Soft Space First to Join Visa’s Fintech Fast Track Program in Malaysia

• Work together to create digital payment products relevant to cardholders
• No need for partners to deal with complex technology & regulatory approval issues

Visa announced yesterday that leading Asian fintech player Soft Space Sdn Bhd is joining its Fintech Fast Track program, becoming the first fintech partner to do so in Malaysia. The Fintech Fast Track program allows fintech partners to build and deliver new commerce experiences on Visa’s payments network.

Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Soft Space develops innovative payment services for the banking and financial industry with the goal of simplifying financial infrastructure.

As part of the Visa Fintech Fast Track program, the two companies will work together to offer startups and technology companies the opportunity to work with Soft Space to launch Visa prepaid card products in Malaysia. This solution is introduced through Soft Space’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Fass Payment Solutions Sdn Bhd (Fasspay), which is an e-money license holder regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia.

“In an age where digitisation is integrated into the lives of many people, there are huge opportunities for startups and technology companies to transform their business offerings to consumers,” said Ng Kong Boon, Country Manager of Visa Malaysia. “We are excited to welcome Soft Space as our inaugural partner for Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program in Malaysia. We will work closely with Soft Space to support their growth in creating digital payment products that are relevant to the needs of our cardholders in the country.”

Soft Space’s chief executive officer, Joel Tay, said, “By joining this program, our partners are able to introduce their own Visa prepaid cards, thereby offering more features including expense tracking and worldwide acceptance. Moreover, partners will not have to deal with complex technology and regulatory approval issues, thereby enabling them a quicker go to market path in a cost effective manner especially during uncertain economic times.”

This is not the first time that Visa and Soft Space are working together. In June 2019, the two organisations collaborated on developing Maybank’s Tap2Phone solution. A world’s first, Tap2Phone supports PIN-based contactless card acceptance on NFC-enabled (near-field communication) Android

smartphones aimed at catering to small businesses as well as delivery and sales agents, all of whom can enable card payments via the app instead of using a point-of-sales (POS) terminals.

The Visa Fintech Fast Track program makes it easier for fintechs to access the global Visa payments network. The program is part of Visa’s global strategy to open up our network and support a broad range of players that are developing new commerce experiences. The program provides a new commercial framework that includes eased access to Visa’s payment capabilities and streamlined processes to support companies of different sizes and at different growth phases. For more information, visit Visa Fintech Fast-Track.