Doku expands into Malaysia through senangPay acquisition

• Acquired senangPay for US$7.5 million
• Marks the beginning of Doku’s expansion overseas 

Doku has announced its acquisition of senangPay, an online payment gateway in Malaysia. 

In a statement, the Indonesian payment platform said it acquired senangPay for US$7.5 million (RM33.3 million).

It said the announcement was made, after the company received funding from Apis Growth Fund II, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP last year. 

Doku’s chief operating officer Nabilah Alsagoff said the recent acquisition of senangPay marks the beginning of the company’s expansion overseas and its efforts to reach a wider business segment, especially small medium enterprises (SMEs). 

“As a leading payments provider in Indonesia with the widest suite of online and offline payments products serving over 150,000 merchants, we look forward to offering our innovative products to similar businesses in Malaysia.

“We believe the opportunity to enter Malaysia is all the more attractive given the similar socio-cultural backgrounds of our two countries,” said Nabilah.

senangPay is an online payment gateway established in 2015, is managed by Simplepay Gateway Sdn Bhd and registered with Bank Negara Malaysia as a Merchant Acquiring Services provider.

The company is also registered with Mastercard International as a Payment Facilitator for the Asia Pacific region, it said.

As an online payment gateway, senangPay said it helps Malaysian businesses easily accept customer payments through a range of methods including credit and debit cards, internet banking and all major e-wallet providers in Malaysia. 

Through the Doku acquisition, senangPay said it is planning to expand its services beyond online payment gateway and adopting new services such as e-wallet, remittance, and offline transactions such as Tap On Glass and M2M (mobile to mobile), among others.

It added that these new offerings will enable its merchants to transition from brick-and-mortar models into the digital era, in line with the Malaysian government’s “Malaysia Digital” initiative.

“When we set up senangPay, we wanted to create an alternative payment gateway for the small medium business, particularly for business owners that lack technical skills and are not familiar with digital tools,” senangPay’s chief executive officer, Mansor Abd Rahman said.

“I believe this acquisition is beneficial and necessary for the company’s growth as well as for our merchants. By closing the gap between the two countries, and combining expertise from two companies, I expect to see significant improvements in areas we may have never expected, as well as in areas we wish to improve,” he added.