Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – A Digital Silk Route Emerges
Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) and Ant Group announce a landmark digital payment collaboration. This initiative allows travelers from eight countries and regions to effortlessly utilize PayNet’s DuitNow QR, enhancing the ease of international commerce and tourism in Malaysia.
A New Era of Payment Interoperability
Starting from October 31, 2023, international travelers will revel in the ease of going cashless. Thanks to the integration with Alipay+ supported wallets, visitors can transact at over 1.8 million merchant touchpoints across Malaysia. The wallets facilitating this seamless experience include:
- Alipay (China)
- AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR)
- HelloMoney by AUB (Philippines)
- Hipay (Mongolia)
- MPay (Macau SAR)
- Naver Pay (South Korea)
- Toss Pay (South Korea)
- TrueMoney (Thailand)
This list is just the beginning, with more Alipay+ partners expected to join. Moreover, Malaysian DuitNow QR users will soon enjoy similar conveniences at Alipay+ global merchants, with the rollout commencing in 2024.
Forging a Cross-Border Partnership
The significance of this collaboration was marked by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed earlier in August, promising a fruitful alliance between Ant Group and PayNet.
Farhan Ahmad, Group CEO of PayNet, elucidates the vision behind this synergy: “With this collaboration with Ant Group, I am seeing a new Silk Route emerging; one that is powered by cross-border payment interoperability. Businesses in the DuitNow QR ecosystem can immediately access travellers from eight more countries in an efficient, seamless, and secure way, bolstering trade and commerce. It could not have materialized at a better time. The Malaysian tourism industry is back on a steady growth path and will be further energized by Visit Malaysia Year in 2026. Collectively, these linkages will connect economies that contribute over two-thirds to global GDP growth and home to over 60% of the world’s population whose median age is younger than global average. At this rate, we may very well see ASEAN+3 economic integration sooner than we think.”
DuitNow QR stands as Malaysia’s National QR Standard, enabling merchants to receive real-time payments across different banks and e-wallets through a unified code.
Enhancing Travel and Commerce with Alipay+
Douglas Feagin, Senior Vice President of Ant Group, expresses enthusiasm for the upcoming high season: “We are excited to collaborate with PayNet to make digital payments in Malaysia more convenient for users, with our partnership coming to life just as we approach the year-end travel season. A recent report we commissioned found that intra-Asia cross-border travel and payments will accelerate over the next few years, with average consumer spending almost doubling from 2016-2025. This growth reinforces the need to better connect local merchants with international visitors through payments, marketing and other digital services to not only enhance the travel experience, but also boost the local tourism ecosystem in Malaysia.”
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A Joint Venture in Digital Marketing
The partnership will transcend payment processing to include collaborative digital marketing strategies. These are designed to elevate merchants’ visibility directly within users’ e-wallets. Additionally, Alipay+ and PayNet will work together on a marketing travel solution, which aims to enrich customer engagement. International travelers using Alipay+ supported wallets can look forward to earning rewards, enjoying discounts, and other benefits while shopping with DuitNow QR merchants.
As Malaysia embraces digital evolution, this collaboration is set to redefine cross-border transactions, heralding a new chapter for Asia’s economic integration and technological advancements in commerce.
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