Inside Razorpay Curlec’s Plan to Power Malaysia’s Digital-First Economy
With capacity for over 1,000 transactions per second and 5× festive peaks, Razorpay Curlec is setting new standards for reliability in Malaysia’s cashless economy.
Most of it can be attributed to the “new normal” of FPX and DuitNow, which are making the shift to cashless no longer a trend, and are leading the charge as digital wallets become a daily habit for millions.
Paving the way is Razorpay Curlec, one of, if not the fastest-growing, payment gateway providers in Malaysia.
Since joining the Razorpay group, Curlec has emerged as a key player powering everything from small online sellers to high-growth enterprises.
Its Country Head and CEO, Kevin Lee, pointed out that Malaysia is in the midst of a major digital shift, and he thoroughly believes that payments are right at the centre of it.
Kevin Lee
“Our mission is simple,” he said. “[We want] to enable every Malaysian business to thrive in the digital economy.”
That mission is backed by results.
Razorpay Curlec has seen a 70% year-on-year volume growth, becoming a trusted partner for thousands of SMEs and enterprises across the country.
Its growth story reflects Malaysia’s broader national push toward a cashless economy, outlined in Bank Negara Malaysia’s Financial Sector Blueprint 2022–2026, which aims to make digital payments the default mode of commerce for all Malaysians.
Malaysia’s Digital Economy Is on the Move
In the blueprint, Bank Negara Malaysia outlines several ambitious plans to drive more e-payments, reduce the use of cash and cheques, and promote greater inclusion.
For Razorpay Curlec Malaysia, those objectives are not policy abstractions but day-to-day priorities.
Kevin explains that the blueprint that was set out outlines two levers. One is infrastructure, and the other is inclusion.
“Our role is to simplify access by bringing them together through a single integration, ensuring that businesses can adopt digital payments quickly and without unnecessary technical hurdles,” Kevin said.
That integration has taken form in practical tools.
From FPX to payment links, payment pages, and subscription, the Razorpay Curlec payment gateway enables merchants of all sizes, not just within Malaysia, to digitise operations without complexity.
The company’s focus on dependability, especially in fraud prevention and reconciliation, helps build the trust essential for Malaysia’s transition to a cash-light economy.
Kevin Lee on Balancing Legacy and Growth
When Razorpay acquired Curlec in 2022, it marked a turning point for the Malaysian fintech. Kevin Lee’s mandate was to guide the company through its post-founder phase while safeguarding what made it special.
He indicates that leading Razorpay Curlec in this new chapter needs to have two balancing priorities, which are:
“Preserving the identity that made Curlec successful in Malaysia, and scaling it with the strength that Razorpay brings as one of Asia’s largest payment platforms.”
That balance then rests on three pillars.
The first is protecting local DNA by staying closely aligned with PayNet and maintaining compliance with Malaysian standards.
The second is injecting global capability drawn from Razorpay’s experience processing millions of transactions across India.
The third is scaling responsibly, ensuring uptime and support remain consistent even as volume grows.
“The beauty of this chapter is that it doesn’t force us to choose between being local or global. We can be both,” he adds.
Local Strength with Global Scale
For Kevin, the phrase “local strength with global scale” captures the company’s identity better than any slogan.
“‘Local strength with global scale’ is not just a marketing phrase for us; it is the way we have structured our business and product roadmap,” he explains.
On the one hand, local strength means being embedded within Malaysia’s financial infrastructure as a regulated PayNet participant.
Razorpay Curlec’s merchants enjoy direct access to core rails such as FPX, backed by settlement timelines and compliance standards that mirror Bank Negara’s requirements.
Global scale, on the other hand, is what the company inherits from its parent.
The infrastructure that handles those volumes (which includes routing engines, reconciliation tools, and success-rate boosters) is now powering Malaysian merchants.
“When an SME in Malaysia chooses us, they know we are not just present in the market; we are embedded in the market’s regulatory and payment systems,” says the Country Head and CEO of Razorpay Curlec.
That dual capability translates into tangible outcomes.
A social seller can use Curlec payment links to collect money instantly. A startup can integrate APIs to brand its own checkout with live analytics. While mid-market and enterprises can manage recurring subscriptions through Direct Debit and still maintain a 90% success rates during sales peak.
Every tier of business can benefit from the same resilient backbone.
Designed for Malaysia’s 5X Festive Sales Spike
Few markets experience seasonal surges quite like Malaysia’s.
Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, and Deepavali, just to name a few big ones, and not to forget those constant online megasales often push traffic to multiples of the norm. Even Kevin agrees to this.
He comments, and we quote, that “Festive periods are the lifeblood of many Malaysian businesses.”
“[Hence], at Razorpay Curlec, we design for peaks, not just averages,” Kevin added.
The company’s infrastructure can process a thousand transactions per second, tested for up to five times the normal festive load.
The impact shows in the numbers of how festive periods consistently drive major sales growth for merchants.
For example, one merchant saw a 48% surge customers during the recent Hari Raya Aidilfitri peak, while major e-commerce events like the 12.12 Birthday Sale have seen first-time local sellers on platforms like Shopee achieve an extraordinary 30x sales uplift.
“Our goal is to not just survive festive peaks, but to help merchants thrive during them,” states Kevin.
Bringing Every Malaysian Business Into the Digital Fold
Just like its people, the country’s digital economy is also built on diversity.
Across Malaysia, everyone from platform developers to small home businesses depends on digital payment systems that work smoothly and don’t break the bank.
This, Kevin justifies, is how Razorpay Curlec’s no-code solutions play a huge role.
“Tools such as payment links and payment pages allow even the smallest sellers to start collecting digital payments immediately, with zero setup fee required.”
A micro-seller can create a payment link and share it on WhatsApp, Instagram or even Facebook to receive funds within minutes.
The same infrastructure powers all businesses through automated reconciliation and dashboard. Kevin sees inclusion as more than a growth strategy.
It’s a way to bring more Malaysians into the digital fold.
What’s more is that recurring payments have always been part of Curlec’s DNA, and that legacy now strengthens its position as Malaysia’s digital economy matures.
“That foundation has since evolved into a broader suite of tools that empower businesses of all sizes to participate in the subscription economy,” Kevin said.
Whether it’s a gym, a tuition centre, or a SaaS company, recurring payments are helping Malaysian businesses keep revenue consistent and customers coming back.
For SMEs, it means less time chasing payments. For enterprises, it means less revenue leakage and a stronger customer experience.
Smarter Payments, Safer Businesses
Razorpay Curlec believes that innovation is not limited to capacity or design. The company is increasingly drawing on Artificial Intelligence to strengthen the reliability and security of its systems. Kevin voiced his opinion that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just a buzzword that the company mentions in passing.
“It is woven into the way we design payment infrastructure,” he explained.
Globally, Razorpay uses AI for fraud detection, real-time analytics and automated reconciliation across millions of transactions.
“Our responsibility here in Malaysia is to bring these capabilities in thoughtfully, responsibly, and in a way that empowers local businesses,” Kevin clarifies.
Razorpay Curlec brings together global data intelligence and an understanding of the local market to create a payment environment that’s digital, trusted, and built for Malaysia.
