Online banking helps small firms cut costs

KUALA LUMPUR: Small businesses are encouraged to use online banking such as the Interbank Giro (IBG) service to reduce their operational costs and perform transactions more conveniently.

Bank Negara director for Payment System Policy Department, Tan Nyat Chuan, said IBG, via Internet and mobile banking, provided significant benefits to businesses through the reduction of cash and cheque handling costs.

He said 92% or 18.4 million of the adult population in Malaysia had bank accounts and Internet banking population accounted for about 74%.

“However, only 43% or 5.9 million of the Internet banking subscribers are active e-payment users.

“In this regard, we have not reached a stage where the masses are familiar or have gained sufficient trust in using Internet banking to conduct their financial transactions,” Tan said in a statement issued in conjunction with the “Experience IBG” roadshow in Kuching.

He said to encourage the migration to e-payments, the central bank had announced a new pricing strategy last year for payment services.

The transaction fee for IBG, conducted via Internet and mobile banking, was reduced to 10 sen on May 1, 2013 from RM2 previously while a cheque processing fee of 50 sen would be imposed next month.

He also said a successful migration to e-payments had the potential to drive further efficiency gains and cost savings.

“Research has shown that a successful migration to e-payment can save the country about 1% of gross domestic product annually,” he added. — Bernama