KUALA LUMPUR: Touch ‘n Go eWallet, Boost and GrabPay have been selected to participate in the Federal Government’s RM450 million e-Tunai Rakyat initiative.
The three e-wallet service providers are among Malaysia’s largest and collectively provide a ready platform for the rollout of the e-Tunai Rakyat initiative, which is scheduled to be launched on Jan 15, said Khazanah Nasional Berhad.
Announced by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng during the tabling of Budget 2020, the initiative will see Malaysians 18 years of age and above and who earn less than RM100,000 annually eligible to receive RM30 each through any of the participating e-wallets.
The RM30 can be used to purchase goods and services available through the respective e-wallet of their choice. The e-Tunai Rakyat initiative will run for two months from Jan 15 to March 14, Khazanah said in a statement today.
“As announced by the Ministry of Finance, the e-Tunai Rakyat initiative aims to accelerate the greater use and adoption of e-wallets and digital payments among Malaysian consumers and merchants, especially small enterprises and retail businesses”, Khazanah said.
Khazanah was appointed by the Ministry of Finance to facilitate and coordinate the implementation and launch of the e-Tunai Rakyat initiative within the given timeframe.
Meanwhile, Touch ‘n Go said its participation in the initiative would enable Malaysians to seamlessly claim the benefit through its Touch ‘n Go eWallet application.
It said eligible Malaysians can claim and use the funds at any one of the Touch ‘n Go eWallet’s 110,000 merchant acceptance points to date across F&B, petrol stations, movies, flights, utilities and groceries.
Users can also make payments for mobile reloads, in-app purchases like street parking and toll payment via unique features such as PayDirect and RFID, it said.
“We are in full support of the Government’s initiatives to spur a digital economy and we want to ensure that no Malaysian is left behind as the country powers towards becoming a fully digital economy. As the pioneer in micropayments, the government has entrusted Touch ‘n Go eWallet to implement the e-Tunai Rakyat to bridge the gap between cashless and cash in Malaysia.
"We hope to give Malaysians the confidence they need to adopt the inevitable cashless lifestyle,” said Chief Executive Officer of TNG Digital Sdn. Bhd, Ignatius Ong.
Grab said it was honoured that its e-wallet, GrabPay, was selected to participate in the initiative.
“We welcome and fully support our government’s progressive move to accelerate the adoption of e-wallets and digital payments among Malaysians," Grab said in a statement.
Since the launch of its e-wallet, Grab said it had introduced various features, such as ‘Pay with Points,’ ‘Pay with GrabPay’ (Online payments) and ‘GrabPay Price’, to help provide a more rewarding and affordable cashless lifestyle.
“This is an important consideration especially for the B40 and M40 community. In fact, in the last two months alone, our users have saved close to RM2 million on everyday services through our platform”.
Grab said its participation in the e-wallet initiative was a testament to its commitment to provide access to the seamless and frictionless convenience of digital payments to everyone in Malaysia.
Participating e-wallet service providers will provide more details on how eligible Malaysians can claim and use the RM30 incentive under the e-Tunai Rakyat initiative.
For further information, visit the websites of Touch ‘n Go e-wallet, Boost, and GrabPay.