E-payments likely to increase 4-fold by 2019

The number of e-payment transactions per capita is expected to increase
by almost fourfold to 200 transactions by end of this decade, from 44
transactions in 2010.

This is part of efforts recommended in
the new Financial Sector Blueprint to reduce industry costs and
inefficiencies associated with manual paper-based payments.

According
to Bank Negara Malaysia, switching fully from paper-based payments to
e-payments will help a country gain about one per cent of its gross
domestic product (GDP) annually from cost-savings. This would enhance
the country's competitiveness.

During the 10-year period,
Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corp Sdn Bhd (MyClear), a unit of Bank
Negara, will take a leading role in elevating the migration to
e-payments to the next level.





During the period, the industry is expected to introduce Electronic
Bills Payment Portal. It will allows consumers and billers to have one
portal to pay all their bills from various channels, as well as to
leverage on Near Field Communication technology to offer convenient
mobile payment services.

The Blueprint also recommends the
widening of the payment card infrastructure with the aim of increasing
the use of debit cards from 0.6 transactions per capita in 2010 to 30
transactions per capita by 2020.