ABOUT 15 million Malaysians are set to receive the RM30 e-wallet incentive from tomorrow, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

The initiative, under the e-tunai rakyat scheme, is led by sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd and features three e-wallet operators – Grab, Boost and Touch ’n Go e-wallet.

“Starting tomorrow, each Malaysian aged 18 years old and above earning less than RM100,000 annually will be eligible to receive the RM30 through one of the e-wallet operators, namely Grab, Boost and Touch ’n Go e-wallet,” he said at a press conference today.

The government has allocated RM450 million for the initiative announced under Budget 2020.

The one-off RM30 payment is part of Putrajaya’s move to encourage the use of cashless payments in Malaysia.

While the government will allocate RM30, the e-wallet operators will add an incentive.

“This means eligible Malaysians will receive more than RM30 free money,” Lim said.

The amount has to be spent before March 14.

Applications are open from 8am tomorrow and end on March 9.

Eligible applicants can choose one of the three platforms and upon successful application, spend the “government-funded shopping” money on goods and services available on any e-wallet platform.

It will take up to five days to process the application and credit the amount into an applicant’s wallet.

The two-month window will also allow merchants who have not signed up to register.

Lim said besides fulfilling Pakatan Harapan’s promises, the initiative also serves as Putrajaya’s commitment to meet the Shared Prosperity 2030 agenda by reducing barriers to digitalisation and improving financial inclusivity in the country.

Meanwhile, Khazanah Nasional deputy managing director Tengku Azmil Zahruddin Raja Abdul Aziz said the vetting includes checking with the National Registration Department and Inland Revenue Board as well as to determine whether an applicant has signed up on another platform.

Boost, which is owned by Axiata Bhd, currently has about 125,000 merchants while Touch ’n Go e-wallet has more than 110,000 merchants. – January 14, 2020.