Grab Teams With SM Investments; BenefitPay Comes To Self-Service Kiosks

Welcome to The Axis, your late look at payments news from around the world. Coverage includes Grab’s partnership with SM Investments Corporation (SM) for its mobile wallet in the Philippines. In addition, SADAD and Benefit are introducing a QR payment system in the Gulf region, and AGS Transact Technologies has created a way for consumers to withdraw cash from automated teller machines in India using quick response codes.

Southeast Asia’s Grab is teaming up with SM Investments Corporation (SM) to expand the use of its mobile wallet in the Philippines, Grab said in an announcement. While GrabPay is currently used for delivery and transportation services in the country, the tie-up would enable users to pay for purchases ranging from groceries to movie tickets. At the same time, so-called “Dedicated Green Lanes” will be created in SM’s businesses to allow customers to avoid traditional checkout lines. Ooi Huey Tyng, managing director of GrabPay Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, noted that the move will allow the company to “drive financial inclusion for millions of unbanked Filipinos.”

In the Gulf region, electronic payments company SADAD and ancillary service firm Benefit have rolled out a QR code payment system that works with kiosks, Trade Arabia reported. Users are required to register once to save their payment details, and then the kiosk creates a QR code that they can scan through a BenefitPay app. The offering, which is available at 800 kiosks, can be used for movie tickets purchases, voucher top-offs, school tuition fees and car insurance renewals, among other transactions, which reportedly take place in a matter of seconds.

And in India, AGS Transact Technologies has created a way for consumers to withdraw cash by using QR codes at ATMs, according to reports. The system taps into the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform, but is waiting for approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which controls the switch for ATMs and the UPI platform. AGS Transact Technologies Founder and Chairman Ravi B Goyal said, according to the outlet, “both UPI and the ATM networks run on the same financial switch, and UPI has been proven to be a secure transaction platform.” And AGS Group Chief Technology Officer Mahesh Patel noted that the offering only requires a small change to ATM software.