Malayan Banking and CIMB Bank have partnered with Ant Financial Services Group, an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, to provide Alipay as an alternative of cashless payment for Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia.
The agreement will enable Maybank’s card merchants, including Parkson, Royal Selangor, Duty Free Zone, Eraman and Genting to accept Alipay, which is operated by Ant Financial. Maybank said that the new service will be available from May.
Maybank group strategy officer Michael Foong said: “As a leader in card payments, Maybank will now offer Alipay customers the added convenience and security of our comprehensive cashless payment channels, thereby expanding the geographical reach of their digital wallets and enhancing their travel experience in this country.”
Separately, CIMB said that it will serve as the settlement and merchant acquirer bank to facilitate Alipay payments in Malaysia. The facility will allow Chinese tourists to pay for their transactions in Renminbi without concern about exchange rates.
CIMB Group CEO Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz said: “The entry of Alipay marks a notable milestone in the growth of mobile wallet payment services in Malaysia.
“We are excited to work with Alipay to provide Chinese tourists a convenient and secure payment experience while in Malaysia and we target to go live with our merchants by May 2017, having received Bank Negara approval just recently."
CIMB has joined hands with Genting Malaysia, DiGi Telecommunications, YTL Corp and Maxincome Resources, which operates the FamilyMart convenience store chain, to accept Alipay mobile wallet payments in Malaysia.
