KUALA LUMPUR: Stripe, a global technology company which builds economic infrastructure for the internet, has officially entered the Malaysian market.
Valued at US$35 billion (RM146.76 billion), Stripe today announced a partnership agreement with Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) to make financial process exchange (FPX) available to businesses in the country.
Stripe co-founder and president John Collison is upbeat about being in Malaysia, which is home to one of the world’s most connected populations. Not only are smartphones nearly ubiquitous here, with an 88 per cent penetration, but Malaysia’s internet users are also among the top 10 most engaged globally.
"However, despite this, the internet only represents around 3 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.
“Even today, less than eight per cent of commerce is online, largely because moving money on the internet remains complicated, cumbersome and slow,” he said at Stripe’s launch ceremony here, today.
Stripe was officially welcomed to the country by Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister, Dr Ong Kian Ming. The event was also attended by representatives of Stripe business partners such as SOCAR, dahmakan and Grab.
In his welcome speech, Ong expressed excitement over the availability of Stripe in the country, as it is expected to make online transactions much simpler and faster, without having to go past layers of security screenings such as the Type Allocation Code (TAC) and levels of verification.
Also present at the launch was Southeast Asia and Hong Kong Stripe head, Piruze Sabuncu.
Collison said any online company in the country can now gain access to Stripe’s entire product stack, to launch, run and scale their business globally. These platforms include ‘Stripe Connect’ for running multi-sided marketplaces; ‘Billing’ for subscriptions and recurring payments; ‘Radar’ for fraud detection and prevention; and ‘Sigma’ for analytics and others.
He said Stripe is making FPX available in beta, allowing businesses using Stripe to accept payments via online bank transfers, along with major credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard.
Stripe has been testing its service in Malaysia since January this year; and it has worked with e-commerce solutions platforms such as EasyStore, dahmakan and FashionValet.
SOCAR Malaysia chief executive officer Leon Foong said Stripe's seamless, yet secure, transaction services allow customers to easily pay for any extension of car use, in the event they are running late in returning their rented vehicle.
"For instance, a customer suddenly can't return a car as agreed in their initial booking, and needs to extend by another hour – they can easily make a quick payment via services provided by Stripe," he said.
Fashion Valet's chief executive officer Fadzaruddin Anuar welcomed Stripe to Malaysia, and said he hopes it will lead to faster and easier transactions for his customers.
"It is important for us to provide them with the best user experience that is not only reliable and fast, but also safe. I believe through Stripe, business and transactions can be made simpler," he said.
Meanwhile, Paynet group chief operating officer Tan Gim Soon said that PayNet is owned by Bank Negara and has partnerships with 11 banks, which are also shareholders.
"At PayNet, we think a lot about creating safer, more reliable and efficient ways of paying online. We’re delighted to be partnering with Stripe with its FPX integration to bring the convenience and benefits of paying with FPX to more Malaysians," he added.
Malaysia is the second country in Asean to launch Stripe, after Singapore.