From L-R: Sophia Ng, Regional Marketing Manager of Ant Group; Amanda Chee, Director of PayNet; Nor Halimaton Halim, Deputy Director of Bank Negara Malaysia; Douglas Feagin, SVP of Ant Group and Head of Alipay+ Cross-Border Mobile Payment Services; Farhan Ahmad, Group CEO of PayNet; Gary Yeoh, Chief Commercial Officer of PayNet and Nicole Ng, Country Manager of Ant Group at the launch of PayNet (DuitNow) and Alipay+ cross border payment.
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Travellers from Eight Asian Countries and Regions Can Now Enjoy Smooth Digital Payments in Malaysia
Travellers from China, Hong Kong SAR, the Philippines, Mongolia, Macau SAR, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand, using Alipay+-supported e-wallets, can now make seamless payments at over 1.8 million DuitNow QR payment locations across Malaysia.
Travellers from China, Hong Kong SAR, the Philippines, Mongolia, Macau SAR, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand, using Alipay+-supported e-wallets, can now make seamless payments at over 1.8 million DuitNow QR payment locations across Malaysia.
Kuala Lumpur, 8 Nov 2023 – Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) and Ant Group today launched their cross-border digital payment collaboration to enable travellers from eight countries and regions to use DuitNow QR PayNet in Malaysia, further enhancing international tourism and trade between these countries.
With this collaboration, travellers with e-wallets supported by Alipay+ – Alipay (China), AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR), HelloMoney by AUB (Philippines), Hipay (Mongolia), MPay (Macau SAR), Naver Pay (South Korea), Toss Pay (South Korea), and TrueMoney (Thailand) – can now enjoy the convenience of cashless travel to Malaysia and make digital payments easily by scanning DuitNow QR PayNet at a network of over 1.8 million payment locations across the country. DuitNow QR is Malaysia’s National QR Standard operated by PayNet, enabling merchants in Malaysia to receive real-time payments from customers of different banks and e-wallet operators from other countries. More Alipay+ payment partners are in the pipeline and will be gradually enabled in Malaysia.
Furthermore, mutual acceptance arrangements to allow DuitNow QR users in Malaysia to make payments at global Alipay+ merchants are expected to roll out gradually from 2024. The Alipay+ merchant ecosystem currently includes tens of millions of merchants in over 50 markets. This collaboration was marked by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in August this year between Ant Group, the operator of Alipay+, and PayNet, the operator of DuitNow QR.
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Farhan Ahmad, Group Chief Executive of PayNet, said, “With our collaboration with Ant Group, I see the emergence of a new ‘Silk Road’; powered by cross-border payment interoperability. Businesses within the DuitNow QR ecosystem can now access travellers from eight more countries in an efficient, seamless, and secure manner, strengthening trade and commerce. This collaboration comes at an opportune time as Malaysia’s tourism industry is now returning to a stable growth trend and will be further boosted by ‘Visit Malaysia Year’ in 2026. Collectively, these links will connect economies that contribute to more than two-thirds of global GDP growth and home to more than 60% of the world’s population with a median age younger than the global average. At this rate, we might see ASEAN+3 economic integration happening earlier than expected.”
Douglas Feagin, Senior Vice President of Ant Group and Head of Cross-Border Mobile Payment Services at Alipay+, added, “We are very excited to collaborate with PayNet to make digital payments in Malaysia easier for users, as our partnership comes ahead of the year-end holiday season. A recent report commissioned by us found that tourism and cross-border payments in Asia will accelerate in the coming years, with average consumer spending nearly doubling from 2016 to 2025. This growth reinforces the need to connect local merchants with international visitors through payments, marketing, and other digital services to not only enhance the tourist experience but also boost the local tourism ecosystem in Malaysia.”
This collaboration will also involve joint initiatives for digital marketing, aiming to enhance brand visibility within user e-wallets. Both parties will also cooperate in Alipay+-driven marketing campaign solutions, for increased customer engagement, where international travellers using Alipay+-supported e-wallets can earn rewards or receive discounts and benefits within the DuitNow PayNet merchant ecosystem.
