Taiwan’s largest e-payment provider iPass Corp (一卡通票證) said yesterday it would continue working closely with Line Corp despite plans to shift its iPass Money functions away from the messaging service’s Line Pay at the end of the year.
IPass first announced in July that its e-wallet partnership with Line Pay would end at the end of this year, signaling a structural split between the two companies’ payment systems.
Under the plan, most iPass Money functions previously offered in the Line Pay wallet will be shifted to the standalone iPass Money app beginning in January next year, the company said.
Photo courtesy of iPass Corp
The shift is intended to strengthen the independence of its e-payment operations and improve service quality, iPass said, but it still assured users that wallet functions inside the Line app will remain available by linking to the iPass Money app.
Once in the iPass Money app, there will still be an icon linking users back to Line Money if they feel more comfortable with the Line Pay user experience, the company said.
Though iPass characterized the move as enabling the continuation of the collaboration, Line has made it clear the two payment functions want to go their separate ways.
Line is also preparing to launch its own e-payment service, Line Pay Money, which will replace the current iPass Money-supported wallet functions inside the app.
Line has said the new service will debut on Dec. 3 and can be activated by updating the Line app to the latest version, giving users direct access to top-ups, transfers, payments, transit use and bill payments without relying on iPass Money.
Still, iPass said that while most iPass Money services in Line Pay will be adjusted starting on Dec. 3, all balances, settings and transaction records will remain secure and unchanged in users’ existing accounts.
To prevent any disruption, the company will keep the “friend transfer” and “withdrawal” functions available inside the Line Pay wallet until Dec. 31, it said.
Some 7.2 million iPass Money users will, however, need to download the iPass Money app in advance to continue using wallet linking, transfers and bill payments within Line.
The company said all wallet functions have already been incorporated into the new app.
Users can restore their original balance and full feature set-including transfers, bill payments, retail payments and the transit QR code simply by logging in with their mobile number, it said.
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