Contactless is now the preferred way to pay for Malaysian Visa cardholders
12/14/2020
eCommerce is on the rise as consumers adapt to shopping from home
Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, today announced Malaysiahas achieved a new milestone with contactless payments representing more than50 percent of all Visa face-to-face transactions1. This islargely driven by usage in key categories such as food and groceries, quickservice restaurants, department stores and drug stores in the country.
NgKong Boon, Visa's Country Manager for Visa Malaysia, said, "The COVID-19 pandemic has fuelledthe adoption of digital payments in Malaysia, especially contactless paymentsand eCommerce. In the past couple of years, we have seen strong growth incontactless payments due to the expansion of contactless acceptance across thecountry. Consumer behaviours are also changing with a growing preference fordigital purchases. We believe small businesses and merchants should focus onenabling digital payments acceptance and establish a digital presence to adaptin this changing environment.”
“By adopting digital payments, merchants can cater to their consumers'needs whilst growing their digital footprint, locally and cross-border. Withinitiatives such as the government's Buy Malaysian Products and the WhereYou Shop Matters campaign by Visa, business owners can leverage theseplatforms and resources to expand their online presence and reach their targetmarkets," he added.
Overall eCommerce spend has grown in strength at double-digityear-on-year growth.2 The eCommerce category that showed thehighest growth for transactions between January and June this year was food &groceries, which increased triple-digit year-on-year. Retail goods had alsogrown significantly, almost three-fold based in comparison to a year ago.
In addition, Visa’s data showed that one in five active Visa cardholderswho did not shop online last year made their first online purchase during thefirst half of 2020. One third of new to eCommerce cardholders spent online foressential services, which includes food & groceries, pharmaceutical andhealth products and utilities. One in five new to eCommerce Visa cardholdersalso spent on online for purchases relating to business categories andprofessional services.
"We have witnessed a dramatic shift as more people adopt a more digitallifestyle,” added Kong Boon. “This means that opportunities for onlinebusinesses are also growing. We launched the Where You Shop Matters initiative afew months ago to encourage SMEs to embrace and embark on their digitaltransformation journey, including taking their businesses online. We believethis is critical to help them adapt, grow and thrive in this new normal and helpssupport the nation’s digital transformation plans as well as Bank NegaraMalaysia's cashless agenda,” he said.
Many Malaysians believe that this is a critical time for retailers andbusiness owners to accept digital payments in order to adapt to today's consumerbehaviour. Based on the findings3, 82 percent of consumers agreed that it is vital for retailers to accept digitalpayments, while 83 per cent see the importance of having an online presence.
1 VisaNet data as of June 2020
2 VisaNet data as of June 2020
3 YouGovStudy commissioned by Visa in July 2020 on 1,092 Malaysians aged 18-55 years ofage
About Visa Inc.
VISA INC. (NYSE: V) is the world'sleader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through themost innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals,businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network,VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capableof handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company'srelentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digitalcommerce on any device for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analogto digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale toreshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit www.visa.com.my.