iPay88 spreads its wings

By Digital News Asia July 13, 2017

Supports over 70% of e-commerce businesses in Malaysia; country is biggest revenue contributor
In Q1 and Q2 2017 sales volume rose 34% in Indonesia and 64% in the Philippines

iPay88 spreads its wings

IPAY88 Sdn Bhd, an NTT Data company, a fully homegrown Malaysian payment gateway provider is targeting the global e-commerce market while it continues to expand in SEA.

Co-founder and executive director Chan Kok Long (pic) says, “iPay88’s proven payment solutions are well recognised and trusted regionally. As e-commerce grows in the SEA region, we are determined to be the sought-after payment gateway for these countries.”

Since its inception in 2006, iPay88 has grown to be a technological and online payment solutions leader in online payments in Malaysia as well in the Asean region.

The company's payment gateway systems support over 70% of all e-commerce businesses in Malaysia. To date, iPay88 has a footprint in almost all Southeast Asian countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Singapore.

iPay88's first international footprint was set in Indonesia in 2006, followed by the Philippines in 2014.

Today, iPay88 is one of the leading payment gateway providers in Indonesia as well as the Philippines.

Market expansion to a region as diverse as Asean and the Asia Pacific is not easy as each country's online payment environment is unique and business environment varies.

The opening of Indonesia and Philippines markets were important milestones for iPay88, as Chan says, "Our successful ventures in these two markets (Indonesia and the Philippines) have acted as a blueprint for us to continue exploring the other Southeast Asian markets.”

“In the next two years, our growth in Malaysia is expected to be the largest ever in terms online transactions and sales volume. However, our growth in Indonesia and the Philippines will eventually outrank Malaysia in terms of numbers of transactions and sales volumes as these countries have a larger population and growing appetite for e-commerce.”

According to Chan, the next few years will also see tremendous e-commerce growth in Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar where smartphone penetration is one of the highest in the world.

These countries have a big population and research shows that the younger generation (gen Y) prefer to make online purchases.

Their governments are also seeing the potential in e-commerce and encouraging the growth of its e-commerce sector.

Next step – global expansion

“Apart from our strong presence in Southeast Asia, we have since expanded our footprint to other parts of Asia including Hong Kong and Bangladesh,” says Chan.

Chan details that although Bangladesh is a late entrant in the e-commerce sector, the company has observed that it has recorded tremendous growth within a short time.

"The e-commerce industry in Bangladesh, like other developing countries, has a 'latecomer advantage'. However, it is encountering similar issues that we have encountered and addressed in SEA. Currently the sector is facing challenges such as delivery channels for its customers, affordability, erratic internet connections and online fraudulence. We believe, in no time will be the next major driver of economic development in Bangladesh."

Since iPay88 has just ventured into Bangladesh, no transactions have been recorded yet.

Besides Bangladesh, iPay88 is also actively looking into opportunities in the Middle East. The company hopes to build a strong presence in Apec by the end of 2018.

Malaysia continues to lead in revenue contribution

iPay88 expects its revenue contribution from international markets to increase in accordance to its expansion plans. Chan says he is confident that by the end of this year iPay88 expects to double the sales volume from international markets compared to last year.

"We are looking at a local:international revenue ratio of 80:20 by the end of 2018," says Chan.

iPay88's Q1 and Q2 revenue in 2017 was contributed mainly by Malaysia.

While Malaysia still leads in terms of revenue growth, in terms of sales volume, we are seeing a 34% growth in Indonesia for Q1 and Q2 of 2017 as compared to the same period in 2016. The number of transactions in Indonesia also grew by 97% in the same period.

Meanwhile, the sales volume in the Philippines, surged by 64% and the number of transactions recorded a growth of 44%.

"Doing business online offers a lower cost of operations from many aspects – the biggest advantage of doing business online is having the capability to span across geographical borders, meaning that you can reach out to possibly more lucrative overseas market easily," he explains.

"While these countries grow their e-commerce sector, iPay88 plans to be right there ever ready to aid them with our state-of-the-art and trusted payment platform to ensure fast and secure online payments," he says.