Lawrence Chan (NETS)
Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS) has unveiled plans to accelerate the delivery of cross-border payment services across Southeast Asia through a partnership with Singtel and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Central to such efforts will be Singtel’s advanced ConnectPlus Managed Network, supported by cloud platform capabilities delivered via AWS. The aim is to allow Singaporeans to make purchases at more retail outlets across Southeast Asia using NETS, in addition to enabling foreign visitors to make payment using overseas e-wallets and services within the city-state.
“We are very excited to embark on this collaboration with Singtel through which NETS will be well-positioned to facilitate cross-border commerce by integrating ASEAN+ travel corridors whilst making payments simple and easy for consumers,” said Lawrence Chan, group CEO of NETS. “The initiative will spur cross-border digital payment growth for overseas payments partners particularly micro merchants, and help them leverage this to expand their market beyond domestic borders.
“Furthermore, NETS merchants in Singapore will be able to accept selected overseas partner wallets from visitors in the region, and benefit from operational cost efficiencies by connecting to a broader range of payment partners to provide a better experience for their customers.”
From a technology standpoint, Singtel will deploy advanced software-defined network services to provide “secure high-speed connectivity” to support NETS’ regional payment network. The technology provider’s cloud gateway service is designed to simplify network management, allowing NETS to also deploy and manage virtual private clouds across the region.
“Enterprises looking to accelerate their digital transformation need a robust and secure network and cloud infrastructure in order to go to market faster and roll out a differentiated customer experience,” added Lim Seng Kong, managing director of Singtel Enterprise Business, Group Enterprise at Singtel. “We are excited to support the regional expansion of NETS with our extensive infrastructure.
“Our ConnectPlus Managed Network that will enable NETS to dynamically allocate enterprise resources across multiple locations, optimising network performance and operational efficiency to offer secure, swift and reliable cross-border financial transactions.”
Delving deeper, the partnership will also enable NETS to make its suite of digital payment services available across the wider Southeast Asia markets. Leveraging Singtel’s advanced network infrastructure and AWS cloud services - such as database, containers, serverless storage and security - NETS has committed to providing "quick and localised" connectivity for potential partners to access cross-border payment services.
“Financial services organisations like NETS are turning to AWS for the most comprehensive set of cloud services, most secure and reliable infrastructure, greatest scale, and highest availability, allowing them to deliver new digital services and provide their customers with a transformed payments experience,” said Conor McNamara, managing director of ASEAN at AWS.
“NETS has been a leading payment services company for over 30 years. We look forward to collaborating with them to innovate new services faster, maintain operational excellence, and provide secure and seamless payment services to customers around Southeast Asia.”
