Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet), Malaysia’s national payments network, and Ant International, a Chinese global digital payment, digitization and financial technology provider, have expanded their partnership with a new memorandum of understanding (MoU).
The renewed partnership prioritizes four key focus areas including driving tourism through cross-border digital payments, strengthening fraud defences, talent development, and advancing sustainability.
The newly inked MoU marks a major milestone in enabling acceptance worldwide of Malaysia’s national QR standard, DuitNow QR, through Ant International’s global wallet gateway, Alipay+.
Malaysian travellers will soon be able to use their local e-wallet or banking app across Alipay+’s 100 million-strong global merchant ecosystem.
This new outbound linkage dramatically expands DuitNow QR’s global reach, while providing Malaysians with seamless access abroad to their go-to payment app from home.
“Ant International is honored to have been a contributor to Malaysia’s innovation and growth story for over a decade, thanks to the country’s visionary digital economy agenda and support of industry leaders like PayNet,
“We are committed to deepening our investments and partnerships in Malaysia, to help strengthen its position as a key fintech hub in Southeast Asia, and drive inclusive growth in the region and beyond with world-class innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Douglas Feagin, President, Ant International.
PayNet’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Farhan Ahmad, emphasized Ant International is a global payments leader and this next phase of their partnership demonstrates the strength of Malaysia’s national payment infrastructure and their ability to scale it globally.
“Not only will this partnership drive global acceptance of our DuitNow payments, it is the beginning of a deep collaboration around reducing fraud, developing future-ready talent, and building a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient digital global payments ecosystem – one that benefits Malaysians at home and while travelling, as well as tourists visiting our country,” he added.
The expanded partnership builds on the success of the initial MoU signed in August 2023, which enabled Alipay+ payments to be accepted locally through DuitNow QR.
Today, Alipay+ allows users of 15 international payment partners to scan-and-pay at more than 2.6 million DuitNow QR merchants across Malaysia.
This ease of payment makes Malaysia more appealing to tourists and channels spending directly to local small and medium enterprises (SMEs), strengthening their role in the economy.
To help Malaysia achieve its national target of 45 million tourists ahead of Visit Malaysia 2026, Ant International and PayNet will ramp up global campaigns to boost tourism and give local SMEs bigger global exposure by tapping into the tourist market.
On strengthening defences against cross-border scams and fraud, Ant International and PayNet will collaborate on advanced security technology, threat intelligence sharing, and fraud risk audits.
These will leverage Ant International’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered defense technologies.
The two firms are also stepping up joint efforts in fintech talent development to support the larger digital payments ecosystem.
Together, they launched PayHack, Malaysia’s largest intervarsity hackathon, a platform for students to showcase their ideas, problem solve, network, and gain mentorship from industry leaders.
Through its Digital Business Centre in Kuala Lumpur, and initiatives like 10×1000 Tech for Inclusion, Ant International will continue to work with PayNet and local partners, including the Fintech Association of Malaysia, to develop next generation fintech talent for the country.
Complementing these efforts, Ant International and PayNet will begin a joint program to raise awareness and adoption of sustainability and social impact initiatives in the mobile payment ecosystem, including areas like small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) inclusion and tech accessibility.
They will build on local environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives to benefit the wider payments ecosystem.
With PayNet’s trusted infrastructure and Ant International’s global reach, the expanded MoU enables seamless payments for Malaysians abroad while strengthening the local economy.
The partnership lays the foundation for a future-ready, inclusive global digital economy, powering cross-border interoperability to nurturing future talent, advancing digital security, and promoting inclusive innovation, said the statement.