On Monday, Circle International announced it has formed a partnership with payment gateway platform Lakala to facilitate cross border payments between Malaysia and China. While sharing details about the partnership, CEO and Founder of Circle, Dato’ Brian Tan, stated:
“Through the partnership with Lakala, Circle International can leverage on Lakala’s strength in E-commerce and integrated payment solutions to enable seamless E-commerce possibilities for our Business Circle users, particularly those from China. Via Lakala, both consumers and merchants can buy and sell products and services through Business Circle.”
Founded in 2009, Circle describes itself as a media technology group for the Asia Pacific region. The company has established its presence in key international markets which include China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Australia. The company also noted that its principal business activities are its Business Circle mobile app and its Worldwide Excellence Award (WEA) platform.
Circle claims it is aiming to tap China’s middle class and consumer market while Lakala is considered to be China’s only non-bank institution that provides online, offline, personal, and corporate services with a trading volume of RMB 1 trillion. In regards to Circle’s growth plans and the development of the partnership, Tan added:
“It’s about creating a complete payment eco-system for consumers and merchants to leverage on. While the Circle VISA Premium Card was our first step into fintech, we continue to expand our product lines for our members. E-commerce complements our existing revenue streams as a regional content owner and digital advertising player.”