Line Man Wongnai acquires e-payments firm Rabbit Line Pay to strengthen its eco-system
Line Man Wongnai, one of Thailand's largest online service platforms, has taken another step towards completing its ecosystem by acquiring a majority stake in an e-payments platform with the goal of leveraging a more seamless experience within Line Man and Line.
Yod Chinsupakul, the chief executive officer of Line Man Wongnai, announced the acquisition of Rabbit Line Pay Co (RLP), an integrated online and offline payment platform, during a press conference on Monday.
He said the objective was to bring RLP payment services closer to the Line ecosystem, which includes Line Man, Line Shopping, Line App, and Wongnai's merchant network.
The new ownership structure will accelerate innovation in RLP and create a more seamless experience within Line Man Wongnai's services as well as the broader Line ecosystem.
Previously, RLP was a partnership between three companies: Line, BTS, and Advanced Info Services. However, Line Man Wongnai recently decided to purchase RLP shares from the two shareholders.
"The shift in ownership is part of Line Man Wongnai's strategic goal to ensure that Rabbit Line Pay's strategy is fully aligned with the Line ecosystem," Yod explained.
He explained that the company had taken the step as it sees promising growth in e-payment services with the growing digital economy. As a result, having their own online payment system would allow them to provide better services with a more seamless experience, he said.
"We want to be the strongest player in this industry. This means that all Line services must seamlessly connect with one another and provide a comprehensive transaction or online payment solution with a single platform,” Yod said.
He insisted that the change in ownership structure would have no effect on RLP users. They can continue to use RLP payment services through existing channels, such as the BTS Skytrain ticketing system and AIS's bill payment services.
He said that RLP had a long history of serving Thai e-payment users through a variety of online and offline payment channels.
As user behaviour towards e-payments and overall fintech is changing rapidly, he believes it is an exciting time to reframe RLP's role under the new management.
"We want to use our strength of over 10 million Line Man and Wongnai users, over 500,000 merchants, and over 100,000 riders to create a consistent transaction experience for all stakeholders. With the addition of RLP, we believe Line Man Wongnai is uniquely positioned to help digitalise the Thai economy," he said.
Phichet Rerkpreecha, chief executive officer of Line Thailand, pointed out that the key strength of RLP is the integration between online-to-offline (O2O).
"The joint acquisition of RLP by Line Thailand and Line Man Wongnai is our strategy to connect Line app with Line Man, on-demand service, and Line Shopping, chat commerce service, for every type of customer. We can also bring the strength of Line Chat, Line Points, Line Stickers to create more fun and joyful experiences for every type of customer," he said.
As digital life becomes the new normal, Phichet emphasised the importance of preparing a one-stop-service platform for its customers.
He said that Line's ultimate goal was to provide a convenient platform that would meet all of its consumers’ demands, from ordering food to applying for financial loans.
In Young Chung, chief financial officer of Line Man Wongnai, pointed out that with the co-acquisition of RLP, Line Thailand and Line Man Wongnai was ready to connect the largest user and merchant bases in the economy via payment.
The deal further deepens the strategic ties between Line Group, one of the largest tech companies in Asia, and Line Man Wongnai, one of a few tech unicorns out of Thailand.
