PayPal Inc. has agreed to provide mobile payments services to Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority.
Rahul Shinghal, the regional head of mobile products for PayPal Asia Pacific, said on his corporate blog last Wednesday that the online payment service will power the infrastructure of Singapore's Digital Concierge mobile-commerce program, which is set to launch by yearend.
Digital Concierge is expected to enable businesses and consumers to conduct transactions and make payments via their mobile devices, he wrote.
"Local developers and [information technology service] providers can also leverage our payment functionality to more quickly and easily make money from their mobile services and apps," Shinghal said.
"This will make it much easier to encourage businesses, such as retailers and [food and beverage] outlets, to adopt m-commerce and reach out to more consumers and ultimately grow their sales."
The Infocomm Development agreement is the second large deal in Asia for eBay Inc.'s payments unit.
In May, the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, telecommunications operator Maxis Communications Ltd. announced a deal for its 12 million customers to pay online via PayPal.
