·"Rabbit LINE Pay" and mobile wallet “mPay” (operated by a subsidiary of AIS) link services
· Stakeholders reinforce their presence in Thais’ daily lives by expanding the scope of collaboration from transportation to telecommunication
TOKYO – April 27, 2018 – LINE Pay Corporation announces that Rabbit-LINE Pay Co., Ltd., operator of the mobile remittance and payment service "Rabbit LINE Pay," has entered into a capital alliance with Thailand's largest telecommunications carrier, Advanced Info Service Public Co., Ltd. ("AIS") through its subsidiary, "Advanced mPay." This alliance is a subset of the capital alliance already established between LINE Pay Corporation and BSS Holdings Co., Ltd., provider of "Rabbit," an e-payment smart card that can be used to pay for public transportation and offline purchases.
As Thailand's largest telecom operator, AIS has more than 40 million subscribers—nearly half of Thailand's entire telco market. It also operates 15,000 AIS outlets, and provides its services through more than 200,000 telecom distributers nationwide. Meanwhile, its subsidiary "Advanced mPay" offers AIS prepaid top-ups, postpaid bill payments including phone bills, and a variety of other services through its mobile wallet app. In the latest deal, AIS and Rabbit-LINE Pay Co., Ltd. have entered into a capital alliance.
The alliance will enable subscribers to do the following four things:
1. Top-up their account through AIS' offline channels (mPay stations, AIS outlets, Telewiz outlets)
2. Settle their AIS phone bills with Rabbit LINE Pay (postpaid)
3. Use mPay on LINE
4. Use LINE Pay on the My AIS app
LINE is a powerful online communication tool in Thailand used by 95% of smartphone users. Its partner "Rabbit" is a contactless transportation card with 8.5 million users, and is Thailand's number one payment platform. The card can currently be used to pay for subway, BRT (Bus Rapid Transit system), and boat fares, as well as purchases at more than 5,000 retail shops. With city buses soon to join the card's ecosystem, Rabbit has established itself as a strong payment platform for offline micropayments. Starting June 2018, subscribers can begin to top-up their Rabbit LINE Pay account balances at BTS stations as well. Once AIS enters into the Rabbit LINE Pay business established between LINE Thailand and Rabbit Pay System, the service will become more deeply rooted in public transportation, communication, and other daily necessities of Thais, providing greater convenience to an even larger user base.
Rabbit LINE Pay will continue to make efforts to develop new features and improve its service in order to provide a safe and convenient service to Thais. It will also strive to make its service more convenient for its customers by enlisting more merchants and conducting attractive marketing campaigns.