SEA Digest: mobilityX, app Zipster shut down; Thunes partners Thai SCB

June 29, 2021

Cross-border payments startup Thunes has entered a partnership with Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank while mobilityX and its transport app Zipster are said to have shut down operations.

mobilityX and its transport app Zipster exit market

Mobility-as-a-service platform mobilityX and its transport app Zipster have closed down operations on account of a “tough business and regulatory environment,” The Straits Times reported.

The Zipster app has not been functioning since June this year or earlier and has now been removed from the Apple App Store and Google’s Play Store. Besides external factors, shareholders of mobilityX had decided to stop funding the startup after reviewing its prospects and progress, SMRT Ventures general manager Axel Tan was quoted in the report as saying.

The SMRT and Toyota Tsusho-backed startup’s partners include SMRT, Grab, Gojek, bike-sharing platform Anywheel, AXA, CapitaLand, jtc and more.

Founded in February 2018, mobilityX Pte Ltd was set up to provide an end-to-end platform for urban commuters to plan, book and pay for a seamless multi-modal journey across a variety of mobility services from personal mobility devices to autonomous vehicles to on-demand ride-sharing.

In the following year, the firm launched the beta version of its transportation app Zipster.

Thunes partners Siam Commercial Bank to speed up fund transfer

Thailand’s first and oldest bank Siam Commercial Bank and Singapore cross-border payments firm Thunes have joined forces to enable consumers and businesses overseas to send funds to Thailand faster, cheaper and with higher transaction limits.

Thunes’ global customers will be able to send funds to Siam Commercial Bank’s 16.4 million customers and all other bank account holders in Thailand.

Siam Commercial Bank will also be able to facilitate B2B transactions, such as mass payouts in Thailand on behalf of enterprises based in other parts of the world.

Backed by Insight Partners, Helios Investment Partners, GGV Capital, Future Shape, and Checkout.com, Thunes most recently raised $60 million in Series B funding.

mobilityX Siam Commercial Bank thunes zipster