KUALA LUMPUR: Global payments technology company Visa said that 74 per cent of Malaysians are becoming less reliant on cash and prefer using electronic payment methods.
The company said that it has recorded an eight per cent increase in electronic payments compared to cash in 2016, compared to 2015.
This was the finding from its '2016 Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes' survey.
In an emailed statement, Visa said that it also found that 49 per cent of the survey respondents admitted to having more payment cards in their wallets now compared to five years ago.
The reasons for not carrying large amounts of cash include the use of payment cards has become a habit and also most do not feel safe using cash.
The company said that 68 per cent of respondents were using electronic payments (i.e mobile devices, wearables), more often and are moving away from cash; while 64 per cent said using cards was safer than cash.
The Visa survey also found that 60 per cent said they would like payments to be automated, doing away with the physical process of paying for a product or service and a similar number were comfortable with the use of biometrics (e.g. fingerprinting, face recognition) for payment authentication.
“Given the evolving landscape which has transformed the way consumers make payments, Malaysians are clearly upbeat about technological advancements in payment solutions.
"We are heartened that technology savvy Malaysians are quick to recognise the benefits of using contactless cards, wearables and mobile payments as we continue to push to accelerate the growth of electronic payments in the country, in line with Bank Negara Malaysia’s goal for Malaysia to become a cashless society by the year 2020,” said Visa country manager for Malaysia KB Ng in the statement.
However, the company did furnish background details of the survey, like which key cities/towns the survey was conducted in and when; the methodology (email, calls, poll etc); or how many respondents took part nor the respondents' demographic statistics.