Tencent, Alibaba take e-wallet wars to Southeast Asia

WeChat Pay to launch Malaysian currency service, Alipay partners local brands

Alipay and WeChat Pay cater mainly to Chinese users, but their parent companies are now eying the masses in Southeast Asia with plans to unveil local currency-supported apps.

JASON TAN, Contributing writer

January 16, 2018 19:04 JST

BANGKOK -- With a population of 600 million, and good mobile saturation, Southeast Asia is becoming a battleground for e-wallet companies from China.

Leading the charge is Shenzhen-based Tencent Holdings, which is about to roll out its first WeChat Pay in a foreign currency in Malaysia as an e-wallet service embedded in its WeChat messaging app.