SINGAPORE – EQS Newswire – 28 April 2020 – FinTech company Achiko Ltd. (ACHI:SWX) and TrustScan Pte Ltd today (27 April) announced a partnership that will make TrustScan’s smartphone based Covid-19 test passport technology available on the Achiko Platform (https://platform.achiko.com).
The partnership means that any user with an Achiko identity can get an authenticated digital certificate on their smartphone at the same time as they take a Covid-19 test. Using TrustScan’s patent-pending technology, places such as offices, factories, schools, airports, hotels or taxis can view that certificate to be sure of the test status of users coming through their doors, copying it for audit purposes if required.
The Achiko platform also offers the option for places to subsidise the cost of Covid-19 testing, creating a win for everyone: lower testing costs for users that incentivise regular testing and, for places on Achiko’s platform, higher confidence about the safety of everyone inside than a simple temperature check at the door can ever provide.
TrustScan is not an immunity passport nor does it currently offer contact tracing for users who later find that they have contracted Covid-19. These features may be offered as options in the future depending on how technologies for Covid-19 testing and concerns about data privacy evolve.
“Social distancing is necessary to combat Covid-19 but it assumes that every person is equally likely to have the virus. This partnership gives governments and businesses the opportunity to create trusted places where people who can show they are less likely to be infectious can get back to work and get on with life”, said Kenneth Ting, CEO of Achiko Limited. “The Achiko platform creates an ecosystem that significantly lowers the cost of rebuilding confidence among businesses, workers and customers as we all learn to live with Covid-19.”
Hugh Mason, Co-founder and CEO at TrustScan said: “TrustScan is a solution designed by business owners for business owners. Our mission is to get business restarted and everyone back to normal life as quickly as possible. We plan to scale fast and Achiko is a natural partner because it offers both the infrastructure we need to deploy and ready introductions to its business customers in key countries for our future.”
The new partnership consolidates Achiko’s transformation from a payments company to a full-service ecosystem platform. TrustScan adds to previous partnerships announced with EmpatKali, Sonect, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, Huawei and others, providing further evidence of Achiko delivering on its promise to bring value-added services to its customers. The platform is a milestone for Achiko’s ambitions to “Enable to Pay” and offer its users engaging and useful “Things to do”.
About Achiko
Achiko is a commercial platform that creates win-win outcomes for businesses and their customers who seek to entertain themselves, connect and enjoy diverse and unique experiences.
Businesses partnering with Achiko get immediate access to technology infrastructure and tools for scaling that would otherwise be prohibitively slow to deploy and expensive to build alone. Meanwhile, their customers enjoy immediate, joined-up access to complementary experiences without the friction of signing in and out, holding accounts with multiple payment providers or the need to learn new interfaces. From apps to e-commerce, consumer credit to savings, Achiko offers a complete ecosystem to enable business and customer experience both on- and offline.
Achiko’s management team has a track record building internationally recognised digital businesses with companies ranging from Disney to TimeWarner (now WarnerMedia), Samsung to Kakao, Leon Entertainment and many others. The business is expanding globally with offices already active in Switzerland, Indonesia and South Korea.
Achiko is backed by significant shareholders including MNC Group, the largest media company in Southeast Asia and MOX, China’s largest venture capital company focused exclusively on the mobile sector.
