Tencent closes WeChat Pay Malaysia wallet as it shifts focus to Chinese tourists
- Tencent will adjust its business strategy in Malaysia to focus on RMB-denominated cross-border payments, a WeChat Pay Malaysia spokesperson said in a statement
Tencent Holdings is shutting down WeChat Pay Malaysia, the Chinese technology giant’s six-year old local e-wallet service, as it seeks to shift its focus in the Southeast Asian country to catering to Chinese tourists.
WeChat Pay Malaysia stopped registering new e-wallet users from August 1, and will discontinue its local payment services on September 1 this year, the company said in a statement published on its website.
Users should withdraw their funds by the end of this year, it said, adding that WeChat messaging services and the use of its mainland Chinese e-wallet Weixin Pay in Malaysia remain unaffected.
The closure of Tencent’s Malaysian Ringgit-denominated local e-wallet is part of an adjustment of its business strategy in Malaysia, which will see the company focus on “RMB-denominated cross-border payments” in the country, a WeChat Pay Malaysia spokesperson said in a statement to the Post.
Tencent will aim to help Malaysian businesses tap into the “fast-growing and dynamic market” of outbound Chinese tourism by “enabling them to receive safe, secure, and convenient payments from Chinese visitors through Weixin Pay,” according to the spokesperson.
