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TNG eWallet is No Longer a Payments Company? | Alan Ni CEO, TNG Digital

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Alan Lee on TNG’s Evolution: From Payments Provider to Ecosystem

Alan Lee, CEO of TNG Digital, argues that Touch ’n Go (TNG) is no longer just a payments provider. It has evolved into an ecosystem that must manage a changing “income mix” to achieve sustained profitability.

1) Market Share Isn’t Enough—Profitability Requires Mix Management

  • Lee says Malaysia’s payment economics are structurally challenging: after costs, “every transaction” tends to lose money.
  • As a result, simply gaining more e-wallet market share could worsen losses: “more share only means more losses.”
  • The strategy is diversification:
    • Keep payments as the customer entry point and ecosystem backbone.
    • Monetize beyond payments using higher-margin services.

2) TNG’s Diversification Is Already Driving Profitability

  • Lee frames TNG as being in “phase three”—after earlier phases that built foundations and scaled commercially.
  • Revenue mix shift:
    • Payments decreased from ~75% of total income to less than half (target/estimate around 47% payments in 2026).
    • Cross-border payments grew from 0% (in 2023) to ~11% (also referenced around ~11% for 2026).
    • B2B/merchant & technology services increased from 0 to about 15–15.5% (year-to-date 2026 reference).
  • Profitability milestone:
    • First break-even in Q4 2024
    • Profitability every month since

3) When to Monetize: Penetration, Frequency (Stickiness), and Engagement

Lee says monetization timing is guided by:

  1. Penetration to the adult population
    • EKYC-verified penetration referenced as ~90% in Malaysia
  2. User frequency / stickiness
    • Users interact about twice daily

Key point: Stickiness is crucial. Paying users who download and churn won’t work.

  • Lee discusses cross-sell/upsell timing once users show recurring engagement.
  • Transaction vs app usage indicators:
    • ~13.5M monthly transacting users
    • Higher monthly “open app” users (~16M+)
    • Transactions average about twice per day
  • He expects:
    • Payments may remain more than half of transactions
    • Even if payments are less than half of revenue, non-payment services will contribute a growing revenue share

4) Partnership-First “Ecosystem,” Not a Single-Product “Super App”

  • Lee rejects the “super app” framing in favor of an “everyday digital companion” focused on convenience.
  • He describes TNG as an open system where partners distribute best-in-class services across categories.
  • TNG doesn’t need to build everything itself:
    • If partners deliver value to TNG’s audience, TNG integrates.
  • Example mentioned:
    • A user discovered a Continental tire purchase through partner collaboration—suggesting some services exist but may be under-advertised.

5) UX Redesign: “Yahoo Age” to “Google Age” via Search

  • In June, TNG redesigned the interface to avoid a crowded homepage full of icons (“Yahoo age”).
  • The goal is a search bar (“Google age”):
    • Users shouldn’t need to remember where each feature lives.
  • Lee acknowledges transition friction:
    • Some users complain about finding icons.
    • He suggests TNG could have communicated the search bar more clearly and smoothed migration for high-frequency workflows.

6) AI / Voice: Easier Interaction, But Payments Need Trust

  • Lee predicts a shift from typing-based search toward voice and AI-assisted search.
  • He outlines a staged approach:
    • Improve voice recognition first
    • Then enable “agentic” workflows
      • However, he notes payments remain a harder trust problem
  • On “agentic payments” realism:
    • Assistants can help plan/organize
    • Final payment authorization likely still requires direct user involvement due to trust barriers

7) Reliability as a Mission: No Scheduled Downtime for a National Critical System

  • Lee rejects “hustle culture” associated with unhealthy late-hours (referencing “996”).
  • He distinguishes productive hustle from operational necessity: TNG must be available.
  • Reliability design approach:
    • Architecture compared to a submarine with compartments
    • Failures are isolated to prevent system-wide outages
    • Backups are maintained in separate locations
    • Maintenance is done “on the fly” so users typically don’t notice
  • Lee states TNG has no scheduled downtime, because outages could strand the public:
    • highway/toll usage
    • petrol station payments
    • parking payments

8) Scalability and Distribution: Why Ecosystems Enable Many Vertical Fintechs

Lee argues that fintech ecosystems can coexist with:

  • Ecosystem platforms (for distribution—TNG as an example)
  • Specialized vertical players (for best-in-class products)

He claims vertical players often struggle because:

  • Acquiring users at scale is extremely expensive
  • Few can afford the distribution required for mass adoption

He supports opening integrations (referenced like a “mini program”) for smaller players, emphasizing:

  • integration effort for UX design, not merely “linking out.”

9) Financial Inclusion and EKYC: Helping Partners and Reducing Fraud

  • Lee says digital banks benefit from collaboration because they share the same user-acquisition cost challenge.
  • TNG’s user base is EKYC-compliant, which helps:
    • collaboration with partners
    • fraud management
  • Fraud/security measures highlighted:
    • Bind the app to phone/device (reduce login from other devices)
    • Stronger authentication for high-risk transactions (biometric beyond OTP)
    • He claims fraud cases reduced substantially, citing roughly 90% reduction for certain categories
    • He also notes scam authentication challenges remain difficult

10) IPO Readiness: Profitability Track Record Matters

When asked about the “right time” for an IPO, Lee emphasizes:

  • Investor confidence built through a proven track record

He highlights:

  • First full year profitability in 2025
  • It’s also described as the second year, implying momentum and trajectory matter more than a fixed timetable.

11) Other Operational Details: Quick Reload on Debit Cards Removed

A user asked about disabling quick reload (May). Lee clarifies it wasn’t only about unit economics.

  • He discusses payment success-rate rules from Visa/Mastercard:
    • penalties are borne by bank partners
  • Debit card reload success was below 50%, attributed to:
    • insufficient balance
    • merchant retry behavior that multiplied failed attempts
  • Credit card reload success was much higher (80–90%), so credit remained available.

12) Personal Philosophy: Self-Drive, Grit, and Rejecting Performative Hustle

  • Lee explains he joined TNG by volunteering (not for title or money), believing in its future.
  • He describes multiple senior role transitions at TNG (risk, ops, product, financial services, plus interim CFO/HR responsibilities), portraying an entrepreneurial spirit of filling gaps.
  • He emphasizes personal traits:
    • self-drive
    • grit
  • He argues against unhealthy hustle culture like 996.
  • He also shares parenting values:
    • not spoiling kids
    • encouraging grit and persistence

Presenters or Contributors

  • Alan Lee — CEO, TNG Digital
  • Host / Interviewer (Fintech Fireside Asia) — not named in the subtitles

Original video