iPay88 Academy is Launched As a Two-Pronged Strategy

Kuala Lumpur, 27 August 2018 – iPay88 Holding Sdn Bhd (formerly “iPay88 Sdn Bhd”) (iPay88), an NTT Data company and a leading Malaysian-based provider of online payment solutions in ASEAN, today introduces its first ever ‘iPay88 Academy’ for the public, in Malaysia.

‘iPay88 Academy’ comprises a systematic series with 3 level of courses (Beginner, Intermediate & Advance), that anyone can sign up for free, to gain knowledge and skills in e-Commerce operations.

Founder and Executive Director of iPay88, Chan Kok Long says that the iPay88 Academy is set up to directly support the most fundamental objective of the National e-Commerce Strategic Roadmap – which is to accelerate seller adoption of e-Commerce (in Malaysia).

*Note: The other five (5) Thrusts that fall under the National e-Commerce Strategic Roadmap are: Increase adoption of eProcurement by businesses; Lift non-tariff barriers (e-Fulfillment, cross-border, e-Payment, consumer protection); Realign existing economic incentives; Make strategic investments in select e-Commerce players; and Promote national brand to boost cross-border e-Commerce.

For more details, please visit: https://www.mdec.my/digital-innovation-ecosystem/ecommerce/nesr

Chan says, “The tipping point for e-Commerce to move to the next level of adoption in this country relies heavily on individuals and businesses going online. Therefore, iPay88 wants to step up to the plate and do our part in driving this move to e-Commerce.

Meanwhile, the benefits of the iPay88 Academy for the mass market is illustrated by Bill Gates’ quote – If your business is not on the Internet, then your business is out of business.”

Commending the initiative by iPay88, MDEC Chief Operating Officer Dato’ Ng Wan Peng, said: “In the digital arena, SMEs can no longer delay establishing their presence in e-Commerce with the goal of exporting their products and services across borders. SMEs must quickly step up and align them-selves to the opportunities that are abound in a digitalised world and make a significant presence in the global market.”

e-Commerce is no longer a ‘new’ way of doing business: ‘eBusiness’ is rapidly becoming the order the day,” she added. “This move to establish the iPay88 Academy is another significant testament to industry-government-academia collaboration – as a key catalyst to boosting our digital economy.”

The iPay88 Academy is carefully structured to be a one-stop resource center to guide individuals or SMEs to adopt e-Commerce smoothly and speedily.

“The target group of the Academy is basically anyone who wishes to start any online business. There are many willing merchants and sellers; however, they are struggling to embrace the digital economy, due to various factors. Therefore, our instructor-led Academy programmes are carefully planned out to share the tricks of going online quickly while avoiding the common pitfalls (of failure),” says Chan.

So far, the iPay88 Academy ran five pilot courses successfully from 22nd May 2018 to 1st August 2018 with a total of 56 participants. iPay88 Academy has lined-up 5 courses under e-Commerce se-ries this year and will add more courses under new series of e-Payment, Digital Marketing and Cross Border next year. The first official course will commence effectively on 19th September 2018.

Chan says that it is important to note that iPay88 Academy is brand-agnostic. “We work with various e-Commerce experts namely Shopping Cart brands such as SiteGiant, EasyStore and Webshaper; Logistics providers such as EasyParcel, TresGo and Aramex; and Dropshipping Provider such as Kumoten to deliver the course.”

University Certification Planned by 2019

Moving on, iPay88 will work with selected local universities to incorporate the syllabus of its ‘iPay88 Academy’ into the coursework of the academic institutions.

This is to help address the long-standing issue of universities producing graduates who lack practical skills related to online businesses.

iPay88 is currently initiating discussions with several universities, to customize the ‘iPay88 Academ-ic’ syllabus as the ‘real industry practice’ part of the universities’ select academic coursework.

“Many students now merely graduated with theoretical knowledge when they pursue their diploma or degree in eCommerce-related courses. Hence, they face difficulties applying the knowledge in real life.

We believe that by providing such Certification, the local academic market will be able to supply more comprehensive, eCommerce-enabled graduates who can set up online businesses from scratch – from planning a business to creating the business and ultimately growing the business.”

For this certification partnership, iPay88 targets to confirm partnerships with three (3) local academic institutions by mid of 2019.

The iPay88 Academy offers two types of programmes: –

1. Learning Programme that assists companies, SMEs and individuals to learn how to launch and generate traffic for their online business.
2. Training Programme that targets to improve employees, merchants and re-sellers product knowledge as value add to iPay88 services.

For more particulars on iPay88 Academy, go to www.ipay88academy.com.