AXIATA SEES CONSOLIDATION AMONG E-WALLET PLAYERS
Many may not have capacity to sustain business on lack of funding, user acceptance
AXIATA Digital Services, the owner of homegrown e-wallet Boost, expects the e-wallet market to consolidate to between three and five main players in the next two to three years.
Axiata Digital chief executive officer Mohd Khairil Abdullah said there would possibly be other niche e-wallets that focused on specific segments.
“Many e-wallet players may not have the capacity to sustain the business either financially or in terms of gaining user acceptance fast enough to remain relevant.
“Interoperability will also be key and Boost is supportive of it through our partnerships with an ever-growing list of local and international brands.”
Khairil said there would likely be more providers launching their services this year.
“We think this is good for the cashless ecosystem as they will help to drive usage and educate users on the convenience, security and benefits of using an e-wallet.”
To date, Bank Negara Malaysia has issued more than 40 e-money licences.
Khairil said last year, Boost grew its user-base by nearly six times. Today it is the leading ewallet in Malaysia with more than 3.5 million registered users.
“Our users can use their e-wallets at more than 60,000 merchant touchpoints, online and offline, throughout Malaysia, covering a wide range of brands. “This shows Malaysians are ready to go cashless and it could be down to several reasons.
“For consumers, it may be the cashback rewards, the convenience or the security of using an e-wallet. For the merchants, e-wallets can be an effective marketing asset. It builds customer loyalty and is a powerful tool for fraud management,” he said.
Khairil said it was clear that customers were looking for more lifestyle features from their e-wallet and this was not limited to the younger digital natives.
“Apart from QR-based payment, we see a growing number of customers wanting to use Boost for a number of other day-to-day transactions like shopping at e-commerce sites, bill payment, taking public transport and paying for public on-street parking.
Earlier, iPay88 Holdings Sdn Bhd executive director Chan Kok Long said he expected the same trend to take place in the near future.