fastacash eyes trillion-dollar market in deal with Cellum

• To integrate each other’s tech on their platforms
• Both companies get access to new markets too

 
SINGAPOREAN-headquartered payment technology startup fastacash has announced a partnership with Budapest-based mobile wallet provider Cellum which it said allows it to address the trillion-dollar mobile payments market.
 
fastacash allows payments through social media and messaging apps including Facebook Messenger, Line, Twitter, WeChat and WhatsApp.
 
Meanwhile, Cellum provides a secure mobile wallet solution to banks, telecommunication operators, and card scheme networks, handling around two million monthly transactions, fastacash said in a statement.
 
The partnership allows fastacash to integrate Cellum’s secure digital wallet solution, mobile payment switching and card storage capabilities; while Cellum gets to take advantage of fastacash’s social media payment capabilities, improved user experience, and user interface design, it added.
 
The deal also opens up its fast-expanding global network of partners across Asia, Australia, Europe and North America to Cellum, while fastacash gets access to new markets such as Japan and Thailand in Asia, as well as Austria, Bulgaria and Hungary in Europe.
 
“Our innovation and security, combined with fastacash’s expertise and track record in allowing users to move money and payments across social channels, will allow us to jointly offer our business partners more comprehensive solutions,” said Cellum chairman and chief executive officer János Kóka.
 
The integration of Cellum’s merchant base will also enable fastacash to launch its Request-to-Pay (RTP) service.
 
With RTP, consumers can request their social connections – family members, friends, acquaintances etc. – to complete offline and online transactions on their behalf, facilitating e-gifts as well as enabling transactions to end-users who may not have access to banking and payment mechanisms, the company said.
 
By giving the purchaser and payer the ability to transact together, RTP makes e-commerce and e-gifting a more social experience, fastacash claimed.
 
“Half the world’s population is on social media networks and messaging apps – many are now using these channels to exchange money, disrupting how consumers transact,” said fastacash chairman and chief executive officer Vince Tallent (pic).
 
“With Cellum, we are able to strengthen our service capabilities, extending wider, more comprehensive social commerce solutions to our customer networks.
 
“This takes both companies in a new direction to deliver accelerated growth, which positions us more suitably to tap the trillion-dollar mobile payment market,” he added.
 
Research firm Forrester estimates that by the end of 2016, there will be 4.8 billion people using mobile devices; 46% will be on smartphones, according to fastacash.
 
IDC has forecast that mobile payments will rise from a little under US$500 billion in 2015 to over US$1 trillion in 2017, a 124% increase.
 
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