iPay88 Holding Sdn Bhd, an NTT Data company and Malaysian-based provider of online payment solutions in ASEAN, announced its latest offering known as the ‘Virtual Account’ – a payment solution that is targeted at the country’s ‘underbanked’ communities.

Malaysia has a total population of 31.3 million as of 2017, with about 22.6 million being adult population. 

However according to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), 8 per cent of this adult population were still ‘underbanked’, meaning they do not own a bank account or credit card and need to go outside of thebanking system to meet their financial needs.

Its executive director, Chan Kok Long says that this ‘underbanked’ community makes up the gap in the nation’s aspirations towards a ‘Cashless Society’.

“We cannot talk about achieving a ‘Cashless Society’ when there are still pockets of people who do not even have banking accounts, what more online banking or credit cards to enable online purchases.

“iPay88 does not want to leave any stone unturned, so we have developed the Virtual Account as a solution that still allows the ‘underbanked’ to participate in online procurement of products and services; no one should be left out in digital economy,” he said. 

Virtual Account is a simplified online payment application that enables people who do not possess any bank saving account, online banking access or credit card, to still buy online.

iPay88’s Virtual Account solution takes care of everything else – from the backend banking- payment transaction validation, confirmation of the merchant’s bank and ATM receiving the cash deposit from the customer.

Chan further explains that Virtual Account Solution is equipped with proven fraud prevention system and monitoring that safeguard all transactions. Shoppers, he added, can use it without fear of fraud. 

 “With the Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) initiative, the Malaysian Government is supporting the adoption of all things digital, transforming the nation digitally. 

“The iPay88’s Virtual Account solution ensures that this community of people in Malaysia do not miss out on the opportunities of digitization,” added Chan. 

The World Bank has also recognized Malaysia’s achievement in financial inclusion as one of the highest levels in Southeast Asia and should be a role model to other countries.

“This is why in our CSR effort, we tried to leverage our technology and resources to reach out to the needs of the ‘underbanked’ demographic who can now also participate in the digital economy.

“This may also include overlooked communities who have restricted means to banking facilities such as the foreign workers, refugees or asylum seekers. It is a very exciting opportunity and we can also make a huge impact on the lives of many people,” he concluded. 

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