This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 28, 2024 - November 3, 2024
With their mobile-first design and architecture, digital wallets — known for secure fund storage, easy purchasing and expense tracking — are user-friendly and offer multiple services within a single app on mobile phones. But they have yet to make their mark across all of Asia.
China stands out as a global leader in digital wallet adoption, led by platforms such as AliPay and WeChatPay, but credit cards reign supreme in South Korea and Japan. Meanwhile, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Vietnam are poised to lead the growth of digital wallets by 2026. Notably, Malaysia and Thailand boast a considerable percentage of “account to account” transfers.
“Traditional payment methods, such as cash and credit cards, continue to dominate the market. Considering these factors, entering the financial technology (fintech) space is already challenging due to the number of e-wallet providers offering competitive features, rewards and promotions in the financial ecosystem,” says Ascend Group country managing director Jessie Chong. Fintech firm TrueMoney operates within the Ascend Group, formed through a partnership between The Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group) and Ant Financial, with its headquarters in Thailand. The company is dedicated to establishing a platform that provides financial access to all.
Despite the competitive landscape, it is important to explore methods that facilitate cross-border transactions and remittance, striving to enhance accessibility for users from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, particularly those with limited financial means, Chong emphasises.
According to Juniper Research’s Digital Wallets Platform Analysis, Key Trends & Market Forecast 2023-2028 research paper in 2023, numerous digital wallets operated independently of traditional bank accounts and hold particular appeal for the unbanked and underbanked demographics.
These populations gravitate towards digital wallets, which can act as a gateway to broader financial services. It is estimated that more than 60% of the global population will use digital wallets by 2026, according to the report.
“What we do [with TrueMoney] for Malaysians is we offer better service and also better rates for remittance for financial inclusion through the Lotus’s shopper space,” says Chong.
A considerable number of foreign workers are acquainted with TrueMoney’s operations, particularly in cross-border transactions.
“Many migrant workers come here to earn a living, and they send their money back to their home countries where TrueMoney already has an established presence, before Malaysia. This is where we believe we foster financial inclusion through remittance while offering the best rates.”
Through the presence of Lotus’s Malaysia, it was easier to penetrate the Malaysian consumer market, she says. TrueMoney Malaysia has established a robust network of 22,000 merchants and 35,000 payment points nationwide. Among the merchants are MyNews, CU Mart, TeaLive, Miniso, small grocers and mom and pop stores.
Countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have forged cross-border payment connections. Since 1Q2023, India has gradually introduced UPI and RuPay, fostering relationships with numerous countries. This development has contributed to the increasing complexity and volume in the payments landscape, as reported by news sources.
TrueMoney was established in 2018 and slowly expanded to Southeast Asian countries including Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. Malaysia was the seventh country it entered.
“In Malaysia, our presence is through CP Group and Lotus’s Malaysia. We have already built our ecosystem. CP Group has been in all these countries for probably 20 to 30 years and have been involved in farm and animal feed and consumer goods, and focuses on raw materials as well,” says Chong.
In a bid to enhance the user experience, the company has integrated artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into its application. “We are adopting AI and ML to do fraud detection and for our customer insights so that we can offer more personalised offers to our users. In some countries, we are using AI for chatbots for customer service,” she says.
According to an industry-wide survey conducted last December by US fintech and payments strategy consulting firm Edgar, Dunn and Co, the adoption of AI and ML in payments is on the rise. A staggering 94% of respondents say AI and ML are increasingly used to improve fraud detection, followed by personalised customer service and chatbot and virtual assistants.
AI-powered fraud prevention solutions in the payment industry will save businesses more than US$81 billion by 2027, highlighting the effectiveness of AI in combating fraudulent activities, highlighted a 2022 Juniper Research study titled “AI in Financial Fraud Detection”.
“I believe we must adopt technologies at the right time to ensure a seamless user experience. That’s why we’re implementing these technologies in our application, prioritising both user convenience and safety,” says Chong.
TrueMoney not only functions as an e-wallet platform but also facilitates prepaid and game credit top-ups, utility and phone bill payments, and assists users with various day-to-day transactions and expenses.
In January, the company enabled payment with DuitNow QR. TrueMoney Malaysia e-wallet users can now make transactions seamlessly anywhere, from small stalls to retail shops that support the national QR standard.
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