editorial
More Asian travelers visiting Malaysia will soon have access to seamless digital payment options at over 1.8 million merchants across the country, while Malaysians will be able to pay with their e-wallets abroad. This is thanks to a recent memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet) and Ant Group.
By the end of this year, users of five Asian e-wallets, including AlipayHK, GCash, Kakao Pay, and TrueMoney, will be able to make cashless payments in Malaysia using Alipay+’s global cross-border digital payment and marketing solution. They can do this by scanning the DuitNow QR code. More e-wallets are expected to join in the coming months.
DuitNow QR is Malaysia’s National QR Standard and is operated by PayNet. This system allows merchants to accept real-time payments from customers of different participating banks and e-wallet operators using a unified QR code.
The partnership between PayNet and Ant Group will also enable all Malaysian e-wallets supported by PayNet to be accepted by the global network of Alipay+ merchants by 2024.
In addition to payments, Ant Group and PayNet will collaborate on joint digital marketing efforts to increase the visibility of businesses directly within users’ e-wallets.
Gary Yeoh, Chief Commercial Officer of PayNet, stated that this partnership is essential as overseas travel and tourism have fully resumed and are rapidly increasing. Consumers and merchants in both countries expect a seamless and hassle-free digital payment experience when traveling abroad. This collaboration will address these needs and is expected to lead to higher trade growth between Malaysia and other Asian countries.
The collaboration comes at a time when Malaysia is experiencing a travel recovery, with 4.5 million tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2023, mainly from ASEAN countries. Malaysia aims to achieve its target of 16.1 million tourist arrivals in 2023 and generate more than RM49 billion in tourism revenue.
As travel recovers, businesses need to adapt to new digital habits, including the acceptance of local digital payment options like e-wallets. Southeast Asian users are driving the use of QR code payments, which is projected to grow 590% by 2028. South Korea and other Asian countries are also expected to see accelerated adoption.
Dr. Cherry Huang, General Manager of Alipay+ Offline Merchant Services at Ant Group, mentioned that this collaboration will bring local businesses and international visitors closer together, providing convenience to tourists while offering more opportunities and visibility for Malaysian businesses. Travelers today expect simple and seamless experiences, and through this partnership, Alipay+ aims to achieve personalized, hassle-free, and borderless payment experiences.
Alipay+ is a suite of global cross-border digital payment and marketing solutions that enables businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses, to accept a wide range of mobile payment methods. It allows them to reach over 1 billion regional and global consumers through one-time integration and simple technical adaptation.
Apart from Malaysia, Alipay+ is widely accepted in various destinations, including the Chinese mainland, Macao SAR, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea.
This partnership between PayNet and Ant Group demonstrates PayNet’s success in cross-border collaborations, following similar agreements with Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore. These interconnections connect a significant portion of digital payment customers in ASEAN, one of the most active digital payments markets worldwide.
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