WITH Malaysia in the midst of transforming itself into a cashless society, e-wallet providers are playing their part to change mindsets and ensure that all Malaysians are able to keep up with digital payments.
The steady growth of e-wallets signifies that Malaysians are resilient and open to exploring new ways to live, pay, and transact, says TNG Digital Sdn Bhd CEO Ignatius Ong.
And one of the biggest attractions of e-wallets is that it is a safer, cleaner and more convenient alternative to cash.
To date, Touch ‘n Go eWallet has a user base of 14 million and is supported by 250,000 merchants nationwide. To ensure no Malaysian will be left behind in the move to a cashless nation, Touch ‘n Go eWallet says that it is continuously educating and reaching out to users across the country.
“As we continue to expand our user network and diversify our merchant touchpoints, our current focus is to advocate for habitual usage. Building consistency is key in ensuring that Malaysians will continue to be a part of the nation’s cashless revolution, ” says Ong.
“We have users from all walks of life, but in terms of penetration of users – those in the rural areas are the hardest to reach. Connectivity and its speed are significantly different as compared to those that reside in urban, metropolitan areas. Moreover, they may not be widely exposed to digital and cashless transactions that are rampant in big cities, ” he says.
To achieve widespread acceptance, there is a need to encourage behavioural changes towards a cashless lifestyle.
“We introduced the #LebihBanyakEkstra concept to encapsulate the many ways for all Malaysians will benefit from Touch ‘n Go eWallet; be it through cashbacks, services, products, value for money, and more. #LebihBanyakEkstra is Touch ‘n Go eWallet’s promise to reward our users with more value and benefits simply because they have made the choice to be a part of Malaysia’s cashless society and lifestyle, ” says Ong.
Apart from educating users via websites and online platforms, Ong says that their team constantly goes on the ground to talk to local mom-and-pop shops, family-owned restaurants, marts, and businesses (the MSMEs), SMEs, as well as large retail chains to join as partners.
“I’m proud of the work that Touch ‘n Go eWallet has done to on-board the night markets, burger joints, food courts, and small enterprises around the nation. As we enable Touch ‘n Go eWallet across the different business establishments, consumers are also being educated at the same time about its usage, and this encourages the rakyat to try using Touch ‘n Go eWallet. Eventually, this will lead to a change in their lifestyle. It is the domino-effect of the ecosystem, ” he says.
The above initiatives are being carried out in tandem with providing cashback and rewards for users, and supporting government programmes like the eTunai Rakyat and ePenjana of which Touch ‘n Go eWallet is a partner.
“We won’t stop educating and introducing new ways for Malaysians to experience and enjoy being cashless, especially in the new normal.
“We will further diversify and expand our services to look at being a provider of financial suites, including asset management products, that will encourage financial literacy among Malaysians, as well as offering our services beyond Malaysian borders, ” says Ong, adding that an official announcement on this will be made in the future.
Supporting MSMEs
In difficult economic times, a helping hand can ensure a quicker economic recovery for all. For homegrown lifestyle e-wallet Boost, this means assisting small businesses grow by providing microfinancing and working capital assistance.
“As we go into the new norm, pivoting digitally will ensure that your business is uninterrupted, ” says Boost Director of Product and Marketing Ungku Norliza Ungku Halmie, adding that the digital transformation builds resilience and sustainability.
While Boost has been successful in reaching out to its 8.3 million customers and 191,000 registered merchants to date, the way forward is to look into how to best help underserved communities, especially small cash-driven businesses.
In one of Boost’s own initiatives to help Micro and Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), merchants can apply for micro-financing up to RM20,000 through Boost’s sister company Aspirasi, a digital financing provider, with no repayment required for the first six months.
In addition to the above, Boost is partnering with the Government in its MSME E-commerce Campaign under the ePenjana programme. Under the MSME E-commerce initiative, the company will help merchants digitise and move offline-to-online (O2O) by setting up their own e-commerce catalogue that is integrated with the Boost Business Payment Link. With this, micro businesses that register with Boost will be able to promote their products in the Boost marketplace.
“The Government, together with Boost, are providing incentives [under the Micro & SMEs e-Commerce campaign] to both customers and merchants. Customers receive 20% cashback (up to RM5) per transaction with a minimum spend of RM10 via Business Payment Link. The merchants will also earn 20% cash incentive per transaction, capped at a total of up to RM500 throughout the campaign period. Overall, merchants stand to benefit a total of RM1,500 which includes advertising support and fee waivers from Boost, ” Ungku Norliza explains.
Recognising the growing awareness of e-wallets, Ungku Norliza nevertheless believes that there is still a lot of education to be done especially if the goal is for e-wallets to be used throughout Malaysia.
“In the past we have been successful in educating demographics below 40 years old but now that the pandemic is touching every segment and age category of society, I think there is more education and awareness that needs to be done to those above 50s, ” she says.
Ungku Norliza explains that in this, all e-wallet players and ecosystem builders are responsible to help create awareness and education to fastrack cashless adoption.
“Let’s support the local businesses in particular the Micro SMEs because without them, the generation of the economy will not be as encouraging as before, ” she says.
Overall, consumer response to e-wallets over the past five months has been “amazing and very encouraging”, says Ungku Norliza, adding this is especially encouraging with industries moving at an accelerated pace towards a digital transformation.
“I don’t think it is going to be a temporary shift, e-wallets are here to stay. Even before Covid-19, the aspiration of the Government is to bring the nation closer to a cashless society. There is already a lot of encouragement on that front.
“First of all, having e-wallets allows you to track your spending. Secondly, because e-wallets are now providing incentives for purchases like groceries and bill payments, this also reduces the burden of making 100% payments to the total expenses, ” she says.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/focus/2020/09/06/e-wallet-providers-reaching-out-to-all-malaysians