CYBERJAYA: Cyberjaya aims to be the first cashless city in the future with the launch of Malaysia’s first community-built e-wallet TaPay (Take Action Pay) yesterday, said Treasury Ministry secretary-general, Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.
He said for a start, a pilot project would be conducted with selected shops like restaurants and retailers here within a month, before the online payment platform moving to the Klang Valley, nationwide and Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Mohd Irwan said TaPay, built with the community in mind, was currently being refined and strengthened via direct engagement and sourcing of inputs from the 100,000 strong Cyberjaya collective of businesses, residents, education institutions and students on an ongoing basis.
“I hope this initiative will roll out soon and many more retailers and restaurants will participate in Cyberjaya. By 2020, we hope to reduce dependence on cash transactions to 63 per cent of total transactions and increase the number of e-payment transactions per capita to 200 transactions.
“This is the mindset change the government seeks in the people and businesses in order to remain relevant among the fast-moving nations, and on par with the Chinese mobile wallet, Alipay, which will be another payment option in our country by next year,” he told reporters after launching TaPay, a collaboration among Fullrich Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Cyberview Sdn Bhd and Affin Bank Group here yesterday.
Mohd Irwan, who is also the Cyberview chairman, said this cashless society’s aim was in line with Malaysia’s aspiration to further boost its digital economy initiatives, which would be the new source of growth for its gross domestic product.
“We choose Cyberjaya for the pilot project because this city is equipped with infrastructure and features within the city in line with its smart city roadmap. Through this, we will reduce the physical transaction element to payment (of credit and debit card) so that it will become easier for the users. It is also important that these transactions are safe for all Malaysians.
“We must teach and convince people to migrate from cash and be familiar using e-wallet. At the same time, Malaysia must remain competitive, speed and efficient in its eco-system. Therefore, I called on more banks like CIMB, Maybank and RHB to collaborate with Fullrich on this cashless initiative,” he said. — Bernama