Ant seeks to grow Alipay+ use in South-east Asian e-wallets, Buy Now Pay Later

CHINA'S Ant Group plans to add more South-east Asian payments services to Alipay+, its cross-border payments solution. This could include e-wallets or even buy now, pay later (BNPL) services, said Cheng Guoming, general manager for the Alipay+ Global Payment Partnership.

"A lot of mobile payment businesses are booming, especially with the pandemic, in South-east Asia. It has grown very fast and I see a lot of competition there, but it is healthy," said Cheng, who spoke to The Business Times on the back of the Singapore FinTech Festival.

Launched last year, Alipay+ is a software suite that allows both online and physical businesses to process transactions from a range of digital payments partners. Its partners in South-east Asia include e-wallets such as Singapore's EZ-Link Wallet and Malaysia's Touch 'n Go.

For instance, when travel resumes, users of Singapore's EZ-Link Wallet can make payments in Japan at stores such as Family Mart and 7-11 outlets, Cheng said.

Other e-wallets that are on board Alipay+ include Boost (Malaysia), TrueMoney (Thailand), Dana (Indonesia), GCash (the Philippines). The latter 3, as well as Touch 'n Go, are e-wallets that Ant itself has invested in, as part of joint ventures with domestic businesses.

Ant's moves in South-east Asia are being watched closely after the company's listing was halted last year amid China's tech crackdown. Cheng declined to comment on the matter.

On Monday (Nov 8), Alipay+ added Singapore's Nets as its latest partner. The payments group will integrate Alipay+ into its merchant portal, allowing Singapore-based businesses to accept payments made via Touch 'n Go, TrueMoney and AlipayHK.

Cheng said that this will create "tens of thousands" of use cases. For instance, a Malaysian tourist could use Touch 'n Go at a Singapore hawker stall equipped with the Alipay+ QR code.

Ant is now seeking to bring in more payments services in the region on board Alipay+ - not just e-wallet operators, but anyone else processing transactions, such as BNPL players or banks. This is especially since online shopping is picking up steam.

"Cross-border e-commerce is a hot topic recently. There are a lot of e-commerce operators from China going to the global market and their first stop could be the South-east Asian market," Cheng said. Alipay+ wants to help such foreign businesses access consumers here.

Asked how Ant will earn revenue from Alipay+, Cheng declined to comment on the business model. On the company's strategy in South-east Asia, he noted that its scope has expanded - from focusing on Chinese tourists, to now serving SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) within this region.

"That is not a change of strategy, it is an upgrade, the second or third step in our development road map," he said.

The growth of Alipay+ also comes after Singapore telco Singtel in 2018 launched a network of regional e-wallets called VIA. Players on board the alliance include Singtel's Dash and Thailand's K+ and Global Pay, according to its website.