Beyond Payment Gateways: How BFSIs Can Build the Next-Generation Payment Ecosystem
Malaysia Is Also Becoming More Connected
The next phase makes this even more interesting.
Malaysia’s payment infrastructure is moving towards greater interoperability and cross-border connectivity.
PayNet reported that cross-border QR transactions grew 2.5 times to 29.7 million in 2025. Malaysia’s DuitNow QR linkages now connect with markets including Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, China and Cambodia, with India connectivity being developed. (paynet.my)
BNM also notes that there are now 29 live instant payment linkages across ASEAN. (Bank Negara Malaysia)
At the API layer, PayNet is moving towards a Modernised API framework designed to be more unified, modular and scalable across its ecosystem. The framework uses common actions and data models and is being introduced progressively across DuitNow services. (knowledgebase.paynet.my)
This is an important signal for BFSIs.
Payment infrastructure cannot be designed only for today’s payment methods.
It needs to be capable of adapting as new rails, use cases and connections emerge.
So What Should a BFSI-Owned Payment Platform Actually Do?
This is where the conversation around PayHub becomes relevant.
Ascertain’s PayHub is designed around a different premise:
A bank should be able to own more of its merchant payment ecosystem.
Rather than treating payment acceptance as a standalone gateway, PayHub brings together the broader capabilities required to operate merchant payments.
That includes:
- Merchant onboarding and lifecycle management
- Payment gateway and collections
- QR, SoftPOS, online and recurring payments
- Payouts and settlement
- Reconciliation
- Billing and collections
- Merchant self-service
- Analytics and reporting
- Operational visibility
And importantly, PayHub by Ascertain is designed to be fully white-label, allowing BFSIs to operate the merchant payment experience under their own brand.
The distinction is subtle, but important.
A gateway helps you process payments.
A merchant payment ecosystem helps you build a business around payments.
From Processing Revenue to Owning the Relationship
For a BFSI, this is ultimately a business question.
Merchant payments create more than transaction volume.
They create relationships.
They create data.
They create opportunities for cash management, working capital, lending, collections, reconciliation and other financial services.
But those opportunities become harder to capture when the merchant experience is fragmented across multiple external platforms.
That is why ownership matters.
The more of the payment operating layer a BFSI controls, the more control it can potentially have over:
The merchant experience.
The data.
The pricing.
The operations.
The economics.
PayHub’s proposition is built around that shift, from dependency towards greater ownership and control of the merchant payment business.
The Real Test Isn’t Processing a Payment
Malaysia’s payment ecosystem is already operating at enormous scale.
PayNet processed 260 transactions every second on average in 2025, while maintaining 99.995% service availability.
But scale creates a different question.
Can your platform handle the merchant growth around those transactions?
Can it support multiple payment methods without creating multiple operational silos?
Can settlement and reconciliation keep pace?
Can your teams see what is happening across the ecosystem?
Can merchants onboard themselves?
Can the platform adapt when the next payment rail arrives?
And can the BFSI do all of this under its own brand and operating model?
That is where the definition of a payment gateway needs to evolve.
The Next Payment Advantage May Not Be Another Payment Method
Malaysia does not necessarily need another way to pay.
It needs infrastructure that can make the growing number of ways to pay work together more effectively.
For BFSIs, the opportunity is bigger than adding another payment option to an existing stack.
It is about building the infrastructure underneath the merchant relationship.
Because the future payment platform will not simply answer:
“How do we process this payment?”
It will answer:
“How do we acquire, serve, operate, understand and grow this merchant through payments?”
That is the shift from payment gateway to payment ecosystem.
And for BFSIs looking at the next phase of payments, that distinction could become a significant competitive advantage.
The Takeaway
The payment gateway is no longer just a gateway.
It is becoming part of the infrastructure through which a BFSI can own its merchant experience, connect multiple payment capabilities, simplify operations and create a larger payments business.
Ascertain’s PayHub is built around that idea: