As a homegrown tech enabler and proponent of the digital economy, we are honoured that our e-wallet, GrabPay, will be a part of the government’s ePENJANA initiative, which begins on July 31, 2020. This initiative will see the government channeling RM750 million into the hands of an estimated 15 million e-wallet users to help local businesses recover by encouraging them to shop for their wants and essentials.

Since the movement control, Grab has advocated safe, convenient, and contactless payment by enabling Malaysians to still have access to their daily necessities such as food, deliveries and groceries from the comforts of their home. This has also enabled Grab to help smaller businesses thrive. In fact, we noted more than 60% growth of GrabPay users within the first few weeks of the movement control. In addition, since the initial cashless initiative mooted by the government, 70% of the RM30 claimants spent the money at our GrabPay merchants, with almost 50% of users, who are still active users in our ecosystem.

This is also inline with the 2020 Visa Study, whereby 69% of Malaysians have expressed inclination to stick to cashless  payment methods since the pandemic. Therefore, as the economy re-opens, we want to give Malaysians a safer payment method that offers more value when they shop cashless for their household essentials such as groceries, pharmacies, food, electronics and hardware across the nation. We are confident that GrabPay can be that Malaysian’s preferred choice of payment.

Corresponding to the RM50 contribution from the government, Grab will be topping up an additional RM50 worth of vouchers which can be used for any Grab services or at any of Malaysia’s favourite restaurants or shops nationwide. In addition to this, claimants can also earn GrabRewards points which can be used as savings for any online or offline transaction. For more information about the promo, click here.

As we are now in the recovery phase with more businesses opening their doors, and Malaysians venturing out, it is timely to help them adapt and continue thriving in the new normal. Therefore, we hope that users will see this initiative beyond just a seasonal effort by both government and private sector to stimulate the economy, but in the long term, cultivate a stronger adoption of digital payments that will benefit businesses who have been impacted by the pandemic.

We want to also encourage our users to embrace a fully digital lifestyle such as to use the MySejahtera app to help ease tracing their movement in this new normal.

As with any form of payment method, safety and security is  important hence Malaysians need to educate themselves on protecting their e-wallets. Therefore, we are committed to partnering with the Government and like-minded partners to build an educated and resilient Malaysia powered by a digital economy. In doing so, we want to continue to nurture inclusive financial literacy amongst Malaysians and ultimately bridge the financial gap.

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