TikTok’s e-commerce arm struck a partnership with Advance Intelligence Group, a financial technology startup, to expand its online retail push in Malaysia.
Advance Intelligence, backed by Warburg Pincus, will offer its Atome “buy now, pay later” service as a payment option on TikTok Shop in Malaysia, it said in a statement Friday. The service lets consumers defer payments for their purchase over a period of three to six months.
The deal is a boost for Singapore-based Advance Intelligence, whose payments business has gained tens of millions of users in Southeast Asia since its founding in 2016. The startup has raised over $700 million in total, including a round in 2021 that valued it at more than $2 billion.
ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok plans to invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia over the next three to five years, betting on the region to spur growth for its e-commerce arm and take on incumbent online retailers such as Sea Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Read more: TikTok Eyes $20 Billion Commerce Business Despite US Setback
Malaysia’s two biggest e-commerce players by market share, Sea’s Shopee and Alibaba’s Lazada, also offer BNPL payment options. Malaysia’s e-commerce gross merchandise value is projected to reach $18 billion by 2025, up from $14 billion in 2022, Atome said, citing Statista figures.
