‘TrueMoney Wallet for Foreigners’ with Burmese version at no-fee “In-App TrueMoney Transfer”

TrueMoney, Southeast Asia’s leading e-payment and financial service provider, is  expanding its foreign e-Wallet user base in Thailand by introducing “TrueMoney Wallet for Foreigners” to facilitate financial inclusion and deliver a cashless payment experience to foreign users and migrant workers in Thailand. In addition to  the Thai and English language available in the TrueMoney Wallet application, TrueMoney has added the Burmese language to its application to serve more than 2 million Burmese workers in Thailand, and allow safe and more convenient cross-border remittances from Thailand to Myanmar free of any transfer fees through the “In-App TrueMoney Transfer” feature.

Mr. Tanyapong Thamavaranukupt, Co-President of Ascend Money Company Limited, said, “During our pilot trial of the TrueMoney Wallet for Foreigners early this year, we quickly realized that the adoption of a digital life in the New Normal did not apply to  just Thai users but also to the foreigners who live and work here. Since we started the trial service, we have seen a growing number of foreigners signing up to open the TrueMoney Wallet app and witnessed a 300% increase in applications. The Burmese population outnumbers users of other nationalities by more than 15% and this number has increased by 220% from January and May. We have therefore further extended the TrueMoney Wallet for Foreigners services to include the Burmese language. The In-App TrueMoney Transfer feature has also been added to facilitate and allow Burmese users to easily transfer money from Thailand to their homeland. This not only provides convenience and saves users both money and time over physical transfers, but on top of that ensures top-of-the-class security.” 

TrueMoney is Thailand’s first authorized e-wallet service provider to provide international remittance services. Prior to this, TrueMoney Transfer service was provided through 11 service points in areas with a high density of Burmese workers, namely Bangkok, Samut Sakhon and Nakhon Pathom provinces. There are currently 4,000 TrueMoney Transfer service points in Myanmar, including ones at the AGD bank (Asia Green Development Bank) a major commercial bank in Myanmar, which serves major provinces in Myanmar including Mon State, Kayin State, Shan State, Magway Region, Bago Region, Sagaing Region, Yangon Region, Tanintharyi township, Naypyitaw township and Magway township. The new In-App TrueMoney Transfer will help Burmese migrant workers save travel time to service points and enable them to directly transfer money to their homeland through the TrueMoney Wallet application at no fee.

According to the Ministry of Labour, as of October 2020, there were approximately 2.4 million foreigners permitted to work and reside in Thailand, and most of them  (around 2.1 million) are migrant workers from neighbouring countries, namely Cambodia, Lao, Myanmar and Vietnam. Furthermore, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than half (52%) of migrant workers  usually transfer money back to their homeland through remittance agents and channels outside the system. 34% use financial institutions such as banks and Money Transfer Operators (MTO), which currently has an average of Bt.150 international transfer fee. In addition, a United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) survey found that the main reasons these workers choose to use channels or agents outside the system for remittance included personal trust, convenience, flexibility of time and accessibility to channels beyond the system. However, users do face challenges such as remittance commission and the risk of losing the money remitted.

“Taking account of the pain points the Burmese is now experiencing, TrueMoney adopted  financial technologies and by collaborating with our strong network of agents and partners in Myanmar, has been able to provide a cross-border remittance service that allows for a cashless experience and facilitate users in sending money to their families through a platform that is easy to access, comprehensive, secure and without fees.  In addition to Burmese workers, we have also expanded our e-Wallet platform to serve e-payment services for more foreigners who reside and work in Thailand especially users from neighbouring countries who still have limited access to financial services. All our efforts align with our mission -- to develop and build on financial inclusion to improve people’s quality of life,” Mr. Thanyapong concluded.

Available services & Fund-in channels for Foreign users

in “TrueMoney Wallet For Foreigners”