Insurance company AIA Malaysia announced on Monday has made a minority equity investment in TNG Digital, the owner of Touch ‘n Go eWallet, the largest e-wallet company in Malaysia.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed. Quoting sources, local news portal theedgemarkets.com reported that AIA is investing in TNG Digital via the participation in the latest round of capital raising, which values TNG Digital at about $700 million.

AIA also announced the formation of a long-term strategic partnership with TNG Digital, which is backed by China-based Ant Group and Malaysia’s second-largest banking group CIMB Group.

“AIA will provide innovative and personalized digital insurance solutions to meet the protection needs of over 16 million Touch ‘n Go eWallet customers nationwide, further demonstrating the insurer’s commitment to digital innovation and the Malaysian market,” the insurance company said in a statement.

Through the digital insurance technology that it will bring to the partnership, AIA will offer Touch ‘n Go eWallet customers a seamless, convenient, and frictionless experience, making it easy to buy, claim and renew policies, it added.

“The need for insurance continues to heighten in the midst of the pandemic. We must constantly look to expand and give Malaysian consumers greater choices, enabling them to obtain the right coverage they need across different stages of their lives, in any way that they prefer, and at the right time,” AIA Bhd Chief Executive Officer Ben Ng said.

“Insurance is a key pillar for us as we continue to expand into financial services, and we look forward to collaborating with AIA to disrupt the segment and bring better and more relevant products and services to Touch ‘n Go eWallet users,” Touch ‘n Go Group Group Chief Executive Officer Effendy Shahul Hamid said.

AIA’s investment in TNG Digital comes at a time when the country is in full lockdown to contain the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdown has helped to spur usage of contactless payments and FinTech services through e-wallets.

Malaysia’s central bank is in the midst of opening up the banking industry to digital players when regulators across the Asia Pacific have shown interest in encouraging the growth of digital banks. Bank Negara may be issuing up to five digital bank licenses. Notification of successful applications will be made in the first quarter of 2022. The regulator said earlier of the month that it has received 29 applications for a digital bank license.

TnG Digital declined to respond to TechNode Global‘s query on whether the firm has applied for the digital bank license.

AIA Malaysia is part of AIA Group, the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. Together, AIA Bhd, AIA PUBLIC Takaful Bhd, AIA General Bhd, and AIA Pension and Asset Management Sdn Bhd have been serving Malaysians for over 72 years.

AIA Malaysia offers a wide range of innovative as well as comprehensive conventional and shariah-compliant solutions spanning Life and Health, Family Takaful, Employee Benefits, Motor, Personal Accident, Mortgage, Commercial Insurance, and Retirement schemes.

AIA Group Ltd and its subsidiaries have a presence in 18 markets – wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Macau and New Zealand, and a 49 percent joint venture in India. It had total assets of $326 billion as of December 31, 2020.

Touch ‘n Go Group is Malaysia’s consumer-facing financial-technology enterprise with a key focus in the country’s transportation ecosystems and platform-based payments infrastructure. It comprises the service offerings of Touch ‘n Go Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CIMB Group, and TNG Digital, a company founded by Touch ‘n Go and Ant Group, the parent company of China’s largest digital payment platform Alipay.

Established in 2017, TNG Digital is the owner and operator of Touch ‘n Go eWallet, Malaysia’s largest e-wallet company, with over 16 million registered users.