MalaysianUpdates

Category: Digital Payments

  • Visa Perkukuh Ekosistem Pembayaran Pintar Melalui Program Agentic Ready di Malaysia

    Visa, peneraju global dalam pembayaran digital, hari ini melancarkan program Visa Agentic Ready di rantau Asia Pasifik termasuk Malaysia. Program global ini diperkenalkan bagi menyokong ekosistem pembayaran dalam era perdagangan berejen yang semakin berkembang pesat.

    Pada peringkat awal pelaksanaannya, Visa Agentic Ready memberi fokus kepada kesediaan pengeluar dengan menyediakan pendekatan berstruktur untuk menguji, mengesahkan dan memahami transaksi yang dimulakan oleh ejen AI dalam persekitaran terkawal bertaraf pengeluaran. Program ini membolehkan pengeluar menilai sendiri bagaimana ejen AI boleh memulakan serta melengkapkan transaksi bagi pihak pengguna, di samping menguji tahap kesiapsiagaan mereka dalam menyokong perdagangan berejen tanpa menjejaskan elemen kepercayaan, kawalan dan perlindungan yang menjadi tunjang kepada rangkaian Visa.

    Pengurus Negara Visa Malaysia, Previn Pillay berkata, ketika perdagangan semakin bergerak ke arah automasi, aspek kebolehpercayaan, keselamatan dan kawalan pengguna menjadi semakin penting. Menurut beliau, Visa Agentic Ready menawarkan pendekatan yang praktikal dan tersusun kepada pengeluar di Malaysia untuk memahami bagaimana pembayaran yang dimulakan oleh ejen boleh beroperasi dalam rangkaian Visa sebelum teknologi tersebut diperluaskan secara lebih meluas.

    Beliau turut menjelaskan bahawa Visa kini bekerjasama dengan peniaga, platform dan rakan teknologi di peringkat global bagi membolehkan penggunaan perdagangan berpacukan ejen yang dipercayai. Langkah ini bertujuan memastikan pengalaman tersebut dapat diintegrasikan secara lancar ke dalam keseluruhan ekosistem apabila teknologinya semakin matang. Menurutnya, pendekatan ini membantu memastikan inovasi berkembang secara bertanggungjawab sambil pengguna terus mempunyai kawalan terhadap bagaimana dan bila pembayaran dilakukan.

    Visa Agentic Ready dipacu oleh keupayaan teras rangkaian Visa yang menggabungkan token, identiti, pengurusan risiko dan kawalan untuk menentukan bagaimana pembayaran dimulakan ejen yang dipercayai boleh digunakan dalam pelbagai situasi. Inisiatif ini turut memanfaatkan Visa Intelligent Commerce, iaitu portfolio penyelesaian dan inisiatif Visa yang menyediakan pengalaman perdagangan berpacukan AI secara selamat dan dipercayai pada skala besar.

    Bagi merealisasikan perdagangan berejen secara meluas, Visa menekankan kepentingan kerjasama merentas ekosistem pembayaran. Sehubungan itu, beberapa rakan kerjasama daripada 10 pasaran di rantau Asia Pasifik telah menyertai program Agentic Ready termasuk Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad, CIMB Bank Berhad, Hong Leong Bank dan Maybank di Malaysia. Visa menjangkakan lebih ramai rakan kerjasama akan turut serta apabila program ini diperluaskan kepada lebih banyak peniaga dan pemain ekosistem.

    Ketua Pegawai Perbankan Pengguna Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad, Gan Pai Li berkata, persediaan untuk pembayaran yang dimulakan oleh ejen tidak boleh dilaksanakan secara bersendirian oleh institusi kewangan. Beliau berkata program seperti Visa Agentic Ready membolehkan pihak bank menguji serta memahami aliran transaksi baharu ini sebagai sebahagian daripada ekosistem pembayaran yang lebih luas dan dipercayai.

    Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif CIMB Malaysia dan CIMB Bank Berhad, Gurdip Singh Sidhu pula berkata teknologi AI kini sedang membentuk semula tingkah laku pengguna dan model perniagaan dengan pantas. Menurut beliau, Visa Agentic Ready mencerminkan visi CIMB untuk menyediakan pengalaman perbankan yang lebih intuitif dan terintegrasi dalam kehidupan harian, selain memberi peluang kepada institusi itu untuk menguji, mempelajari dan bersedia menghadapi pembayaran yang dimulakan oleh ejen AI. Beliau berkata pendekatan tersebut membolehkan CIMB menawarkan perkhidmatan berasaskan AI secara selamat dan bertanggungjawab sambil mengekalkan keyakinan serta kawalan yang diharapkan pelanggan.

    Sementara itu, Pengarah Urusan Perkhidmatan Kewangan Peribadi Hong Leong Bank, Andrew Jong berkata pembayaran yang dimulakan oleh ejen memperkenalkan dimensi baharu terhadap cara transaksi dimulakan dan ditadbir. Menurut beliau, Visa Agentic Ready memberi peluang kepada institusi kewangan untuk mengesahkan senario pembayaran baharu lebih awal, memahami implikasinya dalam situasi sebenar serta menilai bagaimana ia boleh disokong secara bertanggungjawab sebelum diterima secara lebih meluas.

    Ketua Kad, Perkhidmatan Kewangan Komuniti Kumpulan Maybank, B. Ravintharan A/L K. Balakrishnan pula berkata kebolehpercayaan kekal menjadi faktor utama dalam kemunculan kaedah pembayaran baharu. Beliau menjelaskan bahawa Visa Agentic Ready membolehkan Maybank meneroka pembayaran dimulakan ejen dalam persekitaran terkawal sekali gus membantu membina keyakinan dan menilai bagaimana model tersebut boleh diskalakan secara bertanggungjawab tanpa menjejaskan keselamatan serta kawalan pelanggan.

    Melalui persekitaran ujian bertaraf pengeluaran yang terkawal, program ini memperlihatkan bagaimana pembayaran dimulakan ejen boleh dilaksanakan dalam situasi dunia sebenar dan membantu pengeluar membina keyakinan terhadap kaedah pembayaran baharu yang semakin berkembang.

    Inisiatif ini juga menyokong peralihan lebih luas Visa ke arah perdagangan pintar yang boleh diatur cara, di mana maklumat pengesahan dan keupayaan rangkaian yang dipercayai membolehkan pembayaran dilaksanakan secara selamat dan fleksibel berdasarkan niat, konteks serta kawalan pengguna. Dalam situasi lebih banyak proses pembelian diautomasikan, pendekatan ini membantu memastikan ejen AI dapat bertindak secara lancar bagi pihak pengguna sambil memastikan kawalan utama kekal di tangan manusia.

    Visa kini bekerjasama dengan platform dan pembangun AI, peniaga serta rakan ekosistem di seluruh dunia bagi membolehkan pelaksanaan pembayaran dimulakan ejen secara selamat pada skala besar. Visa Agentic Ready membantu memastikan pengeluar bersedia untuk menyokong transaksi tersebut dengan yakin dan selamat.

    Pelancaran di Asia Pasifik ini menyusuli pelancaran program tersebut di Eropah sebelum ini dan dibangunkan berdasarkan maklum balas awal daripada rakan kerjasama global. Ketika ini, program berkenaan tersedia di Australia, Hong Kong, Jepun, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapura, Korea Selatan, Taiwan, Thailand dan Vietnam. Pihak yang berminat untuk menyertai program Visa Agentic Ready boleh menghubungi wakil akaun Visa untuk maklumat lanjut.

  • Sabah State Approves Merchantrade for Digital Wage Payment Services

    Merchantrade Asia Sdn. Bhd. has achieved a major milestone with its official recognition as an Approved Issuer of a Designated Payment Instrument (DPI) for the state of Sabah. This approval, granted under the Labour Ordinance of Sabah by the Minister of Human Resources, builds on Merchantrade’s existing authorization in Peninsular Malaysia since August 2024 and is effective from 1 December 2025. The new mandate enables employers in Sabah to utilize Merchantrade’s digital solutions, including its payroll portal and Merchantrade Money e-wallet, to manage wage payments for foreign employees in full compliance with Malaysian labour laws. Given Sabah’s vast geography of 7.4 million hectares and the reliance on cash for payroll in plantation-heavy areas, this digital solution addresses both logistical and security challenges, allowing employees to receive wages directly, access cash via VISA-enabled ATMs, and conduct everyday transactions safely. Founder and Managing Director Ramasamy K. Veeran highlighted that this authorization strengthens Merchantrade’s position as a leader in the digital wage ecosystem, providing inclusive, seamless solutions supported by a network of physical touchpoints across Sabah. Beyond payroll, the Merchantrade Money e-wallet offers a comprehensive suite of services, including remittances, mobile top-ups, micro-insurance, and QR payments, catering to the unbanked and migrant worker communities, while promoting transparency, efficiency, and financial inclusion in wage disbursement and social security contributions.

  • PayNet Introduces Updated DuitNow QR Standee Look Across Malaysia

    PayNet Introduces Updated DuitNow QR Standee Look Across Malaysia

    Payments Network Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (PayNet) has introduced a refreshed design for the DuitNow QR standee, marking a nationwide rollout aimed at improving the visibility and consistency of Malaysia’s national QR standard. The updated look ensures that DuitNow QR is now easier to spot at merchant locations, creating a more seamless and intuitive payment experience for both consumers and businesses. Importantly, this enhancement is purely visual — the functionality, security, and interoperability of DuitNow QR remain unchanged. Consumers can continue making payments as usual, while merchants can accept transactions with the same simplicity and reliability they are accustomed to.

    The visual refresh addresses longstanding inconsistencies caused by multiple standee designs previously issued by different banks and e-wallets. These variations often led to confusion at the point of sale. The newly standardized design resolves this by presenting a unified, clearer way of displaying DuitNow QR, firmly positioning it as Malaysia’s official QR payment method. The result is a cleaner, more uniform standee that reinforces consumer confidence and helps businesses present a professional, standardized payment touchpoint.

    Gary Yeoh, Chief Marketing Officer of PayNet, emphasized the importance of clarity as digital payments continue to embed themselves in Malaysians’ daily lives. “As digital payments become second nature for Malaysians, the trust and clarity of what people are scanning matters more than ever,” he said. “The refreshed DuitNow QR standee brings greater consistency and visibility across the country, ensuring consumers always know they are paying through Malaysia’s official and secure QR standard, while making it simpler for merchants to display and accept payments through just one QR code.”

    The rollout of the new standee began in October 2025, with early adopters such as RHB Bank, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, MBSB Bank, and Agrobank leading the transition among their merchant networks. A second wave—comprising CIMB Bank, Public Bank, Hong Leong Bank, AmBank, Bank Simpanan Nasional, and Bank Muamalat—will follow, with the rest of the ecosystem gradually coming on board. Merchants are encouraged to adopt the updated design as soon as their acquiring banks make it available to ensure smoother alignment across the payment landscape.

    This refreshed design underpins PayNet’s broader commitment to strengthening Malaysia’s cashless ecosystem. By making DuitNow QR more recognizable and consistent, the initiative reinforces its role as the nation’s single QR standard and supports the national agenda of driving an inclusive and progressive digital economy for all Malaysians.

  • Mastercard Leads the Move Toward Password-Free, Number-Free Payments Across Asia Pacific by 2030

    At the Singapore FinTech Festival, Mastercard unveiled its ambitious plan to make online shopping across Asia Pacific completely password-free and number-free by 2030, aiming to transform the region’s rapidly growing e-commerce landscape. Currently, over a third of Mastercard transactions worldwide are tokenized, but bringing this vision to Asia Pacific — projected to surpass USD 7 trillion in e-commerce by 2030 — will require collaboration across banks, merchants, digital wallets, and technology partners.

    Mastercard’s approach leverages secure, tokenized payments powered by biometric authentication, eliminating the need for manual card entry or static passwords. This initiative builds on its progress in India, where near-complete tokenization for e-commerce was achieved through partnerships with regulators, banks, and merchants. The next phase targets full adoption in Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam by 2027, key markets driving Southeast Asia’s digital transformation, where digital payments are expected to account for 94% of e-commerce transactions in a market worth USD 325 billion by 2028.

    The move comes amid growing challenges in online shopping. Card-not-present fraud remains seven times higher than in-store fraud, with global losses projected to exceed USD 100 billion by 2029, while eight in ten shoppers abandon their carts, nearly half citing checkout frustration. Mastercard’s solution replaces passwords and card numbers with secure tokens and on-device biometrics, streamlining payments through Click to Pay and enhancing trust across devices and platforms.

    Where tokenization is already implemented, approval rates have increased by up to 6%, generating over USD 2 billion in additional monthly sales for merchants. The benefits are clear: faster and more reliable checkouts, stronger security, higher customer satisfaction, and seamless digital wallet integration for consumers across more than 150 million Mastercard-accepted merchants worldwide. “The vision is simple: no passwords, no manual card entry, no friction,” said Sandeep Malhotra, Executive Vice President, Core Payments, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. “By uniting the industry, Mastercard is accelerating adoption of tokenization and payment passkeys to create a single, secure experience for password-free payments. Approval rates are rising, fraud is falling, and millions of shoppers are enjoying faster, safer checkouts.”

    Looking ahead, Mastercard sees this shift as part of the next paradigm in intelligent commerce, moving from cash to digital, and now to AI-driven, connected, and agentic commerce, where trusted digital assistants can shop and pay securely on behalf of consumers. Tokenization and passkeys serve as the foundation for a smarter, safer, and more seamless future, unlocking new possibilities for both businesses and consumers. The regional roadmap builds on Mastercard’s successful launch of its Payment Passkey Service in India, where device-based biometric checkout improved security and simplicity, setting the stage for its 2030 vision across Asia Pacific.

    This initiative underscores Mastercard’s commitment to shaping the future of frictionless, secure, and intelligent commerce across one of the world’s fastest-growing digital markets.