KUALA LUMPUR (March 8): Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) became the first bank in Malaysia to enroll Visa cardholders for the Visa Checkout scheme, which simplifies online purchases.

By using Visa Checkout, users are required to enter a username and log in to pay instead of the usual 16-digit credit card number and expiry date at every transaction.

Maybank Group head of cards and wealth B. Ravintharan said the collaboration with Visa would not only deliver a better experience for consumers, but would also help merchants increase the number of successful online transactions.

"Maybank continues to showcase several first-in-market products and solutions in Malaysia in partnership with Visa. Visa Checkout allows our card members to shop online with just a simple two-click process during checkout.

"Not only are we the first issuer to partner with Visa in Malaysia, we are also the first acquirer to introduce Visa Checkout to our merchant customers," Ravintharan said at the launching ceremony here today.

Visa country manager for Malaysia Ng Kong Boon said technology had become a significant part of Malaysians' everyday lifestyle.

Ng said this included online shopping via mobile devices. As such, Visa Checkout was designed to improve digital shopping experience by reducing the steps required to complete an online purchase while ensuring payment process security.

"We have partnered with several key merchants in Malaysia as part of our launch and we're confident consumers will embrace Visa Checkout across all their devices," he said.

At Bursa Malaysia, Maybank shares fell five sen or 0.6% to RM8.78 at 3.50pm for a market value of RM85.69 billion. The stock saw some seven million shares traded.