Malaysians sceptical of using technology for financial transactions

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s financial technology ecosystem has grown tremendously over the past two years, but Malaysians continue to be sceptical over the use of technology to conduct their financial transactions.

Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) Chief Operating Officer Datuk Ng Wan Peng said the adoption of cashless payments, especially among small and medium enterprises (SMEs), is still relatively low.

“Continuous efforts (to promote cashless payments) are being done together with the central bank as it is much safer and the cost of handling money is relatively cheaper,” she told Bernama on the sidelines of the “Digital Economy and Its Potential at Reskilling for Future Economy” forum here today.

According to MDEC’s data, Malaysia’s Internet penetration in January 2018 stood at 79 per cent or 25.08 million users.

Although many employees are still not ready to embrace the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), they need to start somewhere, said Ng.

“We are concerned that only a small percentage of SMEs have an online presence,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ng also said the success rate of startups in Malaysia is relatively high compared to some other countries, as only 20 per cent had dropped out in the early stages.

“The startups that failed did not have a clear plan. They need to have a clear direction in order to be successful,” she added. - Bernama