Japan’s NTT Data paid an undisclosed sum for iPay88, a Malaysian payments firm whose activities include tokenisation and mobile point of sale (mPoS) systems.

iPay88 enables online retailers in a number of Asian markets, including Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand as well as domestically, to accept payments.

NTT Data wants to become a player in online payment business in the Asia-Pacific region, which it defines as one of its core businesses.  The activities in this area have increased in recent years.

The company started various payment businesses for public utilities, as well as e-wallet services, in Vietnam in 2011. It also enabled the processing of card payments for Thai financial institutions, starting in 2012.

And it also joined the Asian Payment Network so it can create a payment settlement platform within the region.

The Japanese firm hopes to capitalise on growing demand for cross-border online payments between its home market and other markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

iPay88 enables its merchants to handle not only credit cards but also direct debit and prepaid payments. Now, iPay88 is focusing on developing mobile POS systems which it said will expand its business further. It also offers tokenisation, which has the potential to encourage more use of mobile devices for payments.