DBS has partnered with a local edutech to enhance ts app-based management system with real-time payment features.

Over 160,000 parents in Singapore will soon be able to purchase uniforms, pay for field trips and sign up for extra-curricular classes for their pre-school children through a mobile payment platform gateway developed by DBS. The bank has partnered edutech company LittleLives to enhance its app-based pre-school management system with real-time payment features.

«By building payments capabilities into the app, we have made banking invisible and seamless so pre-school operators can channel their energy and resources back into building their business,» said Joyce Tee, group head of SME Banking at DBS Bank at the official launch of the app on Thursday, with Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung as the guest of honor.

Cash Dependent Sector

In Singapore, the early childhood education sector is still dependent on cash despite school fees being paid via GIRO or Child Development Accounts (CDA). For example, when paying for excursions, school uniforms or learning resources, parents often make payments using cash or cheques and the school then makes arrangements to pay third-party vendors. 

Eliminating these payment pain points is the first step in digitalizing payments in the early childhood education sector, DBS said. With payment functions built into the LittleLives app, pre-school operators can save up to 40 manhours per month on administrative tasks such as payments reconciliation, allowing them more time to engage with parents and their children.

Daily Settlement and Auto-Reconciliation

Used by over 750 pre-schools in Singapore, the Little Lives app can now enable pre-schools to generate invoices and parents to make payments through PayNow and DBS PayLah. Receipts will be generated automatically after payments are made. With access to real-time payment reports such as daily settlement and auto-reconciliation, pre-schools can better manage their finances more accurately and securely.

«Many young parents are time-strapped and juggling multiple responsibilities at work and at home. By enabling parents to conduct payments on the go, quickly and safely, they have more time to nurture and care for their children,» said Sun Ho, founder of LittleLives.

DBS and LittleLives have plans to roll out this payments gateway to other markets such as Brunei, Cambodia, China, Malaysia and Vietnam, by tapping on its the bank's own API-enabled solution.