Payment gateway Citcon is expanding throughout the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for almost three-quarters of total global retail growth and two-thirds of online growth, according to a Monday (June 6) press release.
The expansion follows Citcon’s Series C round from October last year. Recently, Citcon has been expanding its portfolio of local wallets and alternative payment schemes to help with its growth in the APAC region.
The released noted that retail growth in the region has been fueled by digital payments, as well as hyper-local payment schemes, and now overseas merchants are faced with the issue of trying to expand amid a complex web of various local payment schemes.
The expanded market presence will see Citcon expanding its digital wallet and local pay scheme through the region, and the company has already recently added various wallet solutions for South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia.
Citcon also recently integrated more with AliPay, WeChatPay, PayPal and Klarna to invest in the emerging buy now, pay later (BNPL) scene.
“The booming middle class in Asia Pacific markets is the most important force driving global commerce,” said Chuck Huang, founder and CEO of Citcon. “While western brands and western styles will find eager customers throughout Asia, buying and selling merchandise is still a hyper-localized process.
“We have rapidly grown our Asia Pacific market presence, including adding in-country experts and staff to help our partners to scale their businesses throughout the continent and beyond.”
In March, Citcon expanded into South Korea and Japan, focusing on eCommerce payments for the fast-growing market.
Read more: Citcon Brings eCommerce Payments to South Korea, Japan
Last year, eCommerce sales totaled nearly $3 trillion, with Japan and Korea being the fourth- and fifth-largest markets for online purchases worldwide, and the second and third-largest in the region, with China being first.
“We are enabling merchants to enter global markets where eCommerce is expanding rapidly, yet market participation requires a localized payments solution,” Huang said at the time.
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