Thailand
Brunei: New wave of digital payments
‘BIBD NEXGEN – a platform that connects everyone’ was launched last year as a platform that encapsulates all digital services offered by Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD), paving the way for increasing interconnectivity through strategic alliances with institutions from different industries, further spearheading the drive for financial inclusion as part of BIBD’s efforts to support the digitisation drive of the economy, its digital banking proposition.
BIBD has always been a pioneer in introducing new and innovative technologies, and these have been well-received and utilised by local users.
The BIBD NEXGEN platform has become the primary option for transactions compared to any other banking channels, with a 49 per cent share of all transactions across the bank.
BIBD NEXGEN Wallet
The recent addition of BIBD Wave signifies the culmination of all the various digital payment solutions available thus defining the BIBD NEXGEN Wallet.
The full suite of these features, which exists within the BIBD Mobile application provides added convenience with many different options for digital payments.
BIBD Wave, officially released to the public last week, allows users to store their debit and virtual card information to the mobile wallet and make payments using their NFC-enabled mobile phones at any NFC-enabled card terminals.
BIBD currently has 1,500 NFC-enabled card terminals locally, with millions more terminals available worldwide.
BIBD QuickPay, a QR code payment platform, caters to the needs of businesses especially MSMEs and start-ups by providing a cost-friendly service for seamless digital transactions without the need for physical terminals.
Since its introduction in August last year, QuickPay now caters to over 250 merchants ranging from dining outlets, fashion and clothing stores, household goods stores as well as personal health and beauty brands.
The BIBD Virtual Prepaid MasterCard (vCard) is also a popular person-to-person (p2p) feature within the BIBD NEXGEN Wallet.
Since 2014, over BND220 million worth of internal cash transfers (including transfers using phone numbers) have been done via the Virtual Prepaid Mastercard.
Those seeking to manage and secure their finances better have also been utilising the feature for online purchases, with transactions for this purpose totalling over BND20 million as of 2019.
BIBD Head of Retail Banking Hajah Nurul Akmar bin Haji Md Jaafar highlighted that BIBD has always been focussed on digital innovations that enrich the lives of their customers.
“We are also keen to partner with local institutions to create strategic alliances to provide a more comprehensive ecosystem and extend our banking services to the unbanked – for example, BIBD has provided the digital platform that powers Progresif Pay, Progresif’s digital payment solution.”
She added that they are keen on exploring features and partnerships that transcend borders as it strives to become the Best Islamic Bank in the Asia-Pacific.
Supporting Brunei’s Vision 2035
The BIBD NEXGEN Wallet, along with all the mobile-led digital services provided by BIBD NEXGEN supports national initiatives to create a cashless society that is more tech-savvy and cost-friendly to businesses, further promoting the ease of doing business while creating a more progressive and pro-business economy.
Aligned with Brunei Vision 2035, BIBD NEXGEN showcases the bank’s intent to transform traditional banking to the fintech age.
At the same time, BIBD NEXGEN promotes key alliances among different industries, going beyond our shores with its local, regional and international partnerships to create synergies through inter-operability and open infrastructures, benefitting the entire ecosystem with higher digital adoption for better interconnectivity to power the economy towards a documented, secured, and digitised nation.
Source: https://borneobulletin.com.bn/new-wave-digital-payments/