Rakuten Viber, a messaging and voice-based communication provider, is set to unveil a mobile wallet on the Viber app in a bid to extend its cross-border digital payments offerings.
Using the new wallet, Viber users are expected to easily make fund transfers among themselves. They can also create a digital wallet to stock money, initially the Euro.
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By GlobalDataIn a later phase, the wallet will be able to add various currencies as well as other services.
Rakuten Viber aims to launch payments on the Viber app first in Greece and Germany, and then in other countries.
Currently, 91% of smartphone users in Greece have installed the app on their phones. Germany’s Stiftung Warentest has named Viber as one of the safest texting apps, informed Rakuten Viber.
Once introduced, users of the app in Germany and Greece will be able to add money to the digital wallet through Mastercard and Visa cards as well as local banks.
Viber has teamed up with global fintech-as-a-service company Rapyd to offer licensed payment services in Germany and Greece.
As part of the partnership, Rapyd intends to implant its licensed payment processing services directly into the Viber app to facilitate in-app payments.
Post introduction of the digital wallet across the globe, Viber users will receive new financial services such as Viber-to-Viber wallet payments for local and international Euro transfers.
The users will also be able to pay utility bills and others via banks as well as unique discounts and rewards from local associates.
Rakuten Viber CEO Ofir Eyal said: “Rakuten Viber is already one of the world’s top messengers, and with fintech capabilities Viber will extend its utility and value to make it an absolutely essential app for its hundreds of millions of users.
“User-friendly payment features will allow users to effortlessly connect, engage, and transact inside and across borders without ever leaving their preferred messaging platform.
“Viber’s world-class security and privacy-protection joined with the high standards of premium payment service partners, like Rapyd, creates a simple and secure app-based alternative for conducting personal and business transactions.”
As per a McKinsey report, the global payments market, involving domestic transfers, credit card payments and others, is estimated to reach $2.5tn by 2025.
In February 2020, Rakuten Viber extended its alliance with Mastercard to provide Moneytou, a peer-to-peer payment solution, in Romania.
