Singapore-based wealthcare and savings app Hugosave officially announced on Tuesday that it has become a Visa Principal Member Issuing Licensee under its parent company, Atlas Consolidated Pte Ltd.
As a principal licence holder, Hugosave will now be able to issue Visa cards directly, as well as sponsor associate licences under Visa, Hugosave said in a statement.
“Becoming a Visa Principal Member Issuing Licensee places us alongside other key Visa clients and it is a recognition of our experience in risk underwriting and payments management,
“This status now allows us to not only scale our Hugosave business in and beyond Singapore swiftly; it allows us to expand our business opportunities by offering our own fintech-as-a-service (FaaS) platform,” said David Fergusson, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Hugosave.
Meanwhile, Visa Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei Adeline Kim said Visa has been working with Fintech partners through its Visa Fintech Fast Track programme to support them as they go-to-market to launch their products and solutions and help them scale.
“With Hugosave becoming a principal issuer, they can now issue their own cards directly just like traditional Financial Institutions. We believe it is important to help more players enter the payments ecosystem to bring seamless and convenient digital payments to more consumers and businesses in Singapore,” she said.
Hugosave Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder Ben Davis said that under the Visa Fintech Fast Track Programme, the firm has achieved Visa Principal Member Issuing Licensee status after a rigorous application process in record time.
“This is a testament of Hugosave’s capabilities in compliance and assures clients that their account safety as well as Hugosave’s operating model is of world-class standards,
“With this new licence, Hugosave can now have greater flexibility in our operations and continue to deliver exceptional value to our clients,” he added.
As a newly-appointed Principal Licensee with Visa, Hugosave will be issuing new Hugosave Visa Platinum Debit Cards to all existing Hugosave Plus+ Account members.
Launched in July 2021, Hugosave is Singapore’s first Wealthcare® and savings app which helps clients become financially fit by spending smarter, saving more, and investing diligently, starting with gold. Today, more than 60,000 clients in Singapore are using Hugosave to optimise their finances.
Owned and operated by Atlas Consolidated Pte Ltd, Hugosave was established in December 2019 by financial and technological stalwarts David Fergusson, Ben Davies, Braham Djidjelli and Surya Tamada.
Hugosave is a certified FinTech of the Singapore FinTech Association and received its licensing approval to operate as a Major Payment Institution from the Monetary Authority of Singapore on April 1, 2022 and Regulated Precious Metals Dealers Certification from the Ministry of Law, Singapore on August 1, 2021.