AmBank has partnered with Visa to introduce the Visa Instalments service for its credit cardholders, allowing them to split their purchases with participating in-store and online merchants across Malaysia into equal monthly payments. Essentially a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) solution, cardholders can opt for 0% interest instalments of up to 36 months, for purchases as low as RM300.

In a statement, AmBank said that eligible cardholders will be able to use the service with merchants from a range of categories, including fashion, jewelleries, and electrical appliances featuring local and global brands. As many as 3,000 brands across the Malaysia will be ready to accept this new payment option, with notable ones including Caring Pharmacy, GoShop, and TBM.

Separately, Visa clarified on its website that Visa Instalments uses your existing credit limit (via your Visa card), which means that there will not be the need for another credit check, line of credit, or an extra account. If your Visa card and purchase is eligible for the service, you’ll immediately see the available Visa Instalments plans during the checkout process, and can choose your preferred plan then; you won’t need to apply to convert your purchases into instalment payments, as is usually the case with banks’ flexi payment programmes.

Managing director of retail bank for AmBank, Aaron Loo said that this partnership with Visa highlights the bank’s commitment to offer innovative payment solutions to its customers. “The ability to offer BNPL solutions is timely as it will support not just our customers, but the retail industry as well, which plays a vital part to growing our economy. I am confident with the launch of this capability, we will see significant growth in retail spends,” he said.

To further justify and support its initiative, AmBank also cited data from Visa’s latest Consumer Payment Attitudes Study, which showed that close to 90% of consumers in Malaysia have used instalment solutions from their banks or other BNPL providers. It was also found that most of them used BNPL for the purchase of electronic gadgets (49%), fashion and accessories (44%), and home appliances (42%).

Meanwhile, country manager for Visa Malaysia, Ng Kong Boon said that the digital payment service provider is eager to work with more merchants and acquirers to promote this innovative solution. “At Visa, we believe it is important to provide innovative, convenient, and secure payment solutions and drive digital payments usage in the country. We are pleased that AmBank has partnered us to introduce Visa Instalments to our cardholders in the country,” he said.

• TAGS:
• Aaron Loo
• AmBank
• BNPL
• BNPL Solution
• Buy-Now-Pay-Later Payment Solution
• Buy-Now-Pay-Later Schemes
• Ng Kong Boon
• Visa
• Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study
• Visa Instalments