PLUS aims to go cashless at all its rest areas

Liew: The technology allows us to understand the food preference of our customers.

GEORGE TOWN: PLUS Malaysia Bhd is targeting for all its rest and service areas (RSAs) in the country to go cashless by end-2020 .

Chief commercial officer Christine Liew told StarBiz that PLUS was currently working with Visa, Boost e-wallet and other credit card companies to achieve the objective.

Liew was speaking at the Highway Concession Conference 2019, which was opened by Works Minister Baru Bian on July 15.

The two-day event was jointly organised by the Works Ministry and the Malaysian Highway Authority in cooperation with the Association of Highway Concessionaires Malaysia.

“We are targeting for 10 RSAs on the highways to go cashless this year.

“Fifteen more RSAs should go cashless in 2020.

“To date, there are three RSA locations that have gone cashless.

“These are the two RSAs in Ayer Keroh in Melaka and one in Dengkil, Selangor,” she said.

PLUS has 29 RSAs, 50 lay-by stops, and two major restaurants in the country.

Liew said that digital technology allowed PLUS to deliver better services to customers.

“Our cameras at the RSAs and highways enable customers to see which RSA and which section of the highway is congested.

“The technology allows us to understand the food preference of our customers and find the right partners to deliver what they want.

“The choices will be made by the customers and not by companies,” she said.

Liew added that PLUS had 1.7 million customers using the highways on a daily basis.

“These 1.7 million people can tell you a lot of things,” Liew said.

On the PLUS Women Entrepreneurship Programme (WEP), Liew said PLUS would spend RM1mil to subsidise the initial capital outlay for the women undergoing business training.

“We are selecting 20 women from the B40 group to be trained under the WEP,” she added.

Liew said the firm has allocated RM5mil to roll out the WEP to create more women entrepreneurs at its highway rest areas within the next five years.

“The WEP targets women living within a 30km radius of the highway and B40 single mothers aged between 23 and 36.

“Through the WEP, PLUS aims to produce 20 new women entrepreneurs each within the next five years,” she said.