OVER the last few months, many Malaysians have begun warming up to the idea of eWallets as an alternative to cash. But while response to eWallets has been encouraging, there are some who face difficulty in making that lifestyle change as cash has been a very constant part of our lives up until now.
“Migration to e-payments is a shared aspiration and an integral part of the digital economy, from which the country could benefit immensely. As we are actively striving to foster development of the digital economy, it is important to ensure all segments of the public have access to safe, reliable and convenient e-payment services, ” Bank Negara tells Sunday Star.One common complaint among users that eWallet payments processes are not uniform is currently being addressed.
Not only will the above measures expand eWallet acceptance among underserved communities, but adopting e-payments can in fact help the underserved communities to have access to safer, more efficient and convenient payment services. Ultimately, Bank Negara stresses that the goal is not to replace cash altogether but to reduce the usage of cash so that the public can benefit from greater cost savings and efficiency, which would in turn enhance the nation’s productivity and competitiveness.For an adult population of about 25 million, 95% have a bank deposit account with 45.8 million debit cards in circulation. Malaysia also has a relatively high penetration of smartphones at 78.
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated QR payment adoption among merchants. According to Bank Negara, the number of merchant registrations for QR payments had increased to about 532,000 as at end-July 2020 compared to about 281,000 as at end-2019.