Over three in four Malaysians have attempted to go cashless and almost all are now familiar with contactless payment systems, a Visa Inc. study found

Millennials and Gen Z are driving the change, it said – as have the rise of contactless payments amid the pandemic and the fear of carrying cash 

Seven out of 10 Malaysian consumers are now actively using contactless card payments, according to global card issuer Visa Inc.
More than 90 per cent of Malaysians are familiar with contactless payment systems, the recently released Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes 2022 study found, with almost 70 per cent of them using such systems – an increase from 56 per cent recorded in the previous year.

Contactless payments were most common in Malaysia’s supermarkets, at 53 per cent, following by retail stores (46 per cent) and restaurants (44 per cent), the study said.

Visa’s Malaysia country manager Ng Kong Boon said the Southeast Asian nation has become one of the most developed contactless payments markets in the Asia-Pacific, with eight in 10 Visa transactions being contactless.

“Compared with 2019, only three in 10 Visa transaction made were contactless payments – contactless payments have grown significantly over the past few years, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he told the Bernama news agency.

The study, which surveyed 1,000 Malaysians aged 18 to 65, was part of a regional research project that polled 6,550 consumers across seven Southeast Asian markets – Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

About 92 per cent of Malaysian respondents indicated that they had used credit or debit card payments. In addition, more than three in four said they had attempted to go cashless, with 67 per cent having tried to go cashless for at least a few days.

“Close to 50 per cent of Malaysian consumers said they are<

Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes report

• “The top reasons included using more contactless card or mobile payments, more places adopting cashless payments, and fear of carrying cash as it may get lost or stolen.”
• "The use of cashless payments has increased over the years via contactless cards, QR-code payments, online shopping and in-app payments."
• “Attempts to go cashless are relatively high in Malaysia, driven by younger consumers such as Gen Z and Gen Y [Millennials],” the report added.
• “Malaysia is expected to be a cashless society by 2030, meaning the majority of consumers will be using cashless methods and no longer relying on cash for their daily transactions.”

This article was first published by The Star, South China Morning Post https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3226585/malaysia-be-cashless-society-2030-use-contactless-cards-qr-codes-grows