AirAsia Digital is now 1 of 3 M’sia-based unicorns, these key milestones paved its journey
AirAsia Digital recently achieved unicorn status (a valuation of over US$1 billion) in what AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes described as a “record time” of under 2 years.
In a report by Swiss-based global financial services company, Credit Suisse, AirAsia Digital is now one of three Malaysia-based companies to be included in SEA’s unicorn club.
The other two include Carsome who became a unicorn in July 2021 after acquiring iCar Asia, and edotco, a telco infrastructure services company.
For clarity, AirAsia Digital is the rebranded digital venture arm of AirAsia Group. Previously, it went by RedBeat Ventures upon its launch in 2018.
This recognition validates the company’s belief that its strategy to grow its digital services was the right thing to do, especially in the face of the pandemic.
But even prior to the pandemic, AirAsia Group was already digitalising aspects of its business, beginning with its move to go ticketless and introduce online booking through airasia.com in early 2002.
Since then, it’s made more leaps in the digitalisation of its ventures, and we take a look back at some milestones in its digital journey thus far.
2005: Launched mobile.airasia.com
This service allowed users to search for search, book, and pay for AirAsia flights on their mobile phones or personal digital assistants (PDAs).
As mobile phone usage was growing rapidly then, the goal was to reach even more consumers while cutting down on operating costs.
2008: Made another move in the e-commerce space
That year, AirAsia launched an online shopping portal called the Red Megastore, which offered an array of exclusive AirAsia merchandise.
Today, the site no longer seems to exist and its operations appear to have moved to airasia travelmall, an online travel retail platform where more than just AirAsia merchandise can be found.
2012: Revamped its mobile app
In July 2012, AirAsia suspended operations of its mobile app to the confusion of customers, but several months later announced a revamped service.
It came with more features, such as the ability to pre-book meals, baggage weight, storage for sports equipment, and more.
However, fans at the time noticed the app had some glaring shortcomings, particularly the inability to check one’s flight booking alongside other bugs and glitches.
Though the company is always pushing the envelope when it comes to being tech-savvy, this rush to launch new but flawed services is something AirAsia still seems to struggle with today, if our recent review of its food delivery service is of anything to go by.
Over the course of the next few years, AirAsia would continue adding features and improvements to its mobile app.
2018: Expanded into the fintech space
Following the rebrand of RedBeat Ventures as AirAsia Digital, BigPay was launched. The e-wallet came with a prepaid card to be used anywhere a MasterCard was accepted, making it one of the firsts of its kind in Malaysia then.
One of its biggest selling points was the accessibility and ease of transacting money globally it offered, and in 2019, the introduction of its e-wallet to bank remittance feature further increased BigPay’s value.
By 2020, it had expanded its services to Singapore. In February 2021, BigPay shared that it had 1.3 million users in Malaysia alone, and that it was one of the country’s largest digital financial platforms by gross transaction value.
May 2020: Taking a piece of the local food delivery market pie
Once flights were grounded during the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline began looking into other digital opportunities to fill gaps in the market.
The company identified that many existing food delivery apps were charging merchants exorbitant 20%-35% commission fees, and believed it could offer the same quality for better rates.
Thus, airasia food was launched. It started out with zero commission fees, but as the business has to sustain itself too, it later introduced a 15% commission rate, believed to be the lowest in Malaysia’s food delivery sector right now.
Within 3 months of its launch, airasia food shared that it had onboarded 500 restaurants around the Klang Valley and delivered close to 15,000 orders.
October 2020: Revealed its new app identity as airasia Super App
You may know airasia Super App as one of the main areas AirAsia has been pouring lots of effort into growing, particularly over the pandemic.
The app’s rebranding was to reflect its goal of becoming a one-stop e-commerce platform for one’s lifestyle and travel purposes.
To that end, it offers more than 15 types of products and services, including the purchase of flights, hotels, food deliveries, grocery deliveries, beauty products, and more. In February 2021, Tony shared in an NHK World interview that the super app was serving 16 million users a month.
In the same month, AirAsia Digital launched Redbeat Academy in partnership with Google. It was initially set up to upskill and cross-train Allstars (AirAsia employees) in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), software engineering, and more.
As the next step of the company’s own digital transformation journey, the academy was opened to the public and its efforts were praised by then-Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Khairy Jamaluddin.
March 2021: Joined Singapore’s food delivery scene
Seeing further food delivery opportunities overseas as well, airasia food expanded to Singapore after one year in Malaysia.
Despite a slow start of only 100 daily orders even after 4 months, Tony remained unperturbed, describing the performance as being “exactly what we predicted”.
He reiterated that their priority was just to launch it first, and then improve the platform’s technology infrastructure, which appears to be AirAsia’s usual practice. Once the tech was better, they would focus on marketing.
August 2021: Rolled into Malaysia’s ride-hailing scene
One of airasia Super App’s most recent additions is airasia ride, the airline’s attempt at capturing a share of the ride-hailing market in Malaysia.
This came after Tony’s announcement in March 2021 that he was unfazed by ride-hailing giants like Grab’s hold over the local industry, and that AirAsia would soon be launching its very own ride-hailing service.
At the time of its launch, it had already onboarded about 1,500 drivers and planned to onboard another 5,000 by January 2022. Based on projections, airasia ride CEO Lim Chiew Shan stated that they would need 30,000 drivers to satisfy the expected demand.
Similar to its low commission rates for food deliveries, airasia ride takes a 15% commission fee from driver-partners in an attempt to cut a more attractive deal.
October 2021: Recognised as one of three Malaysia-based unicorns
This brings us to where we are at present, with the affirmation of AirAsia Digital’s recognition as a unicorn by Credit Suisse.
Tony stated, “This sends a strong message to the industry that our strategy to become more than just an airline in the digital era is not only on the right track, but allows AirAsia to make a name for itself as a key player in the e-commerce and delivery space in Asean.”
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On the horizon is also drone delivery, if AirAsia’s pilot testing of the technology in March 2021 manifests into something more substantial coupled with the development of Malaysia’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry. At the moment, there has been no further news on this venture.
With an extensive history of growth behind AirAsia, it’s likely that this article didn’t manage to cover every single one of its relevant digital milestones, but it’s enough to show its ambition and dedication to its digital transformation.
In the early days, it appeared that AirAsia was one to break the mould, but that it is now opting for the tried and tested way.
Though some of its efforts have been less than perfect, especially with regards to its super app, I still commend the group for doing what it can in order to remain relevant and sustain itself during the pandemic.
Mark my words, we are going to be a major player in the Asean digital economy. Recently we won the Business Innovation category at the 2021 Airline Strategy Awards. Our competitors are already taking notice and the best is yet to come, with new innovations and partnerships to be announced soon that will really shake up the industry, the way we revolutionised the Asean airline industry 20 years ago.
Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia Group.
- Learn more about Credit Suisse’s report here, and AirAsia here.
- Read more of our AirAsia-related content here.
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Featured Image Credit: Reuters
Standard Chartered expands into BNPL, US$500M to finance Atome in new partnership
Standard Chartered announced today (October 13) its plans to provide financing of US$500 million as part of its commitment to support Atome Financial’s future growth.
This is part of a 10-year multi-product strategic partnership, combining their strengths in finance and technology to deliver a wide range of financial services to consumers and merchants across key markets in Asia.
This investment marks one of Standard Chartered’s largest strategic investments in fintech to date, supporting its ambition to expand its reach and scale within the mass market segment via a digital-first approach, underpinned by digital acquisition and new partnership models.
The partnership will initially include buy now pay later services, targeting to roll out in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam in the next few months, and later expand to include digital lending products.
For Standard Chartered, this is a winning collaboration. With the bank’s deep knowledge of Asia’s Markets coupled with Atome Financial’s digital consumer finance, it will allow them to reach more customers and drive financial participation of those underserved and underbanked.
This partnership with Atome Financial gives us the opportunity to be part of the rapidly growing digital consumer finance ecosystem and provides convenient and relevant digital financial products to complement and enrich clients’ digital lives.
Riding on our successful digital ventures and partnerships, we continue to be fearlessly innovative in disrupting ourselves to better serve our clients. Our deep knowledge of Asia’s markets coupled with Atome Financial’s experience in digital consumer finance will allow us to reach even more customers and drive greater financial participation of those underserved and underbanked.
– Judy Hsu, CEO, Consumer, Private and Business Banking of Standard Chartered Bank
Atome to reach more financial markets
With this new investment and Atome’s recent closing of a US$400 million Series D financing round from an investor consortium led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Warburg Pincus, this puts the company at a valuation of US$2 billion.
Standard Chartered’s investment will enable Atome Financial to grow and connect a wider ecosystem of merchants to a larger customer base, improving product access and financial inclusion for consumers across the region.
At the same time, Atome Financial’s customers will gain access to more innovative financial services, easily accessed via their mobile devices.
“By providing consumers with easier, simpler, and more convenient access to a full suite of digital-first financial services, we can accelerate broader financial inclusion across both developed and emerging markets in Asia,” said Jefferson Chen, co-founder, Group chairman and CEO of Advance Intelligence Group, and CEO of Atome Financial.
“At the same time, this partnership with Standard Chartered will allow us to expand our merchant network and help retailers increase their customer base and basket sizes, contributing to economic growth across the region.”
This partnership between the two powerhouses is expected to reach 16 million customers by 2025 and gain access to multiple financial ecosystems in order to capture a share of the digital lending market, valued at US$92 billion by 2025 in South East Asia alone.
Featured Image Credit: Digital News Asia via Reuters
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Safe Distance @ Parks: How AI replaced eye power for crowd counting
Singapore is well-known for having ample green spaces amid the urban landscape that stem from our commitment to build a network of parks over the years.
Beset by the many challenges that cropped up during the circuit breaker period last year, Singaporeans flocked to the parks to find respite in nature. As a result, popular parks like East Coast Park became congested with many visitors.
In response, the government quickly rolled out the Safe Distance @ Parks website and app which could display near real-time crowd sizes for parks across Singapore, so that people could avoid those with high footfall.
Developed in 3.5 days and subsequently enhanced with automated updates, Safe Distance @ Parks is a great example of the government’s commitment to use tech in an agile manner to make people’s lives better.
Abhishek Tandon, who is from GovTech’s Services division and currently seconded to NParks, led the combined NParks and GovTech team which developed Safe Distance @ Parks. We spoke to him to learn more about what it took to make the project a reality.
Q: Let’s start with an overview of Safe Distance @ Parks. What problem was it meant to tackle and how did it do so?
As you observed, the pandemic led to a spike in visitors to our parks and with the Covid-19 situation still ongoing, NParks is still seeing heightened public interest in Singapore’s green spaces.
As a result, NParks’ staff who patrol gardens, parks, nature reserves and park connectors as part of their daily work, have also been working to enforce safe distancing measures in our green spaces. This manpower-intensive effort has involved staff and volunteers from other public agencies to patrol more than 500 green spaces.
So NParks wanted to leverage technology to support its safe distancing operations, developing the Safe Distance @ Parks app to allow members of the public to look for a park near them and check visitor levels before leaving their homes. The app receives near real-time updates on crowd sizes.
We used these prepared examples to train a case-details recogniser, which can identify the different types of key information with 85 per cent accuracy.
At this stage, we are able to automatically identify the nature of the complaint, extract the relevant details, fill up the feedback template, and prompt the user to add missing information.
Q: The Safe Distance @ Parks website was developed in 3.5 days, and the automated update was developed in two weeks. Prior to the automated counting enabled by computer vision, how were crowd sizes determined and updated on the site? What did the team change or improve on?
As GovTechies, we are ABC (Agile, Bold, and Collaborative). With support from GovTech and NParks management, we got the portal up and running in 3.5 days.
Initially, the crowd sizes were determined by observations from NParks officers on the ground. Basically, that meant NParks officers were manually counting and assessing! They would then use the Safe Distance @ Parks mobile app to update visitor levels at fixed intervals, as well as to communicate any remarks or recommendations for specific locations.
But we knew from the start that this manpower-intensive way of doing things might not be sustainable. So we developed an automated update system that is scalable, able to get inputs from various sources (CCTV, Drones, EPS carpark, etc), and makes use of analytics to assess crowd sizes and update the Safe Distance @ Parks app.
This process was developed within two weeks to reduce the reliance on staff input. This was achieved by deploying CCTV cameras with live streaming capability extensively in our parks to reduce the physical deployment of staff, employing central video analytics systems and integrating with Electronic Parking Systems.
Given that the COVID-19 situation is still ongoing, this has helped to free up staff time to perform essential greenery and park maintenance tasks.
Q: What were the main challenges involved in this project?
One of the challenges was establishing the networks of cameras for the automated updating. There were already existing cameras in place at various gardens and parks, but not enough to meet the operational needs of the automated updating system.
Also, not all cameras had the ability to live-stream the feeds to a central location or share images. NParks rapidly deployed additional CCTV cameras to our parks, gardens and nature reserves, prioritising sites that were more popular with visitors and required closer monitoring.
Q: What was it like working across agencies and partnering with the data science team from GovTech? What processes did you use to enable rapid development and deployment of the solution?
Actually, Safe Distance @ Parks is not the only project we have collaborated with GovTech on. Another example is the “Spot the Robot dog”, which was programmed to monitor social distancing.
For Safe Distance @ Parks, we started with a loose set of requirements by explaining our goal of “people counting” to the GovTech Data Science team.
The GovTech team compared three commercial off-the-shelf people detection and counting algorithms. They also built a prototype using a native cloud service provider and quickly sorted out various technical tasks such as standardised protocol to receive images from the cameras.
All teams worked together to gather feedback from operational staff on everything from the frequency for updating the public website, limitations, existing camera height, coverage area and so on. The team optimised algorithms as well as suggested placement of camera location.
In all, NParks was able to reduce manpower deployed for safe distancing measures in parks by two-thirds. This allowed Singaporeans to continue to seek respite at our parks safely, reaping the benefits of greenery and nature for their health and wellbeing during this period.
Q: How essential were cloud services to this project?
A major part of Safe Distance @ Parks is hosted on the cloud. The various teams’ familiarity with cloud systems gave us a significant headstart in rapidly deploying our CCTV analytics prototype.
The flexibility of the cloud platforms also enabled us to scale up and down different aspects of the project as and when necessary, such as during a sudden surge in website traffic. The website received 620,000 monthly visits at its peak.
To sum up, the end-to-end architecture is scalable, resilient, and secure.
Q: What other tech projects can we look forward to from NParks?
We’re always looking to collaborate with partners from both the public and private sector, as well as institutes of higher learning. The “Spot the Robot dog” example earlier is one.
We’re also working with Garuda Robotics for drone analytics and Ngee Ann Polytechnic on park surveillance robots, which are autonomous machines that can detect the flouting of safe distancing measures.
And of course, we’re always working to enhance the capabilities of our existing systems. We hope to have exciting new updates in the future! Stay safe and healthy!
This article first appeared on GovTech. You can also get byte-sized (geddit?) tech stories by GovTech here.
Featured Image Credit: GovTech
Also Read: Here are some tech projects that your company can co-create with the S’pore gov’t in 2021
The Galaxy Tab S7 FE is a budget-friendly laptop alternative for students, here’s why
With online classes being the norm and continuing even as schools reopen, students requiring a device for their studies may see a tablet as a more affordable option than a laptop.
Attached to a Bluetooth keyboard or keyboard book cover, its screen can easily be converted into a functional laptop too. While you can’t expect it to sufficiently handle heavier programmes with ease like you would on a traditional laptop, it’s more than enough for students’ light work and play, from primary school up to even college.
Seeing that Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE is coming in at a starting price of RM1,848 for its 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM unit and RM2,199 for the 6GB RAM and 128GB ROM version, it’s a tad more affordable than some of the cheapest quality laptops on the market, if this list is anything to go by.
I won’t be going into the tablet’s full specs in this article, as they can be found in our previous, more detailed review of it.
Productivity
Turning on Samsung DeX when paired with an external Bluetooth keyboard immediately switches the Tab S7 FE’s UI into one that looks like a laptop.
The tablet’s large 12.4-inch screen has plenty of real estate for multitasking abilities. 2 windows can be opened in a split-screen view, making it suitable for attending online classes while taking notes simultaneously.
It can also accommodate a couple more pop-up tabs to quickly reply to messages, check your emails, and set due dates in your calendar. For quicker access to frequently used apps, you can pin them onto the tab’s Edge panel too.
Although Samsung doesn’t provide a book cover keyboard when you purchase the Tab S7 FE, it does come with a stylus where writing with the S Pen on Samsung’s Notes app transforms your handwriting into text. However, it doesn’t always translate your scribbles accurately, so it’s not the best for taking notes in a hurry.
For those who find that doodling helps with focus, the tab also comes with the pre-installed PENUP app for digital art.
The S Pen is touch-sensitive, which means you can switch the intensity of your brushstroke depending on how hard you press down on the screen, and accidental touches were rare. Holding down the stylus’s side button also switches its function into an eraser for quick cleanups.
However, the stylus does have a high latency at 13 milliseconds (compared to the S7 Plus at 9 milliseconds), which may cause some lags before actions are reflected on screen. Hence, the device is likely more suitable for casual or beginner digital artists as opposed to professional ones requiring more accuracy.
For virtual meetings, there’s a 5MP front camera that sits atop the screen when the tab is in landscape mode. It’s a much-preferred location for the front camera when it comes to video calls, as you wouldn’t have to adjust or tilt the screen in awkward angles to get a good view of yourself.
Pick up from its built-in microphones also functions well and clearly.
The tab’s 8MP primary camera on the back isn’t the best, where images can come out looking overly saturated and with low sharpness. But let’s be real… who uses a tablet for high-quality photography?
Entertainment
Of course, a tablet is more than just a productivity device, and the Tab S7 FE makes for a decent entertainment one too when it’s time to wind down.
While it doesn’t have a fancy AMOLED screen like the Tab S7 Plus, its TFT screen has a high resolution of 1,600 by 2,560 pixels. With pronounced vibrant colours, the sacrifice isn’t immediately noticeable when watching videos.
Gaming on the Tab S7 FE is enjoyable as well, as the large screen can accommodate more visuals at a time, making a more immersive experience in open-world games. When playing Sky: Children of the Light on medium settings, it ran smoothly with minimal lags.
Though Samsung has cut down on the number of speakers on the Tab S7 FE from 4 to 2 compared to the Tab S7 and S7 Plus, audio is still loud and can easily fill a medium-sized room.
Unfortunately for those who still prefer wired earphones, the Tab S7 FE doesn’t come with a 3.5mm headphone jack, so you’ll have to opt for wireless earbuds instead.
Portability
Much like its premium counterparts, the Tab S7 FE has a 10,090mAh battery. It was able to get me through the more productive hours of my day, clocking in about 6 hours on full usage.
But charging it up again from 15% to 100% was rather slow and required at least 2 hours. While the tab is capable of 45W charging, it only comes with a charging block with an output of 15W.
That being said, the Tab S7 FE is still a convenient device to charge throughout the day even with a powerbank. Furthermore, because it uses the same charging cables for its USB-C port, you wouldn’t have to pack more cables than necessary in a compact school bag (unless your other devices are Apple products).
Weighing at around 608g, the Tab S7 FE is also portable, being lighter than a full-blown laptop.
Suitable for beginners
Although the Galaxy Tab S7 FE would fit the ins and outs of a regular student, I’d say it’s not as suitable for the working class who’d need to multitask more heavily.
It wouldn’t be the best tablet for those who’ve been using devices with higher specs either, as Samsung has basically halved the specs from last year’s Tab S7 and S7 Plus.
To add, a Fan Edition device from Samsung usually means that it would carry all the essential features of more premium models with a budget-friendlier price tag, simply because all the bells and whistles have been stripped.
But truthfully, the lowered specs of the Tab S7 FE make it feel more like a “Lite” version, and that’s not good enough for a Fan Edition label.
As this is Samsung’s first go at a Fan Edition tablet, the brand would be expected to step up its game and execute what it’s previously done for its FE phones, which have received high praise from fans.
Nonetheless, for those who’d only require a productivity and entertainment device that does the bare minimum, it’s still a worthy tablet. You’ll still be getting a massive screen with great sound quality, good software, reliable battery life, and the S Pen experience on the Galaxy Tab S7 FE.
- Learn more about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE here.
- You can read more of our VP Verdict series here.
VP Verdict is a series where we personally try and test out products, services, fads, and apps. Want to suggest something else for us to try? Leave a comment here or send the suggestion to our Facebook page.
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