Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the prime minister of Malaysia, has helped with introducing several different economic stimulus plans.
The nation’s government aims to help local residents and businesses that may be struggling to cope with the COVID-19 outbreak and resulting socio-economic problems.
Malaysia’s recovery plan, called “PEJANA,” includes 40 different initiatives valued at RM 35 billion (appr. $8.25 billion). As part of the plan, the country’s government says it will be allocating RM 750 million ($176 million+) of the total towards promoting the adoption of digital wallets by local consumers.
RM 50 will reportedly be credited into the electronic wallet accounts of around 15 million residents. The RM 50 will also be matched with cashbacks, various discount schemes, and vouchers from digital wallet providers that take part in the program.
Citizens who are at least 18 years old and are earning less than RM 100,000 (appr. $23,500) per year will be eligible for the scheme. The program will be officially introduced next month.
Earlier this year, a somewhat similar project, e-Tunai, was established by the country’s previous government. A total of RM 450 million was set aside to give to eligible locals as a one-time RM 30 credit (per user), which was deposited directly into consumers’ digital wallets.
Local Fintechs Boost, GrabPay, and TNG Digital reportedly took part in the e-Tunai program.
As first reported by Fintech News Malaysia, both administrations allocated a total of RM 1.2 billion to promote the adoption of electronic wallets in the country.
A recent report reveals that many Malaysians are quite comfortable with using mobile wallets.
Although the country’s economy has been growing rapidly, it still has a large number of underbanked residents.
In May 2020, Malaysian Telecom firm Packet One said it would help the nation’s financially underserved, after acquiring a digital bank license.