Akulaku PayLater is the first BNPL wallet in Southeast Asia to partner with Alipay+
SINGAPORE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Akulaku (“Akulaku” or “the Company”), a leading banking and digital finance platform in Southeast Asia, today announced the Akulaku PayLater partnership with Alipay+, which will allow Indonesian consumers to use its BNPL solution Akulaku PayLater at Alipay+’s global merchants. Alipay+, a suite of global cross-border digital payments and marketing solutions, will now include Akulaku PayLater among its supported digital payment methods, and merchants will be able to access Akulaku PayLater as a payment method.
Consumers and merchants across Indonesia have quickly adopted Akulaku PayLater since its launch in 2016 (previously called Akucicil). The platform’s BNPL functionality provides individuals who have limited credit history with access to a convenient line of credit as well as manageable installment plans. By meeting the increased demand for flexible payment plans and installment purchasing, Akulaku PayLater promotes consumer purchasing power and ensures previously underserved markets can participate in a convenient digital financial service.
“This partnership will lead to a more advanced and convenient financial landscape for customers in Indonesia and throughout Southeast Asia,” said Fan Zhang, CFO of Akulaku. “Through Alipay+, we will quickly scale the pool of merchants accepting Akulaku PayLater, giving our consumers an enhanced user experience and improving the market competitiveness of BNPL products. The combined resources will reach underserved markets with immediate financial services, fostering growth within these regions across industries.”
According to market research firm eCommerceDB, the Indonesian online commerce market grew 32% in 2021 and is currently the ninth largest in the world. Over the next five years, the Indonesian eCommerce market is projected to grow at a yearly rate of 10%, making this partnership a timely solution to meeting the increased demand from Indonesian consumers for online shopping. More than 4,000 merchants are already online in the Akulaku PayLater system online. Over the next two years, Akulaku aims to serve 10,000 online merchants and over 100,000 offline stores with BNPL.
As a newly-emerged but rapidly adopted digital payment method, BNPL brings inclusive financial services to the underbanked communities,” said Cheng Guoming, General Manager, Global Partnerships, Alipay+,” We see BNPL an important part of the digital payment ecosystem, and are excited to reach this partnership with Akulaku PayLater to enable the communities in Indonesia and other potential markets to enjoy seamless and convenient cross-border payment services and enrich their daily lives through global shopping experience.”
Introduced in 2020, Alipay+ is designed to enable global businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses, to accept digital payment methods from various countries and reach hundreds of millions of regional and global consumers.
Akulaku and Alipay+ are also exploring opportunities to further extend their partnership to other markets in Southeast Asia.