Tag: PayNet

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Ant Group and PayNet jointly announced the integration of Alipay+ to promote seamless payment for inbound and outbound Malaysian travellers. 

The partnership will enable all Malaysian e-wallets supported by PayNet to be accepted by Alipay+ merchants network globally in 2024, with a collaboration with Ant Group on joint digital marketing efforts to enhance visibility of businesses directly within the users’ e-wallets.

The collaboration comes amidst travel recovery to Malaysia, with 4.5 million tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2023, with most coming from ASEAN countries. As travel rebounds, it is vital for businesses to adapt to new digital habits, particularly the acceptance of localised digital payment options like e-wallets, which has become the norm for day-to-day transactions. 

By the end of this year, users of five leading Asian e-wallets, including AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR), GCash (Philippines), Kakao Pay (South Korea) and TrueMoney (Thailand), will be able to use cashless payments when they travel to Malaysia with Alipay+.

Gary Yeoh, chief commercial officer of PayNet said,  “This partnership between PayNet and Alipay+ is forged at a vital time when overseas travel and tourism have fully resumed, and are 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.” 

“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,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Cherry Huang, general manager of Alipay+ Offline Merchant Services, Ant Group, said, “Alipay+’s collaboration with PayNet  is a significant development for regional travellers. We are jointly making efforts to bring local businesses and international visitors closer together, offering not just convenience to tourists but greater opportunities and visibility for Malaysian businesses.” 

“Travellers today have greater expectations when they travel, particularly the use of digital solutions to enhance their experience. They want it to be simpler, with less complexity and less hassle, and in working with our local partners, this is exactly what we want to achieve – personalised, seamless and borderless experiences,” added Huang. 

Malaysia – Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet), the payments network and central infrastructure for financial markets, has launched a three-month programme, aimed at supporting and advancing high potential fintech’s capabilities to further accelerate e-payments adoption in the country. 

Called the ‘FinTech ePayment Accelerator Programme’, the initiative is in line with PayNet’s mission to be a trusted enabler of inclusive and collaborative financial ecosystems. Moreover, this is in collaboration with the Fintech Association of Malaysia (FAOM), which features briefing sessions, and PayNet’s products will be held for interested fintech.

The new programme focuses on the ideas and solutions that can address fintech problems, including the adoption of e-payments, which addresses the conversion of the unbanked and underbanked population towards e-payments utilisation, as well as the improvement to existing products, which should determine specific target groups and how can fintech platforms innovate enhancements for their existing retail products to be more appealing and effective for customer use.

And lastly, the introduction of new business solutions, which should tackle the new and innovative use cases should be introduced to ensure it offers an inclusive financial ecosystem and address the e-payment needs of new markets.

According to PayNet, applicants for the programme will be shortlisted based on the ideas and solutions submitted, and these shortlisted applicants will advance to a pitching session in June 2022, where they will present to a panel of judges on why their ideas should progress to a proof-of-concept (‘POC’). Successful fintech platforms will be awarded a grant of up to RM500,000 to support the execution of the POC and will have the opportunity to work with PayNet’s extensive ecosystem of banks, e-wallets, and third party acquirers.

Peter Schiesser, PayNet’s group CEO, shared that the programme is timely and relevant as part of their efforts to develop a future-ready digital payments infrastructure and help Malaysia transition towards a digital economy. 

“I urge potential fintech [platforms] to seize this opportunity to showcase their solutions and partake in expanding the country’s digital ecosystem and advancing financial inclusion,” said Schiesser.

The applications for the ‘FinTech ePayment Accelerator Programme 2022’ is open until 30 April 2022 and can be submitted online at PayNet’s website. Submissions should consist of a pitch deck or a video presentation addressing the problem statement and include an introduction of the team.