Ant Group, the operator of Alipay+, a suite of global cross-border digital payment and marketing solutions, has on Monday announced the latest expansion of Alipay+ coverage to all 7-Eleven stores in Malaysia, enabled by Razer Merchant Services.

Users of four leading Asian mobile wallets including AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR), GCash (Philippines), Kakao Pay (South Korea) and TrueMoney (Thailand) can now seamlessly pay in 7-Eleven using their home mobile wallets, the firms said in a statement.

Alipay, also an Alipay+ partner mobile wallet, has been accepted by Malaysian merchants since 2016.

With the latest development and acceptance in 7-Eleven, Alipay+ is now integrated in more than 80,000 merchant touchpoints in Malaysia, including in popular travel destinations such as Klang Valley, Johor Bahru and Penang.

These merchants comprise a wide range of industries such as retail, food and beverage (F&B) and hospitality, including well-known local and international brands like Tealive, MyNEWS, Sephora, Watsons, Sports Direct and Duty-Free stores.

“7-Eleven Malaysia is thrilled to enhance the traveller experience as tourists return to our beautiful country,

“By expanding Alipay+ coverage to all our stores, we are providing a seamless and convenient digital payment solution for visitors from around the world,” said Chan Chee Weng, Assistant General Manager In-Store Services, 7-Eleven Malaysia.

“As a key use case for tourism, our stores serve as a one-stop destination for travellers, offering a wide range of products, snacks, and essentials,

“We understand the importance of a seamless, digital in-store experience, and through this expansion, we aim to make every visit to 7-Eleven Malaysia a delightful and hassle-free experience for both local customers and international tourists,” he added.

Currently, 7-Eleven Malaysia operates in numerous cities nationwide, offering a wide coverage and presence in urban areas, tourist hotspots, transportation hubs, and residential neighborhoods.

Beyond the typical convenience store offerings of snacks, beverages, and daily necessities, they also provide travel essentials such as travel-sized toiletries, phone chargers, travel adapters, and ready-to-eat meals.

Razer Merchant Services (RMS), the business-to-business solution of Razer Fintech is the acquiring partner to facilitate the integration of Alipay+ in over 2,400 7-Eleven stores in Malaysia.

“Razer Merchant Services strives to facilitate the digital transformation of Malaysian businesses through our partnership with Alipay+,

“Our collaboration deepens the close relationship with 7-Eleven and empowers 7-Eleven to tap into the vast opportunities of the digital economy by offering convenient payment for locals and tourists, enhancing the overall experience and driving growth,” said Lee Li Meng, Chief Executive Officer of Razer Fintech.

According to the statement, the acceptance of Alipay+ will offer Asian travellers a more convenient digital travel experience, and comes as Malaysia looks to welcome more tourists.

In the 2023 Budget, MYR 250 million ($53.41 million) was allocated to promote the tourism sector, with expectations for a surge in tourist arrivals in the second half of 2023.

Malaysia is also targeting 16.1 million tourists in 2023, 60 percent more than the previous year.

“With growing coverage of Alipay+ in Malaysia, we’re connecting more Asian travellers to local merchants, helping to position Malaysia as a travel destination of choice and unlocking new opportunities for local businesses,

“As the leading convenience store, 7-Eleven is the ideal travel partner for tourists as they travel like a local around Malaysia and they can now enjoy a more digitally enhanced experience at these stores,” said Dr. Cherry Huang, General Manager of Alipay+ Offline Merchant Services at Ant Group.

She said the firm will continue to enable more local merchants to integrate Alipay+ and promote a positive digital ecosystem between our partners, businesses and travellers.

Introduced by Ant Group in 2020, Alipay+ aims to enable local businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses, to process a wide range of mobile payment methods and reach over 1 billion regional and global consumers, through one-time integration and simple technical adaption.

In addition to Malaysia, Alipay+ is also widely accepted in destinations including the Chinese mainland, Macao SAR, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, South Korea among others.

7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Berhad through its subsidiary 7-Eleven Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. is the owner and operator of 7-Eleven stores in Malaysia.

7-Eleven Malaysia is the pioneer and largest 24-hour standalone convenience store operator in Malaysia with over 2,400 outlets nationwide and serves more than 1 million customers daily.

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