Percentage of Malaysians using cash payment down 78pct – PayNet

 

Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) revealed the percentage of Malaysians that use cash to pay has fallen 11 percentage points to 78 percent from 89 percent before the pandemic.

Based on the ‘PayNet Digital Payments Insights Study 2022’ findings released today, Malaysians continue to predominantly use cash for payments, and reliance on cash has dropped, similar to findings in other countries.

“However, fewer Malaysians use cash when it comes to daily payments (48.4 percent) and less so in urban areas (36.2 percent), likely contributed by the rise of QR payments, established trust in debit cards, as well as due to fears of becoming infected by handling cash,” it said in a statement today.

PayNet said businesses, except those in the East Coast and Southern regions, experienced changes in customer payment behaviour since the pandemic with cash no longer being the primary payment method while the Northern region showed the most pronounced change.

The report also highlights the digital transformation priorities of SMEs and the barriers faced in adopting digital payments and lists four key drivers for sustained digital payments adoption.

The study presents findings from a field study conducted in the fourth quarter of 2021 (Q4 2021) to gain a deeper understanding of the payment preferences of the public and businesses, with a particular focus on the relevance of cash and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) adoption of digital payments.

“This is our inaugural study and we plan to undertake future studies to better understand the payment behaviour of the rakyat, their attitudes towards digital payment methods and the factors driving change in payment preference, to ensure PayNet and its ecosystem maintain a secure, reliable, efficient and inclusive central payment infrastructure for Malaysia,” said PayNet Group chief executive officer Peter Schiesser.

For more information on the report, visit https://paynet.my/publications/Digital-Payments-Insights-Study-2022.pdf.

- Bernama