through a strategic partnership between BICS and the mobile money solutions provider eServGlobal. It allows for the real-time transfer of various types of funds, including airtime or money, to fund sources, such as bank accounts, credit cards, cash and eWallets.
SmartPay’s CEO and president Edward Wu claims the international remittance market amounts to $500 billion per year, and that the company is “well positioned to assume more responsibilities and lead the development, market cultivation and promotion of the mobile payment business in China”.
Frédéric Schepens, SVP of mobile financial services at BICS added: “It’s great to have SmartPay on our global HomeSend hub. With this agreement we are opening an important market in Asia to our community.”
The move highlights the recent flurry of telecoms-related activity between China and overseas companies. In June, Capacity reported on the growth of terrestrial cables between China and Europe following a deal between Rostelecom and China Telecom to upgrade the Russian carrier’s Transit Europe-Asia (TEA) system (click here).
In March, Capacity also ran a full-length cover story highlighting the radical changes going on in the Chinese carrier market (click here). The feature coincided with the lead-up to the first Capacity China conference, which was held in Beijing on 19-20 April and successfully brought together almost 300 delegates from the Chinese and international carrier communities (click here).
