Back in July, Wise started rolling out support for DuitNow QR payments. Today, the multi-currency company said that it is adding two more features to its app, and that Malaysians are among the first to benefit from them. The first, and likely the more relevant one of the two, is support for cross-border QR transactions. The second, which is also tangentially related, is access to a customisable eSIM for roaming plans.
The first one should be pretty self-explanatory. But beyond that, Wise says that a YouGov survey it commissioned revealed that most travellers face payment hurdles while abroad. Among Malaysians who have travelled internationally in the last 12 months, that number is up to 91%, with common complaints being accessing or even setting up local e-wallets for their QR codes.
With the addition, Wise says that Malaysians can use its app to make QR payments in over 50 destinations globally. This is done via the company’s direct connections with local payment schemes, such as with PayNet for DuitNow locally. This even includes support for Alipay+ in China, though the announcement makes no mention of the WeChat Pay platform.
As for the customisable eSIM, Wise says that it is among the first in the world to launch such a thing to customers in several markets around the world. Rather than having to apply for a new eSIM for every individual trip, the company says “customers only need to download the eSIM to their device once”. You then buy data for the eSIM directly from Wise, set the exact data allowance and the exact number of days per your itinerary.
Once you’ve bought your roaming eSIM, data allocated to it will only be used when it connects to the supported network at the destination. If your travel plans change and you end up not going to your initially intended destination, Wise says that it will refund unused plans.
The company says that both the QR payments and eSIM plans “are available to eligible Wise Account customers from today”. As with the DuitNow QR rollout a few months back, this implies a gradual rollout.
