Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Soft Space, a local fintech provider, has announced a partnership with financial services company, JCB International, and banking institution Hong Leong Bank to promote JCB Card acceptance in Malaysia, capitalising on the potential of post-pandemic economic recovery.
Soft Space and JCBI entered into an agreement to partner with local acquirers, notably HLB, to promote JCB Card acceptance throughout Malaysia. As part of this initiative, Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara, a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, has already begun taking JCB Card payments made possible by HLB.
Joel Tay, chief executive officer of Soft Space, said, “As Japanese tourist arrivals in Malaysia begin to ramp up again, we are pleased to be able to enable and promote cross-border payments between Japan and Malaysia via our partners.”
He added, “This merely represents a first step in our ambition to roll out similar agreements in Southeast Asia, boosting JCB Card acceptance and riding on the wave of increasing contactless card payments in the region.”
Talking about the expansion and collaboration, Yoshiki Kaneko, president and chief executive officer of JCB International, said, “We decided to expand the collaboration with another global leader who shares similar values in enhancing user experience through state-of-the-art technological application.”
He added, “Malaysia has been an important destination country for our card members across the regions. Establishing a partnership with HLB is a huge step forward for the expansion of JCB acceptance network in Malaysia. We can now better serve JCB Card members coming to Malaysia not only from Japan, but also from the ASEAN region where we have more than 10 million card members.”
“I am especially delighted as this achievement has been brought via a unique tripartite collaboration including Soft Space. Leveraging on today’s success, we are further strengthening our presence in the entire ASEAN region through this partnership with Soft Space,” Kaneko said.
Speaking about the partnership, Andrew Jong, managing director of personal financial services at HLB, stated, “With an influx of tourists and expats coming from Japan into Malaysia, the option to accept JCB Cards will ensure convenience for its cardholders and provide businesses with an additional opportunity to capture more tourists and grow their business. This partnership will enable us to serve the customers who are increasingly going cashless as well as help our merchants increase their sales and customer transaction value.”
