On track to a cashless society

VISA has released its latest findings that show Malaysia is on route to becoming a cashless society.

The latest Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study shows that the majority of Malaysians indicated they have used credit or debit card payments (92%) and more than three in four have attempted to go cashless, while 67% have tried to go cashless for at least a few days.

The categories that Malaysians believe could go completely cashless in future include bill payments, public transportation, taxis and ride-sharing, shopping at supermarkets and fuelling up at petrol stations.

This study was conducted by CLEAR on behalf of Visa late last year across seven South-East Asian countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The total sample size was 6,550, consisting of 1,000 Malaysians aged 18-65 years, with minimum income of RM2,000.

Contactless payments have also gained traction in Malaysia.

The study showed that 95% of Malaysians are aware of contactless payments, and nine in 10 Malaysians are interested to use contactless payments.

“We are proud that contactless payments have grown significantly over the past few years, especially when we compare its growth since the pandemic.

“In 2019, three in 10 Visa transactions were contactless payments, and today, Malaysia has become one of the most developed contactless payments markets in Asia Pacific, where more than seven in 10 Visa transactions are contactless payments,” says Visa country manager for Malaysia, Ng Kong Boon.

“Over the years, we have worked with our merchants to expand contactless payment acceptance across everyday spending categories in Malaysia, and also worked with our issuers to educate consumers about the benefits of contactless payments.

“The mobile pay partners launching mobile contactless payments in Malaysia have also supported the growth that we are seeing.

“Consumers value the convenience of being able to tap and pay using their mobile devices, and embrace it as a secure way to pay, given every transaction is tokenised,” says Ng.

The top places that Malaysians use contactless payments the most are supermarkets, restaurants and petrol stations.Visa is a gold winner in the Banking, Investment and Insurance category of the Putra Brand Awards 2022.