TDG, Japan’s NYK Line form e-money venture

The Delgado family’s Transnational Diversified Group (TDG) partnered with Japanese shipping giant NYK Line to provide digital money services to seafarers around the world.

TDG and NYK, one of the world’s oldest shipping firms, are developing a financial technology platform called MarCoPay, which will be launched in January next year.

MarCoPay will use QR code technology for pre-boarding, salary disbursements, on-board purchases and money transfers, allowing users to do away with most cash-based transactions.

“We want to make things easier for seafarers, who have been the lifeblood of our business for so long. They spend most of their time at sea, and they are constantly faced with homesickness and worry from being away from their families and friends,” MarCoPay President and CEO Toshiaki Fujioka said in a statement.

“We want them to be able to buy food and essentials away from home without having to be so concerned about cash,” he added.

The venture is eyeing a huge market with a global footprint. There are about 1.6 million seafarers around the world, of which 20 percent are Filipinos.

“In the NYK line alone, we have 4,241 Filipinos servicing 217 vessels. Seafaring is a very noble profession, and our seafarers are often faced with the hard choice to leave their families behind just to give them a better life,” MarCoPay chief operating officer Areson Cuevas said in the same statement.

TDG’s ties with NYK go back to 1976. The company provides seafarer recruiting services for the international shipping line that has been running since 1885.

The seafarers are servicing a fleet of about 710 ships internationally, which includes container ships, tankers, bulk and woodchip carriers, Ro-Ro car carriers, reefer vessels, LNG carriers, and cruise ship, TDG added.

TDG was started by J. Roberto Delgado and the late Kiyoshi Osawa in 1976. Its businesses span information and communications technology, logistics and ship management.