PETALING JAYA, Jan 9 — Touch ‘n Go Sdn Bhd (TNG) with its partner, Ant Financial Services Group, an affiliate company of the Alibaba Group, have obtained Bank Negara’s approval to operate and offer mobile e-wallet services.

The Star reported that the mobile e-wallet will be operated by TNG Digital Sdn Bhd.

To add, there are more than 18 million active Touch ‘n Go card users in the country.

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd said in a statement yesterday the new mobile e-wallet would facilitate payment in a cashless and cardless environment by leveraging on Ant Financial’s Alipay technology platform.

"TNG also expects its current users who are predominantly toll, transit and parking users to quickly sign on to enjoy the expanded services,” said CIMB, which owns 52 per cent of TNG.

Furthermore, TNG is also 28 per cent- and 20 per cent-owned by MTD Equity Sdn Bhd and PLUS Expressways Bhd respectively.

TNG’s CEO  Syahrunizam Samsudin said in the same statement that he was pleased to obtain the central bank’s approval.

"Mobile e-wallet service was in support of the government’s aspiration to accelerate the creation of a robust and secure digital payments ecosystem,” he said.

The TNG e-wallet will enable payments to be made electronically at even very small merchants such as night market vendors and tea stall operators.

Alipay currently supports over 450 million users in China alone via its Alipay payments system.