GEORGE TOWN: Businesses that routinely use MyKad for customer verification say the existing card has served them well, though they roundly welcome the added security features in the latest version.
Petrol station supervisor Wendy Teoh, 55, said her outlet processed more than 100 MyKads a day for subsidised petrol purchases and had never encountered a fake card.
“Our experience with the current MyKad has been good.
“We rely on it every day and have not come across any problems with its authenticity,” she said.
The more mundane problem, she said, was a tarnished metallic chip that sometimes could not be read by the machine, which personnel would try to resolve by cleaning the chip surface with an eraser.
“We rub the chip with an eraser and try it again. Most of the time, that works,” she said.
Teoh said she looked forward to the additional security features in the new MyKad and hoped they would make identification even more reliable.
Hotels rely on MyKad for the same reason.
A three-star hotel manager Ran Cash, 31, said Malaysian guests’ MyKads were checked against their booking details to confirm their identities.
The ID card was particularly important when staff suspected that a guest is under 18, as minors are not allowed to check in on their own.
Dental clinic assistant Doreen Ng, 61, said a MyKad was less crucial at her workplace because patients could still be registered manually using their personal details.
Having MyKad, however, made registration much more convenient.
She said the clinic welcomed improvements to the MyKad and hoped the new features could eventually be incorporated into registration systems used by clinics.
