To promote a cashless society, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul has announced the eStart programme, which will provide RM150 eWallet credit to youths. A total of RM300 million will be allocated under Budget 2022.
The RM150 will be credited as a one-off payment for youths aged 18-20 years old as well as full-time students in institutions of higher learning. He hopes that students will make use of the funds to buy books and other educational tools. The initiative is aimed at benefiting 2 million youths in Malaysia.
The eStart initiative appears to be a rehash of Program eBelia that was announced during the previous Budget. When it was first tabled in November 2020, the eBelia program was allocated RM75 million to provide a one-off RM50 eWallet credit to eligible youths. Eventually, the credit was increased to RM150 with a total allocation of RM300 million under the PEMERKASA plan. Unlike the previous eTunai and ePenjana programmes, the eBelia RM150 credit is redeemable via 4 platforms namely BigPay, Boost, ShopeePay and Touch ‘n Go eWallet.
