Alipay Advocates Technology in Start-ups for Social Issues in Malaysia

Alipay shared its experience of how technology can solve real world problems with start-up entrepreneurs in Asia via a joint initiative with the National University of Singapore (NUS). The cooperation between the two companies was announced in Malaysia on Dec. 5.

The Alipay-NUS Enterprise Social Innovation Challenge (ANSIC) was developed by Ant Financial Services Group, which operates the world’s largest mobile and online payment platform Alipay, and NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of NUS.

“We hope by sharing our own experiences and working with partners here, we can contribute to supporting local innovation and the growth of more indigenous start-ups that use digital technology to address real world problems and benefit more people,” said Xin Guo, Alipay’s Senior Algorithm Engineer.

In Malaysia, Ant Financial supports Touch n’ Go with technological capabilities and experience in implementing a mobile payment platform for inclusive financial services.

In 2017, Guo offered another technological solution for financial problems.

He started the idea of Dingsunbao, or “Loss Assessment Master,” a technology service that helps insurance companies reduce their costs of claims handling, when he was caught up in a car accident in 2016. His team used AI, machine learning and computer vision to optimize the process of filing a claim.

By May, Dingsunbao helped insurance companies reduce their costs to handle a case by over one billion yuan ($15 million), and saved claim adjusters 750,000 hours.

Redza Shahid, CEO and co-founder of Grub Cycle, a social supermarket that aims at reducing food waste, agreed on using technology for social issues.

“Food waste is a global issue and we want to help. Grub Cycle works with restaurants and supermarkets to buy food that they can’t sell then distribute the food at a discount to low income groups, through online and offline channels. It really makes a difference when our suppliers and consumers can see in real-time how much they have saved by using Grub Cycle,” Shahid said on a panel.

The Malaysian roadshow is part of a series of events in Southeast Asia to promote ANSIC in Southeast Asia.

Featured photo credit to Business Wire