Alipay+, the digital payment brand owned by the Ant Group, recently announced that it is entering into a partnership with the Payments Network Malaysia, or PayNet. The two companies signed an MoU that will allow five of the leading e-wallet services in Asia to make cashless payments while they are in Malaysia via Alipay+.
The e-wallets include AlipayHK from Hong Kong, GCash from the Philippines, Kakao Pay from South Korea, and TrueMoney from Thailand. By the end of the year, all visitors from the corresponding countries will need to do in order to make a cashless transaction while in Malaysia is to scan DuitNow QR codes, which is the National QR standard in Malaysia.
The Alipay+ and PayNet partnership is a two-way street as well. While visitors from the five Asian countries will be able to enjoy making cashless payments, the latter group is looking towards making all Malaysian e-wallets it supports to be accepted by Alipay+ merchant networks around the globe by 2024.
“This partnership between PayNet and Alipay+ is forged at a vital time when overseas travel and tourism have fully resumed, and rapidly increasing. Consumers and merchants in both countries who are already accustomed to digital payments expect the same seamless and hassle-free experience when travelling overseas. They also expect this to be conducted at competitive exchange rates. This collaboration will address both these needs.” Gary Yeoh, CCO of PayNey said. “Since Malaysia has long been a favourite and popular destination with Asian tourists, and vice-versa, this collaboration will likely result in higher trade growth between the two nations. We do see the proliferation of seamless international payments at scale sooner than we think. It is just a matter of time.”
Prior to its partnership with PayNet, Alipay+ also entered into a partnership with the TnG Group, a year earlier, in order expand what it called cross-border payment capabilities for TnG eWallet in Singapore.
(Source: AntGroup press release)
