Soft Space is the top Leading Challenger in Juniper Research’s Digital Wallet Report (2024 edition)

Kuala Lumpur, 19th November 2024 – Soft Space, an established Fintech-as-a-Service (FaaS) provider and the sole representative from Southeast Asia, has been recognised as the top ‘Leading Challenger’ in Juniper Research’s Digital Wallet Report (2024 edition). Known for its independence and comprehensiveness, Juniper Research’s report evaluated 17 global digital wallet platform vendors on factors including product completeness, market positioning, and technological capabilities.  

Soft Space’s Digital Wallet and Card Issuance platform scored highly in the “Creativity and Innovation,” excelling in the number and value of unique features offered. Notably, Soft Space partnered with JCB to become the world’s first issuer of prepaid JCB Host Card Emulation (HCE). HCE enables NFC-enabled smartphones to emulate a physical card, enabling secure contactless payments virtually. As mobile wallets continue to gain global traction—projected to reach nearly 50% adoption by 2025—this collaboration with JCB will modernise digital payments for JCB issuers, benefiting JCB’s network of over 158 million cardmembers.   

Soft Space is developing services in the travel segment to promote cross-border usage through a combination of card and QR code. These services will be integrated with loyalty management systems to facilitate the earning of rewards and the discovery of deals. This initiative aims to strengthen its core capabilities by providing various use cases for their white-label partners to drive greater international card usage among their users.   

The platform was also recognised in the “Use Case” category, underscoring its versatility across industries, supporting models from Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Business-to-Business (B2B), and Government-to-Consumer (G2C). Built to accommodate a wide range of business needs, the platform enables diverse financial services, such as buy-now-pay-later, remittance, and earned wage access, empowering clients to deploy innovative financial solutions efficiently. Its adaptable deployment options, including micro-partner models, white-label solutions, and Software Development Kit (SDK) /Application Programming Interface (API) integrations, allow businesses of all sizes to customize and scale seamlessly across industries.  

“Our recognition as a ‘Leading Challenger’ in Juniper Research’s Digital Wallet Report reflects our dedication to driving innovation and delivering value to our clients and partners. We believe that digital wallets should be integrated into an open-loop payment system, and our collaboration with Visa, JCB, and Payments Network Malaysia is crucial to achieving this vision. Together, we are developing the infrastructure for a more interconnected and accessible digital payments ecosystem in Southeast Asia.” said Chris Leong, Chief Strategy and Investment Officer of Soft Space.   

Strategic partnerships also contributed to Soft Space’s performance in the report this year. Fasspay, a subsidiary of Soft Space, is a direct participant in Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s (PayNet) Real-time Retail Payments Platform (RPP), its clients can access real-time payment features such as QR code payments, peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers, and more.  

The DuitNow QR system, which is part of PayNet’s ecosystem, already has more than 2 million merchant acceptance points in Malaysia and facilitates real-time, cross-border QR payments with several Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand. This interoperability between domestic payment systems in Southeast Asia is expected to drive significant growth in cross-border tourism spending in Malaysia, which reached around RM71.3 billion in 2023.  

Soft Space’s Digital Wallet and Card Issuance platform has earned the trust of established institutions—including Cathay United Bank, one of the largest commercial banks in Taiwan, and over 80 major brands—through its reliable, scalable technology. This same commitment to robust, innovative financial solutions underpins Soft Space’s dedication to financial inclusion.  

Its partnerships with organizations like Sabah Credit Corporation bring critical financial services to underserved communities via the YONO financial superapp, while its collaboration with Vircle promotes youth financial literacy. By enabling secure, supervised digital payments in schools, Soft Space helps young people develop essential money management skills in a safe, controlled environment.  

For financial institutions and businesses seeking advanced digital wallet solutions, Soft Space’s top ranking on Juniper Research’s Digital Wallet Leaderboard highlights its capabilities in delivering secure, scalable, and innovative solutions. To learn more or explore collaboration opportunities, please visit: https://landing.softspace.com.my/fasspay_wallet/