50 Seremban market traders go cashless

‍KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11, 2020 - Cashless payments are now available at the Seremban market, as Touch ‘n Go eWallet began rolling out its services to local traders.

Seremban MP Anthony Loke said Touch 'n Go has managed to register 50 market traders in the past one week and hopes more will follow suit.

“This is quite a good response as it is not easy to convince small traders to register with the eWallet system because they still have certain concerns as some are worried that the government will use this a tracking system to tax them.

“We want to assure them that the agenda is not to tax them, but instead we want them to adopt the cashless trend as moving forward with a current trend. Because like it or not, you have to accept it sooner or later,” Loke told reporters at the Seremban market this morning.

Malay Mail managed to obtain a recording of the press conference at the Seremban market earlier.

Loke who is also transport minister said the market is the best way to ease Seremban traders and residents alike into going cashless.

“This the best way to start encouraging market traders to use this system because the Seremban market is quite crowded, especially during the weekend.

“Adopting the cashless system, it will ease traders and reduce waiting time. Many of them don't have enough workers, so this system will help the traders as well,” he said, indicating that this too will help the public understand that the cashless system is not only meant for big companies.

Touch ‘n Go eWallet is one of the partners in the government’s “eTunai Rakyat” initiative to allocate RM30 each for eligible Malaysian starting January 15.

Prior to the Seremban market, Touch 'n Go has also introduced the cashless system in Penang among hawkers and market traders last week.

The government has appointed three partners, apart from Touch 'n Go eWallet, the public can register for an eWallet account with Boost and GrabPay.

“The cashless system is for everyone, and you can see many examples in China, Japan and Korea.

“I was recently in China, everyone uses the cashless system to pay for their food and public transport. So much so that when you use cash, they will know that you are not local,” he added.

He also said that Malaysians generally are not used to it yet, but is confident that over the next two years, the government is able to make cashless payment a mainstream payment method.

“It is a good lifestyle to adopt because you don't have to worry about bringing cash around anymore and worried that you will lose them, or don't have enough to pay for something.

“I have experienced that myself. With this system you don't have to worry, you can easily install it on your phone,” he said.

Malaysians who are 18-years-old and above and earning less than RM100,000 a year are eligible to receive RM30 worth of E-Tunai in digital wallets or eWallet from January 15 to March 14.

Under Budget 2020, the government has allocated RM450 million for the E-Tunai incentive programme that will benefit 15 million Malaysians.