PETALING JAYA: Ant Group, the operator of Alipay+, a suite of global cross-border digital payment and marketing solutions, yesterday 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), GCash (the Philippines), Kakao Pay (South Korea) and TrueMoney (Thailand) can now seamlessly pay in 7-Eleven using their home mobile wallets.
Alipay, also an Alipay+ partner mobile wallet, has been accepted by Malaysian merchants since 2016.
“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. 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,“ said 7-Eleven In-Store Services assistant general manager Chan Chee Weng.
The convenience factor of 7-Eleven Malaysia lies in its extensive network of stores. Currently, 7-Eleven Malaysia operates in numerous cities nationwide, offering a wide coverage and presence in urban areas, tourist hotspots, transport hubs and residential neighbourhoods.
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. This comprehensive range of products ensures that travellers can find everything they need conveniently in one place, saving them time and effort during their trip.
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 Fintech CEO Lee Li Meng said, “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.”
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, F&B and hospitality, including well-known local and international brands like Tealive, MyNEWS, Sephora, Watsons, Sports Direct and Duty-Free stores.
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, RM250 million was allocated to promote the tourism sector. It was reported that Malaysia is targeting 16.1 million tourists in 2023, 60% more than the previous year.
Dr Cherry Huang, general manager of Alipay+ Offline Merchant Services at Ant Group, said: “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.”
“We 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 mainland China, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Japan and South Korea, among others.
