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MANILA -- Messaging app Viber aims to become a super app as it expands into the dating scene with Viber Dating. Soon, it will also launch an e-wallet platform.

Rakuten Viber CEO Ofir Eyal said the idea is to go beyond messaging. It unveiled Viber Dating, saying users of dating apps would eventually transfer to messaging apps after they matched. But with this new feature, it's all in one app.

This service was partly developed in the Philippines, which is among Viber's top markets.

"We saw also is that within the Philippines, it’s one of the vibrant markets that has the most high usage of different types of dating apps, hence an openness to try new things," Eyal told reporters during his visit to Manila.

He clarified that though it will be in one app, the dating account is separate from the regular messaging account. One's number is not visible in the dating account and one can also have a different profile picture.

"The first concern is fake profiles, scams, and frauds... My boss is going to see me on a dating app with my colleagues, family. So what we did is we addressed these privacy and security [concerns]," he said.

The dating app is linked to a SIM number and there are AI and manual verification processes to help ensure owner of the account is a real person. Eyal said they are the first messaging app to expand into the dating platform.

Meanwhile, ViberPay may be unveiled in the second quarter or second half of the year. It's an e-wallet allowing users to send money to other users. 

Eyal said people would typically message each other firs then transfer money to an e-wallet app to do the transaction, but soon it will all be in one app.

"Embed this the same experience of sending money inside a place where you already started the interaction, the messaging market... We’re taking these two worlds, combining them," he said.

Viber to launch digital payment service in PH

Soon, Viber will add more features like QRPH payments, credit and debit cards, and international remittances. It is now processing licenses and permits with various regulators and agencies.

About a million users are pre-registered with the ViberPay service.

Eyal did not disclose the number of users they have in the Philippines, but said the country is among their top 5 markets. He expects more users this year as they add new services going beyond messaging.