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Local FinTech Pay2Home collaborates with 7-Eleven Singapore to delight the underbanked

SINGAPORE, 17 January 2020 — Pay2Home and 7-Eleven Singapore have joined innovative forces to deliver unmet customer needs for seamless remittance payments - in cash.

The underbanked in Singapore, which includes hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who remit funds as a basic necessity, are often excluded from fintech innovation, unable to access the full benefits of digital services due to a lack of digital means to pay.

Thanks to the Pay2Home and 7-Eleven Singapore partnership, those without a bank account, debit card or the confidence to use either, may now initiate a remittance transaction using the Pay2Home mobile app and pay instantly with a generated QR-code bill using cash at any 7-Eleven store. The transaction is available for immediate delivery overseas.

Department of Statistics data shows that cash usage remains strong in Singapore, with active circulation at $45 billion in 2018, up from $42 billion in 20171; a high cash adoption rate for a developed economy at about 10% of the country's GDP compared to 2% in Sweden2.

Cash may seem "out of date" in FinTech parlance, Pay2Home co-founder David Hulme explains, however among some segments of the community such as migrant workers, a majority still prefer cash for its convenience and flexibility. In fact, a recent study3 found that only 51% of domestic workers in Singapore had a bank account. Among Pay2Home customers, more than 60% still pay for remittances in cash, regardless if they have a bank account, in some cases.

"FinTech should not only be focused on being technologically advanced, creating faster, more sophisticated solutions. Of course, we do all that," says Mr Hulme. "But it doesn't guarantee adoption or necessarily change the digital take up curve. More importantly, FinTech must serve its customers well, so they can easily access the benefits of any digital service."

Pay2Home has always been channel agnostic when it comes to payment methods despite being one of the earliest adopters of non-cash and new digital payment methods in Singapore, like NETS, FAST, Wallets and the various QR solutions. A strategy that has paid off given the diversity of its clients and that large segments of the community are simply not early adopters of cashless payments.

"Migrant workers in Singapore transact primarily in cash. Many are still paid in cash; they buy in cash; and their home countries are cash economies. If you're catering to a market that prefers cash and is more comfortable with cash, then it's our responsibility as a FinTech to make sure that our digital services are relevant to their needs. It's about financial inclusion and education, but at their pace, not ours."

"7-Eleven is a well-recognised and trusted brand in the cash-based community segment we serve. Collaborating with 7-Eleven Singapore's 400-store network expands this financial inclusion, delivering all the benefits of our digital services, across the Island State."

For 7-Eleven Singapore, which continually seeks to differentiate itself and provide relevant services to the community at large, partnering with Pay2Home helps drive its policy of inclusion forward.

"We are excited to be partnering with Pay2Home as 7-Eleven continues its journey to expand on our services to meet customer's needs. With 400 7-Eleven stores Island-wide as additional payment touchpoints, Pay2Home's underbanked customers can conveniently pay for their remittance transactions without having to queue at a conventional remittance counter," says Mr. Steven Lye, Managing Director of 7-Eleven Singapore.

1Department of Statistics, Singapore in figures 2019.

2Singapore Business Review, Cash and cheques still account for 40% of Singapore Payments, 21 February 2019.

3Today, A third of foreign domestic workers in Singapore in debt, half have no bank account: Report, 13 June 2019.


About Pay2Home

Pay2Home bridges the gap between the FinTech world and the established payment infrastructure, producing innovative cross-border payment solutions within the supporting regulatory framework.

A homegrown financial institution, formerly invested in by the Economic Development Board of Singapore and a SE Asian bank, Pay2Home has received multiple entrepreneurship and break through business awards. It has been repeatedly ranked as a top 1,000 SME and holds financial services industry licenses in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

Founded in 2001 and now with 90 employees, Pay2Home has a history of industry firsts, being the first remittance company to receive regulatory approval to operate online and the first to pioneer purpose built multilingual self-service Money Transfer Machines. It is the only full omni channel remittance operator in the country, defining it as a FinTech with a successful and proven track record.


About 7-Eleven

Established in Singapore in 1983, 7-Eleven has since expanded to more than 400 stores island-wide to become the leading 24-hour convenience chain store. We take pride in serving the Singapore community 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 7-Eleven emphasises convenience and value by offering a wide array of quality products, food and services to satisfy the needs of consumers. Think 7-Eleven and what comes to mind are the refreshing Slurpee, Big Gulp and 7Caf' as well as a wide range of quality Ready Meals and sandwiches under 7-Select. 7-Eleven is also a 24/7 one-stop destination for customers who need to access bill payment services in their own time. Our services cover payment of utilities, courier and cash withdrawal.

Media contact:
  • Media Relations for Pay2Home
  • T: (65) 6813 0595
  • E: press@pay2home.com
Media contact:
  • Media Relations for 7-Eleven Singapore
  • Josephine Luo
  • T: (65) 6891 8239
  • E: joluo@7-eleven.com.sg