KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 — E-payment transactions grew by 31.5 per cent to 9.5 billion in 2022 compared to 7.2 billion in 2021, in line with the continued expansion in private consumption following the recovery in business and tourism activities.
According to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in its Annual Report 2022 released today, each Malaysian made 291 e-payment transactions on average last year.
“Two-thirds of total card-present transactions are now contactless, while various industry-led initiatives to actively promote adoption of QR code payments as a cost-effective payment method have led to a higher number of merchants particularly micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with 1.6 million merchants in 2022 accepting DuitNow QR,” it said.
It also said the use of cheques continued to decline during the year with 46.1 million in 2022 compared to 48.3 million in 2021.
“Meanwhile, cash withdrawals from automated teller machines (ATMs), typically used as a proxy for the level of cash usage, grew moderately to 798.5 million transactions valued at RM404.7 billion.
“Nevertheless, the annual growth rate of ATM cash withdrawals remained below its pre-pandemic levels, suggesting some gradual shift away from cash,” it said.
The central bank also said total outward remittances grew by 10.5 per cent to RM28.5 billion, attributed to higher remittance transactions by foreign workers as the economy began to pick up in 2022.
“The bank took steps to ensure the regulatory framework supports the development of a vibrant payment ecosystem that is reliable, efficient and innovative,” it said.
For mobile payments, it said BNM observed an increased collaborations between e-money issuers (EMIs) and other financial service providers.
BNM issued four policy documents in 2022 to strengthen the payment and money services business (MSB) ecosystem, which served to further enhance the safety and efficiency of payment services, strengthen user protection and preserve public confidence.
The policies including electronic money (e-money), payment system operator, measures to enhance securities of cash service machines including ATMs and agent oversight framework for MSB.
“The bank remains focused on initiatives to increase digital payment acceptance in Malaysia by preserving confidence in the safety and convenience of making digital payments,” it said.
BNM noted that these were undertaken in collaboration with payment service providers, federal and local authorities, and stakeholders across various economic sectors, such as retail, education and tourism sectors.
In 2022, it said the bank intensified efforts to bring about faster, cheaper and more convenient cross- border payment services that were aligned with global targets set under the Group of 20 (G20) Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments.
”Notable progress has been made to link Malaysia’s instant payment system (IPS) with other IPS. To date, we have enabled payment linkages with Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, countries where Malaysia has strong economic ties in terms of trade, tourism and remittances,” it said.
It further explained that efforts were also underway to establish payment linkages with the Philippines.
For this year, the central bank said it would continue to work on ensuring key payment and remittance services remain safe, efficient as well as reliable, guided by the objectives embedded within the Financial Sector Blueprint 2022-2026.
“We will closely monitor market developments and undertake policy or supervisory interventions as appropriate to mitigate emerging risks and strengthen our collaboration with public and private sector stakeholders,” it said.
BNM added that this was important to elevate public awareness on the benefits and risks of emerging payments as well as to promote responsible innovation.
— Bernama
