Whenever he travels around the Southeast Asian region or to China, Malaysian private equity investor Ian Yoong Kah Yin always uses his e-wallet to settle all payments. Yoong, a former investment banker, seldom travels with a big chunk of cash, preferring to use an app he downloaded on his phone so he can use a QR code to pay in Malaysian ringgit or any local currency.
Yoong said using a QR code is not only convenient but also cuts transaction costs as he does not need to convert ringgit to US dollar first and then to another local currency, avoiding double currency conversion rates.
