Highlights

• Sign-up with Lakala as the 1st merchant in Malaysia to facilitate cross border payments in Business Circle APP 
• Enables Circle International to penetrate China’s growing market
• Lakala’s platform used by over 3.5 million merchants and 100 million consumers
• Lakala is one of China’s top 3 companies in the offline settlement market

Circle International Holdings Limited (Australia NSX Stock Code: CCH) today announced its strategic partnership with payment gateway giant, Lakala — a move that will allow Circle International to facilitate cross border payments between Malaysia and China.

Circle International is poised to tap China’s fast-growing middle class and high-net worth consumer market. In 2016, cross border transactions involving China within the eCommerce space was valued at USD$1 trillion (RMB6.34trillion). (source: https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/17081/cross-border-transaction-us1-trillion-2016 / ). Lakala is China’s only non-bank institution that provides online, offline, personal and corporate services with a trading volume of RMB 1 trillion. It is one of China’s top three players in China’s offline settlement market and 3^rd party mobile payment market. Among its solutions are a full-platform payment system comprising of integrated payment solutions that are used by over 3.5 million merchants and 100 million consumers internationally.

CEO Dato’ Brian Tan said, “this will contribute positively to our Group revenue in 2019 and the tie-up will allow for increased monetization opportunities from China and the creation of a more complete marketplace within its proprietary Business Circle mobile application. Circle International’s self-developed Business Circle mobile application has a tremendous following in China and other Chinese speaking markets. The English version of Business Circle was launched recently as part of its regional plans to penetrate into new markets including Australia.”

“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,” shared Dato’ Brian Tan. The tie-up is part of several strategic announcements by the Malaysia homegrown new media technology company to power its penetration into the mobile wallet and payment gateway space. Recently, the Company also launched its Circle VISA Premium Card which is exclusively for Business Circle users — rewarding them with unique incentives, special discounts and promotions.

Dato’ Brian Tan stated, “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.”