Cashless Facility To Extend To Small Business Owners

**Admin** Thu Apr 21, 2011 11:55 am

KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 (Bernama) -- Bolstered by improvements
in innovation via technology, Malaysians are poised to become a cashless
society with the changing payment landscape.

A source familiar with the cashless initiative said cashless payments
could be extended to even small transactions involving a few ringgit.

"This would revolutionise the payment landscape in the country and widen
the net for the society to embrace such transactions," said the source
whose company supplies portable transaction terminals to facilitate
cashless payments.

The cashless facility for small businesses initiative was among the
selected projects under the New Wealth Creation and Ecosystem
Initiatives, Malaysia
2021 and Beyond, launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
Tuesday.

The projects are launched via the Special Innovation Unit (UNIK) which comes under the purview of the Prime Minister's Office.

UNIK is envisioning a cashless society in the future by promoting
e-payment which offers convenience and payment flexibility to consumers.

Under the initiative, UNIK will be leveraging on a strategic tie up with
Permodalan Sejahtera Sdn Bhd to offer small businesses the opportunity
to carry out small cashless transactions from a few ringgit to a few
hundred ringgit.

"These transactions will be handled via portable micro devices which
will run on the Malaysia Domestic Exchange Framework that will link
these portable terminals directly to the banks," the source said.

He said the terminals would be able to handle credit and debit cards as well as providing mobile reloads.

Currently, established companies already have a system in place to accept credit and debit cards.

However, most often there is a minimum amount of RM50 imposed by the
companies before cards can be used due to the charges and cost incurred
by the vendors to operate the system.

"Small businesses and private enterprises such as taxi drivers, small
independent family-owned businesses and eateries are encouraged to
provide this new cashless-based facility to their customers, hence
improving on efficiency and generating increase in income," the source
said. -- BERNAMA