MALAYSIAN CONSUMERS: PREFER CASH OVER CASHLESS PAYMENT

Malaysian consumers are among the least confident people in the world with shopping online. 6 out of 10 Malaysians prefer using cash in daily spending method rather than using a card.

Malaysia - one of the countries in Southeast Asia that prefer using cash over cashless payment. According to Nielsen’s Global Saving and Investment Strategies in 2015, there were 60% people in Malaysia who prefer cash payment while doing the transaction. The percentage is even higher in other countries such as Philippines (74%), Thailand (68%) and Vietnam (61%). Cash paying customers is a large percentage of the market but most online businesses are not fully aware of this sizeable potential market.

Basically, the dependence on cash is linked to lower GDP growth in developing economies. Increasing the reliance on other payment methods such as contactless payment, which is particularly important in countries in Southeast Asia.

Also Read: 4 Malaysia Online Payment Methods for Consumers and Merchants

Nowadays, people love online shopping because it is easy thus, it cuts off time to travel and cost. Consumers can shop just about anything on the internet these days, but there seems to have not enough payment options to fulfil the consumer’s various needs and preference of payment methods at their convenience.

Concerns of Cyber-security in Cashless payments

Even with many payment options that exist today, when it comes to cyber-safety concerns, more than half Malaysian respondents will avoid themselves from shopping online. They are either hesitant or afraid of using payment cards details to do online shopping through smartphone or other devices even though their information are protected.

Here are some Best tips to choose right payment gateway for your transactions
In order to reduce the reliance on cash, other agents also need to involve and take actions. Payment providers or other parties could educate or teach consumers about the real costs of using cash thus the safety and advantages of using other payment options.

With PCI-DSS standard compliant, every payment transaction is protected by the systems. Malaysian people should not have to worry more about the fraud or security breaches as long as the systems is updated regularly. 

Riding the Cashless Wave

As many payment options exist nowadays worldwide, Malaysia is still very much dependent on cash. There are still numbers of people in Malaysia who are not quite ready to move to cashless payment and doing online shopping. Going cashless is relatively safe, convenience thus every cent that you used can be tracked.

Expanding the number of payment options within your business will always be a good idea. Whoever your clients are, it is important especially when you also target the majority 60% of Malaysian people who prefer using cash in daily spending.

Also Read: Why Airline Companies in Malaysia must Collaborate with a Payment Processor?

It is really nice to have many options in making the payment but majority of the payment technologies will follow the same standard protocols. With some investments, instead of focusing on one method of payment, merchants will be able to accept many payment types no matter how they are branded individually.

| About the Guest Author:

Nabihah Jasri is an intern researcher for a marketing department in a fintech company.

ADS HERE !!!