As of 9pm on 19th January, there has been a total of 2.9 million eTunai Rakyat applications and 2.2 million have been approved. eTunai Rakyat is a Government’s initiative to boost eWallet adoption among Malaysian consumers and businesses. The latest update was shared by Finance Minister, Lim Guan Eng, during the launch of the Cashless Ecosystem for Cyberjaya.
A total of RM450 million was allocated for the digital payment stimulus and 15% (RM66 million) has been disbursed so far. The RM30 credit is given to all Malaysians aged 18 years and above, with an annual income of less than RM100,000. Khazanah Nasional, which was appointed to facilitate the program has selected three eWallets – Grab, Boost and Touch ‘n Go eWallet.
The Finance Minister said despite efforts and initiatives in the past 20 years, only 5% of total daily payments in the country is cashless. To increase adoption, 2 aspects are needed to be addressed. Firstly, ePayment facilities must be widely available, safe and simple to use, and it must be as convenient as cash. Next, a central payments infrastructure such as PayNet can also help enable increase adoption. Having a shared infrastructure that’s inclusive such as the retail payment platform would contribute positively to the objective.
Lim Guan Eng also emphasised that going cashless is a government priority as it is one of the means to curb corruption. He added since all transactions are recorded, it leaves no room to accept or give bribes. On top of that, going cashless will also improve tax collections so that public infrastructure can be further improved. He cited the United Nations’ estimate that USD 2 trillion a year is wasted on corruption.
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