THE usage of e-wallet increased by 131% to over 600 million transactions in 2020 compared to the previous year, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi said.

He said according to the recent PayNet 2022 report, the percentage of Malaysians who used cash payments dropped 11% to 78% from 89% prior to the epidemic.

“Statistics show that there is gradual adoption of the cashless payment method,” he said at the launch of the Retail Sector Digitalisation Initiative Programme, at the Dorsett Grand Hotel in Labuan today.

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% to the country’s GDP by 2025.

“According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, income from e-commerce transactions rose 30% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021 to RM254.6 billion,” he said.

He said the digitalisation programme was launched with the aim of ensuring small traders are not left behind. – Bernama, April 18, 2022.