Spotlight: Malaysia sees mobile commerce boom as mobile payments become widely available

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian people's love for mobile shopping has led to more transactions generated on mobile platforms.

The data compiled from Malaysia's three major online marketplaces -- Lazada, 11street and Shopee -- revealed that 70 percent of the online transactions on Single's Day and MyCyber sales were done through mobile devices, said iPay88, a leading regional payment gateway provider in South East Asia.

MOBILE USERS GROWING

"Mobile users are growing faster than our anticipation, we expect the momentum to continue," Ipay 88's executive director and co-founder Chan Kok Long told Xinhua in a recent interview.

According to Malaysian Central Bank, there are 42.8 million mobile phone subscriptions in Malaysia currently. Meanwhile, smartphone penetration stands at 70 percent and it is expected to increase.

In view of the growing mobile phone user base and more friendly mobile applications, Chan said the transactions generated on mobile platform will account for 60 percent of the total before climbing to 70 percent in the next two years. Last year, the ratio stood at 50 percent, he said.

MOBILE PAYMENTS' CONTRIBUTION

Another key driver is the introduction of mobile payment, which several banks are looking to launch Quick Response (QR) code-wallets that enable payment to be done in an easier way.

IPay88 is currently the payment gateway market leader in Malaysia, accounting for 60 percent of Malaysia's online payments system transaction.

Chan also believed the two major Chinese online payment companies -- Alipay and WeChat Pay -- making their ways into Malaysia e-payment segment, could potentially double the online transactions.

"When you see m-commerce growing tremendously, the next thing will be mobile-wallets. It is no doubt that they (the two Chinese players) will contribute a lot to the online transactions in Malaysia going forward," said Chan.

Cited Alipay as an example, he said, the retail transaction volume has grown robustly since it was launched four months ago.

"Although Alipay is new in Malaysia, the growth potential is tremendous because of the increasing Chinese tourists in Malaysia," Chan said, adding that more Malaysian retailers have to adopt the payment system as they are also afraid of losing competitiveness in dealing with Chinese tourists.

Chan also sees great potential from WeChat Pay, which will be unveiled in Malaysia next year, as it has 20 million WeChat holders in Malaysia and 600 million active users in China.

Earlier this year, Alipay, a unit of Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial, has inked agreements with Malaysian banks for the rollout of its service this year.

Its competitor, WeChat Pay by Tencent Group, was then granted an e-payment license in Malaysia and planned to unveil its service in early 2018. Since then, it has secured Hong Leong Bank as its partner for the service.

The payment gateway provider that has presence in other Southeast Asian countries, also sees Malaysia ahead its peers in embracing cashless payment.

This is due to Malaysia's strategic position with decent population and better infrastructure, in addition to the Malaysian government's encouraging policies, Chan said.

"Malaysians are more ready than its counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, also because of the Alibaba-led Digital Free Trade Zone, which is expected to drive the country's e-economy," Chan said. Enditem