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M&A Announcement to start Digital Wallet Philippines

21-Oct-2019

Digital Wallet Corporation enters the Philippines with Fintech acquisition to expand Mobile Wallet technology and crypto investment services

MANILA, PHILIPPINES/TOKYO, JAPAN/SINGAPORE– 21 October 2019 – Digital Wallet Corporation (DWC) today announced its entry to the Philippines through the acquisition of a licensed remittance and foreign exchange company, Speed Money Transfer Philippines, Inc. (SMTP) with operations in the Philipines and Australia. With this acquisition, SMTP is renamed Digital Wallet Philippines, approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. 

DWC will expand its mobile wallet technology, Smiles Mobile Remittance (Smiles), through Digital Wallet Philippines. SMTP’s customers will benefit from the convenience of using DWC’s mobile wallet services to receive and transfer funds, both domestically and internationally, at any time through the Smiles mobile phone application.

Eiji Miyakawa, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Digital Wallet Corporation said, “Our Philippines acquisition is the first step in our global expansion strategy to deploy our Mobile Wallet service ‘Smiles’ to Asia and Europe. As we continue to expand our global services and footprint, my vision is for Digital Wallet Philippines to fast-track our growth in the market and to grow the team to 3 to 5 times its size by 2020.”

In Japan, Smiles has gained a loyal customer base among migrant Filipinos working in the country since it launched in 2017. Since then, it has grown to be the most popular mobile remittance service in Japan. 

Digital Wallet Philippines is poised to contribute to DWC’s Digital Wallet Project, a global money transfer and investment wallet which aims to give customers access to Asian investment projects. To raise funds for the Digital Wallet Project, the DWC Token was issued as the third Initial Exchange Offer (IEO) on DigiFinex’s platform on 28 August 2019.

Funds raised from DWC Token are channeled towards global expansion of DWC’s wallet service as well as investments in agriculture, farm, and commercial and hotel developments in the surrounding areas of upcoming airports in the Philippines and other Asian countries. 

Mr. Miyakawa added, “DigitalWallet Philippines aims to allow unbanked customers to benefit from financial services such as remittance, foreign exchange, and payments through their mobile devices. In the future, we aim to provide them access to investment projects in the Philippines through the Digital Wallet Project, offering such opportunities that would previously not have been possible. We see the potential of cryptocurrency to be a universal financial platform and an alternative to traditional project financing.” 

The Philippines was the fourth-highest remittance recipient globally at USD34 billion, trailing Mexico at USD36 billion, China at USD67 billion and India at USD79 billion. According to the World Bank, remittances to low and middle-income countries reached a record high of USD529 billion in 2018 and are expected to reach USD550 billion in 2019, to become their largest source of external financing.

The high cost of money transfers erodes the purchasing power of the receiving families. Reducing remittance costs to less than 3 percent by 2030 is a global target under the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). Such goals could now become a reality with fintech players like DWC to lower remittance costs and provide convenient services.

About Digital Wallet Corporation

Digital Wallet Corporation (DWC) is a Japan-based fintech company with businesses in global money transfer and payment services, digital wallet, cryptocurrency investments, and mobile marketing. DWC launched Smiles Mobile Remittance in 2017 as Japan’s first mobile remittance service. It also offers customers access to investment projects in Asia through the listing of the DWC Token on DigiFinex’s Initial Exchange Offer (IEO) platform Apollo 3. Visit us at www.digitalwallet.co.jp, follow us on LinkedInTwitterTelegram or find out about the DWC Token on www.dwcproject.com
 

About Smiles Mobile Remittance

Smiles Mobile Remittance (Smiles) is developed by Digital Wallet Corporation (DWC) and is Japan’s first and most popular mobile overseas money transfer service. Secured by advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and facial recognition, users enjoy greater convenience, better value, and efficient services. Smiles is the only financial platform offering mobile remittance with integrated loyalty and referral programs in Japan. Visit us at www.smileswallet.com or follow Smiles Philippines on Facebook.

App name: Smiles Mobile Remittance

Available Device/OS: Android/iOS

Download on: 

Google Play Google play

iTunes App Store App store

For more information, please contact:

Alex Milan, Digital Wallet Corporation

Tel: +81 50-5305-6668

Email: press@digitalwallet.co.jp

Jocelyn Ng-Foo, LivingWord Communications for DWC

Tel: +65 9431-6141

Email: jocelyn@livingwordcommunications.asia

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