- YouTrip's transaction volume
has rebounded to pre-COVID levels, driven by strong traction in cross-border
e-commerce transactions and return of travel spending. Exponential growth is
expected in upcoming months following the opening of more Vaccinated Travel
Lanes in Singapore and progressive return of SEA travel.
- The latest funding will be used to scale the
neobank's product offerings, including
venturing into the B2B payments space, and accelerate its expansion into wider
Southeast Asia.
- YouTrip's dual-growth engine
in B2B and B2C payments enables it to be pandemic-resilient, and well-primed
for high growth.
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 30
November 2021 - YouTrip, Singapore's leading neobank
offering a multi-currency wallet, announced today that it has raised US$30
million in its latest Series A round. The round, driven by returning investors
from major Asian family offices and prominent financial technology investors,
will solidify the fintech firm's position as the leading neobank in Southeast
Asia offering B2B and B2C multi-currency
payments. With this, the company has now raised over US$60 million funding in
total since launch.
The new capital will supercharge the company's
technological capabilities to bolster its suite of payment products, in
particular entering the adjacent B2B payments space, as well as accelerating
its entrance into the wider Southeast Asia.
Caecilia Chu, YouTrip's CEO and Co-founder said, "We
have transformed tremendously as a company since our last funding round[1]. From a
mobile travel wallet, we have grown to establish a strong foothold in new
territories such as overseas online spending to meet the extraordinary shifts
in consumer behaviours. We believe there is untapped potential in cross-border
payments, and our market-leading position in this space puts us in a good place
to serve more of our users' payment needs - from travellers, to online
shoppers, and now, businesses."
"As a company, this latest round also gives us the
resources to strengthen our multiple growth engines to stay resilient and
well-primed for expansion into new vistas," she added.
Card transaction exceeds US$800
million, exponential growth expected with travel return
YouTrip has maintained its position as the 'go-to'
card for consumers' multi-currency spending. To date, it has processed over US$800 million card spend globally, with
almost 20 million transactions and over 1.5 million app downloads.
YouTrip's transaction volume has also rebounded to
pre-COVID levels, driven by strong traction in cross-border e-commerce
transactions and progressive return of travel spending. With the opening of
more Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL) in Singapore, transaction volume is forecast
to accelerate rapidly especially given upcoming holiday seasons and revenge
travel.
B2B payments a promising growth
engine
To advance its growth, YouTrip has set its sights on
the B2B payments ecosystem. The industry, which is expected to be worth
US$150 trillion by 2022[2], is ripe
with potential, with SMEs showing a strong willingness to adopt digital banking
services, specifically for cross-border payments[3].
Catering to businesses with a global footprint,
YouTrip's new corporate credit card, YouBiz,
promises the best value and best-in-class multi-currency payment experience.
The product offers higher spending limits while transacting at the best
exchange rates in 150+ currencies, and credit terms offered to selected
business account users. Companies will also be able to issue corporate cards to
employees, with all expenses streamlined into one platform.
Arthur Mak, YouTrip's Co-founder said, "We're very
excited about the B2B payments opportunity. It is a segment with a deep market,
as companies increasingly operate in a distributed and borderless manner and we
expect their cross-border payment needs to go up. By incorporating our
company's core strengths of offering the best exchange rates and an extremely
easy to use interface into YouBiz, we help businesses save time and cost, so
that they can focus their energy and efforts in finding growth."
Registration for interest in the product's beta launch
has received more than 1,000 sign-ups to date.
YouBiz will be rolled out in Singapore in the first
quarter of 2022, and with plans to bring it to five other Southeast Asia
countries in the next twelve months.
Riding the tailwinds of ecommerce
growth and travel resurgence
Lastly, YouTrip is optimistic about the headroom for
growth in consumer's multi-currency payments, driven by the rapid rebound of
leisure travel, and the sustained popularity of e-commerce. YouTrip Perks - the company's rewards
platform offering cashbacks and deals from top merchants such as Taobao, Amazon
and Singapore Airlines - has recorded a 150% increase in transactions since its
launch in September.
For a more seamless payment experience, YouTrip will
be refreshing its app with new features such as a virtual card, an interactive
exchange rates dashboard, and the ability to hold more popular currencies in
their wallet. This will be launched in early 2022.
On the travel front, with more VTLs opening and as
Singaporeans steadily take flight, YouTrip has also launched its VTL Holiday Away campaign today to
bring more value to their overseas trips. From today till 31 December, YouTrip
users will get a chance to receive cashback of up to $100 when they pay using
YouTrip for overseas spending, reinforcing its proposition as the best overseas
payment method in the upcoming travel season. A grand prize of an
all-expenses-paid VTL trip worth up to $5,000 will also be awarded to one
selected user. For more information on the VTL Holiday Away campaign, please
visit here.
[1] YouTrip raised its US$25.5 million Pre Series
A funding in 2019
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.