KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 2): Shariah-compliant payment gateway PayHalal is partnering buy-now-pay-later platform Atome to enable murabaha buy-now-pay-later (iBNPL) acceptance across PayHalal’s merchant touchpoints first in Malaysia, before rolling it out in Indonesia in the coming months.

Souqa Fintech Sdn Bhd-owned PayHalal, which was launched in 2018, is the world’s first syariah-compliant (Islamic) payment gateway.

By offering PayHalal as a payment gateway, merchants are certified to offer products and services that are halal for consumption.

In a statement, PayHalal said the Covid-19 pandemic had accelerated the shift for Malaysian shoppers to adopt digital payment options.

It said that by partnering Atome to introduce iBNPL across PayHalal’s merchant touchpoints, shoppers will now have access to a flexible, convenient and secure payment option that allows them to split their purchases into three zero-interest deferred payments, with no annual or servicing fees.

PayHalal acting chief executive officer (CEO) Muhammad Sulwan Mohamed Subhan said the pandemic-driven shift towards online shopping had created an urgent need for Muslim retailers and businesses to improve and enhance e-commerce user experience.

"This partnership with Atome will broaden the payment experience across thousands of point-of-sale checkouts, with the right assortment of payment options, throughout PayHalal’s merchant network," he said.

Meanwhile, Atome CEO David Chen said the partnership will enable Muslim retailers and businesses to provide a seamless and superior checkout experience for their consumers as "we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic".