Singapore – Mastercard has recently introduced Mastercard Pay Local, a global service that makes it easy for consumers to make card payments to merchants using local digital wallets. With Mastercard Pay Local, resident cardholders or international travelers can easily link their credit or debit cards to a digital wallet and immediately shop at participating merchants, without needing to set up or top up a prepaid account.
With this, residents can pay the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that do not accept traditional card payments through digital wallets, while tourists and international travelers can enjoy convenient, seamless payments across the destinations they’re visiting.
Moreover, hundreds of millions of MSMEs can experience increased reach with minimal infrastructure investment or disruptions to their operations.
Lastly, wallet operators can extend their customer base by attracting individuals who primarily use cards, providing a smooth consumer experience and achieving quicker time to market. Card issuers can also deliver more points of acceptance for the consumers they serve.
Leading wallets in Asia-Pacific, such as DANA in Indonesia, Touch ‘n Go in Malaysia, Bakong in Cambodia, and LankaPay in Sri Lanka, will use Mastercard Pay Local to facilitate payments for consumers at more than 35 million merchants in the region that accept these wallets.
Beyond Asia-Pacific, the service is also geared towards regions where digital wallets are widely used for everyday purchases, such as Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and Africa.
Sandeep Malhotra, executive vice president, products & innovation for Asia-Pacific at Mastercard, said, “With Pay Local, Mastercard is extending its global network to partner wallets and expanding acceptance by making it possible for Asia’s digital wallets to process card-based payments. This creates a low-cost, simple, stable, and secure connection between over 35 million merchants in Asia Pacific and two billion Mastercard cardholders.”
He added, “Locals benefit from new payment options while tourists can use their cards as they do at home, making travel infinitely easier, with one less thing to worry about while on the road.”
Pay Local builds upon Mastercard’s existing collaborations with leading wallet providers, including Alipay and Weixin Pay in the Chinese Mainland and Octopus in Hong Kong SAR, to offer a convenient way for international visitors to pay like locals when traveling to these locations, regardless of where in the world their Mastercard card was issued.
In addition, a range of digital wallets across the region already accept Mastercard cards for funding, enabling easy payments at merchant locations that accept these wallets, including GrabPay in Southeast Asia, Maya in the Philippines, ShopBack in Singapore, and TrueMoney in Thailand.
Darrick Rochili, chief innovation officer at DANA, commented, “At DANA, we are committed to enhancing the accessibility and convenience of digital payments for all users. By collaborating with Mastercard, we are excited to offer international travelers a seamless way to register and bind their cards to DANA, furthering our mission of bridging financial inclusion across borders. This collaboration reflects our dedication to improving user experience and supporting global financial mobility as we anticipate increased international travel.”
Meanwhile, Alan Ni, CEO at TNG Digital, stated, “As Malaysia’s leading digital wallet and financial services provider, we are proud to have expanded our services beyond national borders, enabling users to travel cashless and make seamless payments internationally. Our collaboration with Mastercard underscores the strength of our open platform strategy, allowing us to extend cashless payment solutions to international travelers visiting Malaysia, contributing to the country’s tourism industry and economy. We are pleased to offer inbound tourists the convenience of cashless transactions via QR payment at over 2 million merchants, retail outlets, and service providers across Malaysia.”
