With eWallets and contactless payments becoming more widespread, you might be wondering if cash is no longer king in Malaysia. According to Visa Inc., seven out of 10 Malaysian consumers are now actively using contactless card payments regularly.
In addition to this, the 2022 Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes study shows that more than 90% of Malaysians are familiar with contactless payment systems, with almost 70% of them utilising them. This is a notable increase from the 56% recorded in the previous year.
The report also mentions the top categories that Malaysians spend on using contactless payments. These categories include:
- supermarkets (53%)
- retail stores (46%)
- restaurants (44%)
Ng Kong Boon, Visa’s Malaysia country manager, says that Malaysia is among the most developed contact payment markets in the Asia Pacific Region, citing eight in 10 Visa transactions being contactless.
“Compared with 2019, only three in 10 Visa transactions made were contactless payments – contactless payments have grown significantly over the past few years, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
The report also mentions that three in four Malaysian respondents to the study have attempted to go cashless, with at least 67% of respondents saying that they have tried to go cashless for a few days at a time.
Other interesting finds include the fact that up to 50% of respondents said that they tend to carry less cash in their wallets compared to before. The top reasons included using more contactless card or mobile payments, more places adopting cashless payments, and fear of carrying cash as it may get lost or stolen
Majority of Malaysians indicated that they have used credit or debit card payments (92 percent) compared to 86 percent who have used cash.
The study has revealed that more Malaysians are going cashless with the data showing that card payments are overtaking cash transactions. 92% indicated they have used credit or debit cards to make payments compared to 86% who used cash in the period of the study.
The drive to go cashless is being credited to younger Malaysian consumers such as Gen Y and Gen Z. The report also stated that if this continues, Malaysia is expected to become a cashless society by 2023, meaning the majority of consumers will be using cashless methods and no longer relying primarily on cash for their daily transactions.
