No abuse, reiterates Guan Eng as concerns persist over e-Tunai data

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has reiterated that the data collected from the e-Tunai Rakyat scheme will not be abused as the government is not involved in businesses.

"We will ensure that the information is private and under the control of the government," he said.

Even if there are any benefits to the collection of data, he added, it would be on the consumption trends of the people.

Yesterday, the finance minister acknowledged concerns that certain quarters would mine the data.

"For commercial organisations, some of them will be interested in consumption patterns and use the information. However, the government is not running a business so we won't allow (businesses access)," he had said.

Meanwhile, Lim told reporters in Putrajaya that as of last night, RM18.8 million has been spent under the scheme.

"As of 10pm, 784,000 people had applied, with 672,000 people approved and RM18.8 million spent. So the reaction has been encouraging," he added.

The e-Tunai scheme, managed by sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, is a government incentive providing RM30 for new e-wallet sign-ups.

The scheme involves three digital payment companies - Axiata Digital Sdn Bhd (which operates the Boost application), Touch 'n Go Sdn Bhd (Touch 'n Go) and Grab Holdings Ltd (GrabPay).

Asked about concerns that with only three vendors in the scheme, it might lead to an oligopoly, Lim said the government only makes policy decisions while the details are handled by Khazanah.

"We make the policy decision and we have asked Khazanah to be the implementing agency, so we let Khazanah decide on all other details.

"If you want further details, explanations, you can ask Khazanah," he added.

However, Lim explained that the government wanted this digital payment outreach to be able to enlarge the existing base.

So for this e-Tunai Rakyat scheme to succeed, it must be able to reach a sufficient number of subscribers and merchants who are signing up.

"That was the decision made by Khazanah, so based on that evaluation, I think they made these selections," he explained.

-Mkini