KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 7): TNG Digital Sdn Bhd is expanding its Touch 'n Go eWallet's cross-border payment capabilities to mainland China in collaboration with Alipay+ operated by Ant Group.

Touch 'n Go eWallet is the first Malaysian e-wallet that can be used for payments in mainland China, said Touch 'n Go Group in a statement.

"This augurs well for all our users travelling there as they will enjoy the ease of making cashless payments, and in ringgit as well," TNG Digital chief executive officer Alan Ni said in the statement.

"We expect our users to experience the same seamless convenience of using Touch 'n Go eWallet in mainland China as how they would in Malaysia, and with the assurance that their transactions are safe and secure," said Ni.

Touch 'n Go eWallet users can conduct cross-border payments where Alipay+'s QR code is displayed. The service is also available in Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Britain, Italy, France and Germany, the statement said.

Ant's president of international business Angel Zhao said: "Through simple adaptation, more than 2.5 million merchants around the world are able to access and better serve the growing user population of various leading digital payments providers, as digital transformation takes hold around the world."

While the Malaysian e-wallet has expanded to Northeast Asian countries, China-based Alipay+ has been gaining a foothold in its neighbours (Japan and South Korea) as well as Southeast Asia.

Alipay+ covered different sectors including over 1,000 online platforms, more than 10 major airports, and over 90,000 convenience stores.

TNG Digital was founded by Touch 'n Go Sdn Bhd and Ant Group in 2017, and Touch 'n Go eWallet provides payment services to both retail users and small-to-medium sized businesses across physical and online infrastructure.