Touch ‘n Go Expands To China Market With Partnership With Ant Group

Thanks to a partnership with Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, Touch ‘n Go e-wallet payment system is now available in China.

Touch ‘n Go, which is majority owned by CIMB, announced their cross border payment expansion into China last November, thanks to a collaboration with Chinese payment giants, WeChatPay and AliPay+.

This collaboration will allow Malaysian travellers to use their smartphones to pay millions of merchants all across China.

In an interview with South China Morning Post, Alan Ni, the chief executive of TNG Digital said that this move is a very welcome move for tourists in China, as it will make making payments while travelling across China much easier.

“If you’re a tourist in China, only using cash (without an ewallet) is not easy to survive. It is quite difficult, because sometimes people just say no change for you,” Ni said.

But more than anything, Ni is looking to first and foremost learn from their collaborators, as they are more senior in the fintech market compared to Touch ‘n Go.

In the same interview with the South China Morning Post, Ni said that he is trying to learn from the business models of Chinese companies, as they are more mature compared to Southeast Asian companies.

“All the business models in China are already very stable,” Ni said. “South-East Asia is still at an infant stage. That actually leaves us a lot of room to grow.”

Another challenge that Ni is looking to overcome is to change the perception of Malaysians when it comes to e-wallet payments.

“We have some (colleagues) from China (who) basically give us the advice that we need to make the user experience seamless,” explained Ni. “But Malaysian colleagues have different opinions. They say people may not feel very secure and comfortable, because (they) have never used this (service) before.”

In comparison to Malaysia, China is a largely cashless society, with even their street peddlers accepting cashless payments such as QR payments. Due to this, having easy and seamless access to a digital wallet is very important if you’re planning to visit the country.

In addition to China, Touch ‘n Go e-wallet can also be used in four other countries, Singapore, Thailand, Japan and Indonesia.