Heaptalk, Jakarta — a banking and digital finance platform in Southeast Asia, Akulaku announced the Akulaku PayLater partnership with Alipay+. The strategic cooperation allows Indonesian consumers to use Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) product of Akulaku PayLater’s feature at Alipay+ global merchants.
Alipay+, a global cross-border digital payment and marketing platform, will include Akulaku PayLater among its supported digital payment schemes. Merchants can access the AkuLaku PayLater tool as a payment method.
“This partnership will lead to a more advanced and convenient financial landscape for customers in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Through the Alipay+ platform, we will quickly scale the pool of merchants accepting Akulaku PayLater to improve user experience and increase the market competitiveness of BNPL products. This combined resource will reach underserved markets with straight financial services, fostering growth within these regions across industries,” Akulaku’s CEO, Fan Zhang, said.
Consumers and merchants across Indonesia have quickly adopted Akulaku PayLater since its launch in 2016. The platform’s BNPL functionality allows individuals with limited access history to reach a more convenient credit line with manageable installment plans.
This financial feature promotes customer purchasing power by fulfilling the increased demand for flexible payment plans and installment purchasing. This tool also will ensure that previously underserved markets participate in a trusted digital financial platform.
According to the eCommerceDB market research firm, the Indonesian online commerce market has grown 32% in 2021 and leads the ninth largest position worldwide. Over the next five years, Indonesia’s e-commerce market is estimated to enhance by 10% yearly.
The collaboration is considered an appropriate solution to fulfill the high demand of consumers in Indonesia related to online shopping. Further, more than 4,000 merchants have adopted an online Akulaku PayLater system. As a part of its goal, Akulaku digital platform intends to serve 10,000 online merchants and reach over 100,000 offline stores with BNPL.
The General Manager and Global Partnership of Alipay+, Cheng Guoming, claimed that BNPL is a newly-emerged digital payment method and has been rapidly adopted. However, this solution brings an inclusive financial service to the underbanked communities.
“We observe BNPL is a crucial element of the digital payment ecosystem. We are excited to have this partnership with Akulaku PayLater to enable Indonesian society and other potential markets to experience a seamless and convenient cross-border payment service. We believe users can enrich their daily lives through the global shopping experience,” added Cheng.
Established in 2020, Alipay+ is designed to enable global businesses, particularly SME business players. This platform allows consumers to receive digital payment schemes from several countries and reach hundreds of millions of regional and international consumers. Through this cooperation, Akulaku and Alipay+ aim to explore further collaboration opportunities in Southeast Asia.
