Visa brings Apple Pay to cardholders in Malaysia

Visa country manager for Malaysia Ng Kong Boon.

KUALA LUMPUR: Visa Inc has partnered with Ambank, Maybank and Standard Chartered Bank to bring Apple Pay to its cardholders in Malaysia.

The multinational financial services corporation said Apple Pay is a safe, contactless and easy way to pay that helped customers to avoid handing their payment card to someone else, touching physical buttons or exchanging cash by just using the iPhone and it is accepted in merchant locations worldwide.

Country manager Ng Kong Boon said the use of digital payments has accelerated over the past two years and is fast-tracking Malaysia to become a cashless society.

"Visa is excited to support the introduction of Apple Pay in Malaysia, especially since the country is already well placed in terms of contactless payment acceptance and usage.

"We believe Apple Pay with its secure, private and easy PIN-less experience will be well-received,” he said in a statement today.

According to VISA, every Apple Pay purchase is secure because it is authenticated with Face ID, Touch ID or device passcode as well as a one-time unique dynamic security code.

It said besides using Apple Pay for face-to-face transactions, cardholders could use it in-app, online or on Apple Watch without having to create accounts or repeatedly type in shipping and billing information.

Visa said the actual card numbers are not stored on the device nor on Apple servers but instead a unique device account number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the secure element to store the payment information safely on the device.

"As contactless payments grow, we’re confident smart mobile devices will continue to become an integral part of our daily lives, replacing wallets full of cash,” Ng added. - Bernama