
PETALING JAYA: Over 75% of Malaysian businesses have embraced at least one fintech (financial technology) product or service over the past 12 months, according to global professional accounting organisation CPA Australia.
Mobile payments and digital wallets were the most widely adopted fintech products in Malaysia in the past 12 months with 63% of businesses surveyed indicating usage, with CPA Australia noting that the trend is likely to continue over the next 12 months.
Overall, fintech adoption in Malaysia was driven by the need to increase business efficiency, with 56.3% identifying this as an important benefit, 40.4% used fintech to adapt to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic; and 34.4% saw it as a way of reducing costs.
The survey was conducted by CPA Australia from June 23 to July 14. A total of 573 responses were received from accounting and finance professionals in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.
“The increased popularity of mobile payments and digital wallets goes hand in glove with the government’s efforts to increase the use of e-wallets amongst the B40 and M40 through cash transfer programs, as part of its transition to a high value-added, high income economy,” said Bryan Chung, chairman of the Digital Transformation Committee at CPA Australia (Malaysia division).
However, CPA Australia noted that one in four businesses surveyed did not expect to use fintech in the next 12 months, with the majority of these being businesses with 50 or fewer employees.
Stating that small businesses may not have a sound understanding of the benefits off fintech for their organisations, Chung said that more needs to be done to improve small business understanding of what fintech solutions might be good for their businesses.
Among the survey respondents’ main concerns were cybersecurity and data privacy, with CPA Australia stating that such concerns need to be addressed if fintech is to see greater adoption.
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/highlight/2020/08/24/digital-payment-system-taking-hold-in-malaysia-survey-shows/