Western Union to Acquire Dash Mobile Wallet From Singtel

Western Union plans to acquire Dash, a mobile wallet in Singapore that has more than 1.4 million users.

The company and Dash owner Singtel signed a conditional agreement on the sale of the mobile wallet, the companies said in a Wednesday (Oct. 23) press release. The sale is subject to regulatory approvals.

The planned acquisition aligns with Western Union’s Evolve 2025 strategy to expand its financial ecosystem and double its digital business, according to the release.

“Our business in Singapore is a unique blend of branded digital services and owned locations, serving citizens and residents across the country,” Sohini Rajola, head of Asia Pacific at Western Union, said in the release. “This strategic move accelerates our Evolve 2025 vision and strengthens our global digital capabilities.”

For Singtel, an Asian communications technology group, the planned sale of Dash is part of its effort to simplify its structure and portfolio, per the release.

“In line with our Group’s Singtel28 strategy to focus on our core business and competencies, we have decided that Western Union is best placed to bring Dash to the next level,” Singtel Singapore Deputy CEO Anna Yip said in the release.

Dash was introduced in 2014. It is available to anyone, regardless of their telco or banking relationship, and it enables users to pay, remit, save, invest and insure, according to the release.

Western Union said Wednesday that its digital business saw 15% growth in transactions and 9% growth in revenue on a reported basis in the third quarter.

“Over the past year, we have been focused on improving the onboarding experience, driving marketing effectiveness, improving our market value proposition and our overall user experience,” Western Union President and CEO Devin McGranahan said Wednesday during the company’s quarterly earnings call. “We’ve also been rolling out our new digital experience, which is now in over a dozen countries around the world.”

Singapore has the third-highest rate of in-store digital wallet use among the 11 countries surveyed in the PYMNTS Intelligence report “How the World Does Digital: Different Paths to Digital Transformation.”

The report also found that the use of mobile wallets to pay for in-store transactions rose 18% in Singapore at the time of the survey.