Singapore / Tokyo, Japan – May 23, 2022 – Digital Wallet Group (DWG), a global IT and fintech company, announced today the launch of the Smiles Mobile Remittance app in Singapore. Digital Wallet Singapore Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of DWG, will manage deployment and operations in conjunction with its local partner bank, CIMB Bank Singapore. The first recipient countries for remittances from Singapore are the Philippines and Indonesia, with plans to add Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, and others by 2023.

Developed by DWG's subsidiary Digital Wallet Corporation (DWC), Smiles is Japan's first and most popular mobile remittance service, offering a convenient and user-friendly mobile experience, low remittance fees, and 24/7 availability. The mobile app features a simple, quick, and transparent six-step remittance process. It also flexibly offers diverse cash pickup options tailored to local preferences, such as deposits into bank accounts or cash pickups at thousands of locations worldwide, with no additional fees. The app supports English, as well as Tagalog and Indonesian, with plans to gradually add Vietnamese and Spanish.

Hidetaka Miyakawa, founder and CEO of Digital Wallet Group, stated: “The challenging circumstances of the global pandemic and geopolitical tensions have affected foreign workers around the world who struggle to support their families back home. Our goal is to assist foreign workers by providing a safe and 24/7 mobile remittance channel, ensuring that lifelines to families arrive in a timely and convenient manner. As digital technology becomes more widespread, Smiles offers customers a new way to stay connected and gain peace of mind. I am confident that the expansion of the Smiles network in Singapore will benefit the foreign worker community and drive further growth across the Asia-Pacific region.”

Smiles is a pioneer in redesigning international remittance services using the latest technology, product design, and business models. This app is the first in Japan to implement AI-based online identity verification (eKYC), streamlining and securing the process. The technology, capable of processing transactions for 70 million users worldwide, is also available as a digital customer management technology solution. It is offered as a white-label solution for clients in retail, mall operations, and consumer healthcare, utilizing machine learning and AI to manage customer verification, data analytics, and marketing automation.

Since launching in Japan in 2016, Smiles has continued its global expansion. It has built a loyal customer base primarily among Filipinos working in Japan, becoming the top mobile remittance service. Prior to its expansion into Singapore, the Smiles app was released in Canada in February 2022. Additionally, it has established representative offices in Vietnam and the Philippines. In 2021, Smiles received the Good Design Award in Japan, marking the first and only award for a remittance app to date.

The introduction of the Smiles app in Singapore complements DWG's acquisition of RediMoney Express Pte Ltd (REPL) in August 2021, initiating the integration process of its retail and app assets into Smiles. On April 16, 2022, His Excellency Joseph Del Mar Yap, the Ambassador of the Philippines to Singapore, attended the opening of Smiles Studio @ Orchard located in Lucky Plaza. He also met with Singaporean foreign workers who have consistently sent remittances to their families back home for an average of 20 years, recognizing their long-term support. The personal stories behind these long-time Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) embody the spirit of Smiles' “Pride of OFW” campaign, a platform to highlight the challenges and victories shared by OFWs.

The global pandemic has impacted the cross-border movement of foreign workers due to lockdowns, border closures, and travel restrictions, severely affecting labor reception and the usual holiday movements that typically utilize counter remittance services. However, mobile remittance apps like Smiles enable foreign workers to overcome such challenges and gain full access to financial services to support their families back home.

According to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), including only cash remittances sent through banks, the remittance amount in 2021 reached $31.418 billion, a 5.1% increase from the previous year, marking a record high driven by global economic recovery despite the pandemic. In 2021, Singapore was recognized as the second-largest source of remittances after the United States. It is also one of the routes with the lowest remittance costs to the Philippines, averaging 3%. In contrast, the remittance costs to other areas in East Asia and the Pacific can reach as high as 13%.

Roland Pagdanganan, Managing Director of Digital Wallet Singapore, stated: “I was drawn to the values of service, care, and giving back that Digital Wallet embodies. These are values I also convey to my family. Through the launch of Smiles in Singapore, I hope to provide foreign workers with an innovative mobile remittance service that integrates customer experience, service delivery, and community support into our DNA. Additionally, a portion of the revenues generated in Singapore will go towards the Smiles donation campaign to support disaster relief and humanitarian organizations.”