According to Biz Brunei, businesses in Brunei would be able to use Alipay to receive payment, thanks to local start-up BEEP. Accordingly, BEEP Digital Solutions have acquired license from Alipay to utilize their platform.
Alipay would be available on BEEP Plus+ service. Director and Chief Strategy & Products Officer Denny Muslim said so as the service is aiming to become Brunei’s all-in-one cashless payment platform.
Based on BEEP Plus+ record, more than 50 businesses have registered to the service. Denny explained that signing up for the service is free of charge. However, each transaction costs around 2% to 2.4% fee borne by the merchant.
“Alipay is the first merchant payment solution that BEEP Plus+ is offering, and we’re working on adding other international payments like WeChat Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay, as well as local cards and mobile wallets. We are looking to be an all-in-one payment aggregator for businesses.”
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The Arrival of Alipay in Brunei
The arrival of Alipay is to enable Bruneian businesses to earn cashless payments from China’s tourists and expats. In accordance to the plan, the tourists and expats will massively come by 2020, prediction says.
Prior to making the plan, BEEP considers the huge number of Chinese visitors in Brunei last year. Accordingly, the country is planning to make trade and selling process run more easily as 99% of China’s visitors to Brunei was Alipay users according to Nielson statistics.
“Cashless payment is already a part of China’s culture and Alipay is at the forefront. So, enabling them to use their preferred payment system is only logical and could potentially encourage them to spend more” said Denny.
“This opens up a huge opportunity for local e-commerce businesses. However, marketing and getting Chinese customers to your website can be a challenge. So, selling on China’s online marketplaces may be more effective,” he added.
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