LABUAN: The usage of e-wallet increased by 131 per cent to over 600 million transactions in 2020 compared to the previous year, said Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi.
He said according to the recently released PayNet 2022 report, the percentage of Malaysians who used cash payments had dropped 11 per cent to 78 per cent from 89 per cent prior to the pandemic.
“The statistics show that the adoption of cashless payment method has begun to be accepted,” he said at the launch of the Retail Sector Digitalisation Initiative Programme (ReDi), at the Dorsett Grand Hotel yesterday.
Nanta said his ministry had implemented various efforts to ensure that the digitalisation agenda would be the main objective of the retail sector.
“The main focus of the ministry is the need for traders at the micro and small levels to accept and adopt e-wallet,” he said.
Nanta said the target of the Malaysian Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) was to ensure 875,000 micro, small and medium enterprises accept the use of e-commerce as well as create 500,000 business opportunities and contribute 22.6 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2025.
“According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, e-commerce transaction income rose 30 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021 to RM254.6 billion,” he said.
He said ReDI was launched with the aim of ensuring small traders are not lagging behind in engaging in new business models digitally. – Bernama