PayNet continues sponsoring female triathlete for Hawaii Ironman tourney

KUALA LUMPUR, 4 April 2023:

Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) yesterday announced it will continue its sponsorship of an outstanding female triathlete to compete at the international IRONMAN competition in October – in line with PayNet’s support of the involvement of Malaysian women in sports.

PayNet had earlier sponsored 3 female triathletes – Noor Zakira Binti Zulrimi, 31, Serena Yang Chen Yin, 30, and Teoh Sue Ling, 43 – to compete in Ironman Malaysia 2022 and Ironman 7.0 Langkawi on 5 Nov 2022. Only Noor Zakira qualified to compete in the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, on 14 Oct 2023.

PayNet sponsorship will be in the form of full ‘DuitNow’ branded sports apparel kits and part funding her expenses to compete in the race in Hawaii. These are expected to enable Noor Zakira to fully focus on conditioning both her physical and mental state for optimal performance.

In a statement, the firm said the continued sponsorship is also an important message of PayNet’s strong commitment for gender equity in sports and demonstrates PayNet’s focus on inclusive marketing.

Commercial Division senior director Khairuan Abdul Rahman said: “Their achievements resonate with our brand values of courage, conviction, and grit. It also speaks to levelling the playing field in sports.

“PayNet hopes to make a significant difference in raising the visibility of this very rigorous competition to inspire more women to become triathletes.”

As a national retail payments infrastructure provider that operates household digital payments – such as DuitNow, DuitNow QR, MyDebit and JomPAY – PayNet picked triathlon because of its close association and alignment with its own corporate values.

“To inspire a more inclusive future, PayNet intends to continue with similar sponsorships to help overcome entry barriers to enable anyone pursue their passion and realise their dreams.”

Ironman is an endurance competition that began in 1978 involving long distance running, cycling and swimming. The same courses, distances, challenges and rules apply for both male and female competitors.

Women participation began in 1979 and the number of female participants have since grown. For this year, the number of competitive female participants have reached a level to merit its own dedicated race day at the 2023 VinFast Ironman World Championship as well as in Hawaii.