Tag: financial technology

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – PayMate, a B2B payments platform, has launched its Business Payments app in Malaysia to encourage better financial management and business growth for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

The app provides SMEs with an easy-to-use platform for their B2B payments with suppliers, helping them navigate challenges. SMEs are often hounded by issues such as delayed payments and limited access to affordable credit, which leads to disruptions.

Through the PayMate Business Payments App, business owners can handle payments using commercial and retail credit cards efficiently. Additionally, the app offers up to 55 days of interest-free credit on cards.

While providing efficiency and flexibility in handling payments, the app also provides security in transactions through a PCI DSS-certified platform. It ensures that business owners can drive business growth and financial stability.

The launch is part of PayMate’s collaboration with Selangor Information Technology & Digital Economy Corporation (SIDEC), a subsidiary of Invest Selangor Berhad. The partnership aims to contribute to SME development in Malaysia. Through the app, PayMate helps boost SIDEC’s efforts to improve SME financial management while driving local economic growth.

Rakesh Khanna, chief commercial officer at PayMate, commented, “We are proud to launch our new business payments app in Malaysia, which is thoughtfully designed to meet the needs of SMEs by offering features that enhance working capital optimisation and streamline B2B payments. Recognising Malaysia as a vital market, we are committed to supporting its SMEs on their growth journey with innovative, secure, and reliable payment solutions that enable them to thrive in an increasingly digital landscape.”

“At PayMate, we recognise the ongoing challenges faced by Malaysian SMEs in managing their cash flow. Traditional financial processes can be manual and time-consuming, often hindering business growth. Our new Business Payments App addresses these by optimising working capital and streamlining B2B payments, empowering businesses to take full control of their finances. With features such as unlimited transfers and the flexibility to make payments via credit cards, SMEs can seize opportunities and manage their supplier payments with greater agility,” Amirreza Sawal, general manager of PayMate Asia Pacific, said.

Philippines – With the growing prevalence of online banking in the country, a recent survey by Capstone-Intel revealed that the majority of Filipinos are now gravitating towards digital financing, deeming it a go-to transaction convenience in the Philippine financial technology landscape.

According to the survey, 90% of the respondents observed a transition towards embracing digital banking applications, with GCash (94%) emerging as the primary choice for a significant number of users. This was followed by PayMaya (39%), ShopeePay (26%), bank applications (18%), GrabPay (8%), and other fintech applications (5%), respectively.

On the other hand, 2% of the overall respondents asserted that they do not use any banking applications.

Delving into the significance of the data, this result implies the necessity of establishing a more robust financial technology infrastructure. Given the current trend, it is only imperative for the government to amplify its efforts to ensure safe regulation.

Speaking about the implications of the survey, Ella Kristina Domingo-Coronel, research and publications director at Capstone-Intel, shared, “As we can see, even’sari-sari’ stores now have a digital financing option for their customers. This means that accessibility and availability are there. That’s why, even though these fintech applications are owned by the private sector, the national government has to enhance the country’s finance technology infrastructure, including the measures that safeguard consumers in order to ensure the safety of Filipinos.”

“While we see a considerable number of Filipinos using digital financing, we also observe several complaints about the inconvenience of online financing in the country, including the sluggish performance of these apps, its unending maintenance that burdens the consumers using online financing to pay their bills, and of course, the struggle with online scams,” she further continued.

Furthermore, Ella also pointed out that despite the country’s adoption of online financing in specific processes, there is still a need to normalise the utilisation of digital financing in various processes, be it for public or private transactions. Hence, it is vital to promote the widespread acceptance of the current state of financial technology across all demographics in the Philippines.

“I would say that we still have to promote the utilisation of digital financing in the Philippines in order to weaken the negative outlook of the public about this option and normalise the usage of these fintech applications for us to amplify public confidence in digital financing.”

“It was deemed possible by the pandemic for the Philippines to upgrade their banking processes; that’s why now that we are back to the usual setting, it is high time that we capitalise on this because not only does it save the time of the consumers, but the digital era is already here and we have to keep up with the demands of the changing financial and economic environment,” Ella concluded.

Singapore — Payments platform 2C2P and Ant Group, an affiliate of the Chinese Alibaba Group, have struck a strategic partnership with the aim to accelerate digital payment adoption and innovation in the Southeast Asian region. The partnership, upon completion, will see Ant Group becoming the majority shareholder of 2C2P.

Through the partnership, 2C2P’s extensive pool of merchants inclusive of global and regional brands will be connected with Alipay+, extending its current 250 payment options offering to include even more e-wallets and local payment methods. With this, merchants will benefit from a wider geographical reach, connecting seamlessly to over one billion consumers globally.

Aung Kyaw Moe, founder and CEO of 2C2P, said that digital payment adoption has accelerated rapidly in recent years, spurred by the pandemic, with mobile wallet payments widely gaining momentum across Asia.

Moe adds, “Through this complementary partnership with Ant Group, 2C2P will be connected to a much larger merchant base and be well-positioned to advance our international expansion strategy. I am confident that 2C2P will be able to scale new heights, and build an unparalleled and robust range of payment solutions that will deliver maximum value and impact to our merchants and partners.”

Angel Zhao, president of Ant Group’s International Business Group, commented, “Combining Alipay+ and 2C2P’s secure and comprehensive payment offerings, extensive merchant coverage and deep local knowledge of the region, this partnership is a win-win collaboration built on strengths and the shared vision to accelerate the digital transformation for businesses through innovation and best-in-class payments solutions. We look forward to supporting businesses’ digitalisation together and creating a connected digital ecosystem across markets in the region.”

Introduced by Ant Group in 2020, Alipay+ is a suite of global cross-border digital payments and marketing solutions designed to enable businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses, to process a wide range of mobile payment methods and reach regional and global consumers. Leading e-wallets supported by Alipay+ include Touch ‘n Go eWallet in Malaysia, KakaoPay in South Korea, GCash in the Philippines, Alipay HK in Hong Kong and more.

On the back of the partnership, 2C2P plans to further expand its global merchant coverage, in addition to strengthening its technology and product capabilities to better serve merchants across Southeast Asia and globally.

Last March, 2C2P also partnered with ShopeePay to increase access to digital payment options for consumers and merchants in Southeast Asia.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Technology group Gojek has announced its investment to technology-based Bank Jago as part of a strategic partnership for Indonesia’s accelerated financial inclusion.

Within the partnership, Gojek and Bank Jago aim to bring digital banking closer to users through Gojek’s payment platform GoPay. Users can now open a Bank Jago account and manage it through the Gojek app. The partnership will also act as a model through which Gojek will go on to partner with other banking institutions to support them in reaching more customers.

For Gojek CEO Andre Soelistyo, the newly-forged partnership is a strategic move to get banks working for the superapp, hence leveraging Gojek’s purpose to be an accessible financial platform for Indonesians.

“Our partnership with Jago marks the latest milestone in our drive to reduce daily friction for users and improve their lives through technology. It is a key part of our strategy and will underpin the growth and sustainability of our business in the long term. Jago’s tech-based banking solutions will supercharge Gojek’s ecosystem offerings and facilitate access to banking services for the mass market, thereby supporting our common vision to accelerate financial inclusion in Indonesia,” Soelistyo stated.

The investment, made through Gojek’s financial and investment arm, would mean that 22% of Bank Jago will be held by Gojek.

On the other hand, Bank Jago’s president director Kharim Siregar, expressed high hopes for the new partnership, as it complements the Bank’s broad expertise to Indonesian financial needs.

“We believe that this strategic collaboration – between a tech-based bank like Bank Jago and a Super App like Gojek – is the first of its kind in Indonesia and Southeast Asia and represents a new way to spur growth in digital economies. As a bank designed with an open API, we will go on to work with multiple digital ecosystems to reach a wider audience and drive our aspiration to enhance the finances of millions of people through digital financial solutions,” said Siregar.

Perak, Malaysia – In a move towards a cashless society in the Malaysian state of Perak, Malaysian fintech startup KiplePay and local holdings Digital Perak recently collaborated for the development of a unified payment platform for cashless convenience among citizens and merchants for their government and business transactions.

For the initial phase, citizens can pay for their availed services within the locality through the Digital Perak web portal. Services include training courses, co-working space, computer lab, and office service rental on local multimedia hub Hub Innovasi and Multimedia (HiM). They can also pay for services such as asset booking, quit rent and summon payment with agencies, municipal councils, and other Government Linked Companies (GLC) within the state.

As for businesses, those that are registered under S.M.A.R.T Niaga@Perak, Digital Perak’s program for trading items locally, may now provide cashless transactions for in-store and online transactions. Merchants may also use KiplePay’s merchant app for in-store transactions, while online transactions are processed through theKipleBiz Unified Payment platform. Said platform will support multiple gateway payment services, including online banking, e-wallet, and debit/credit card.

“Today’s collaboration with KiplePay is part of our effort towards achieving the aspiration of the national policy on Industrial Revolution 4.0 to automate all services of the state government via the internet. A seamless transition is important as it involves all stakeholders in the state and this will set the benchmark for digital transformation agenda for the businesses and government services,” said Meor Rezal Fitri bin Dato’ Dr Hj Meor Redwan, chief executive officer of Digital Perak.