YouTrip – Game Changer and a Newborn during COVID Qorus Banking Innovation Awards 2022

Pain in travel market: Thailand is not only famous for being a dream destination for tourists from all over the world but it also has a sizable number of outbound tourists. Pre COVID-19 period, more than 10 million Thai travelers roam the world and spend more than THB 300 billion annually. Despite having such a vast outbound travel segment, Thai travelers do not have many choices when it comes to exchanging currencies. Getting foreign currencies in Thailand involves high fees and inconveniences. Firstly, Thai travelers must search for the location of money changer (bank or non-bank) then make a journey there to convert THB to their preferred currency. The physical visit to the money changer will require ID checking at the time of purchase of foreign currencies as well. One may think that going through traffic and rushing to money changer is not a big deal and it’s a decent price to pay for an overseas trip – think again with broader context especially for Thai travelers who do not live in Bangkok or bigger cities. In suburban area, FX rates are more expensive and sometimes the money changer may not have sufficient cash to facilitate your conversion. It is not uncommon for Thai travelers to relying on FX booth at the airport (also costly) as an exchanger of last resort before taking off. With a stack of cash in the pocket, carrying cash while traveling could ruin your holidays with safety concerns. YouTrip was introduced to solve these frictions in financial system. It enables Thai consumers to easily access competitive FX rate with no Fees. Strategic Partnership with You Technologies Group ("YouTech"): We see strong potentials of YouTech – a regional leader in multi-currency mobile wallet called YouTrip with a proven track record in Singapore – as a long-term partner to solve Thai travelers’ pain. We have partnered with YouTech and brought in our strengths together to launch YouTrip wallet powered by KBank in Thailand. The collaboration aims to provide Thai travelers an intuitive payment experience to pay like a local when traveling overseas. YouTech has been our very good friend in providing total wallet solution, mobile application and act as our marketing arm. From YouTech's perspective, integrating with KBank's mobile banking application - K PLUS - provides seamless authentication and top up solution. YouTrip wallet powered by KBank has now become one of the most preferred choices for Thai travellers with best user experience, not to mention the cheap FX rate that we have been offering from launched until now to ensure that our customers can enjoy the most out of their trip.