Paynet, Ant International Deepen Collaboration to Enable International QR Payments for Malaysians

Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet), Malaysia’s national payments network, and Ant International, a leading global digital payment, digitisation, and financial technology provider, have expanded their partnership with a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU was signed at Malaysia’s flagship fintech event, MyFintech Week 2025, in the presence of Dato’ Sri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour, Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia.

The renewed partnership prioritises 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.

Douglas Feagin, President, Ant International, said, “Ant International is honoured 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.”

PayNet’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Farhan Ahmad, emphasised, “Ant International is a global payments leader, and this next phase of our partnership demonstrates the strength of Malaysia’s national payment infrastructure, and our 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.”