KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 20): Convenience store chain operator 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd (KL:SEM), in which Berjaya Group founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun owns a 28.07% stake, said on Monday it is setting up 100 original cash recycling machines (CRMs) at its outlets across Malaysia.
The CRMs — offering cheque deposit machine (CDM) and automated teller machine (ATM) services — are deployed by Reachful Malaysia Sdn Bhd (formerly known as Abadi Tambah Mulia Internasional Malaysia Sdn Bhd).
Reachful is a joint-venture company of Japan-based Seven Bank Ltd (50.1%), 7-Eleven Malaysia's unit 7-Eleven Services Sdn Bhd (24.9%), HQZ Credit Sdn Bhd (20%) and SMRT Holdings Bhd (KL:SMRT) (5%).
HQZ Credit is 99.99%-owned by Tan, according to company search data last registered on Sept 25, 2024 and generated on Monday.
The venture, which marks Seven Bank’s entry into Malaysia’s CRM market, comes at a time when the country is seeing a gradual rise in cashless payments, from contactless payments to e-wallet and QR code transactions.
Despite that, about 48% of Malaysians still use cash daily, with usage reaching two-thirds in non-urban areas, said 7-Eleven Malaysia co-chief executive officer cum executive director Tan U-Ming at the launch here, citing a recent study by Ipsos Malaysia.
Reachful has already installed the first of 100 CRMs in Rawang, Selangor, while the coming installation will be made in stages in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak by 2026.
The CRM installation will be focusing on suburban areas and aims to offer CRM services to residents who have less banking accessibility, Reachful said.
“Malaysia shows a significant growth in population and GDP (gross domestic product). In the cashless society, currency in circulation is at a high level too. We found the market very promising to expand our business," Reachful CEO Jin Sudo said at the launch.
Malaysia currently has one non-bank ATM operator, namely the Malaysian Electronic Payment System (MEPS), operated by Nasdaq-listed Euronet Worldwide Inc after it acquired 800 MEPS ATMs from Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) in May last year.
Similar to MEPS ATMs, Reachful will also be charging a RM1 fee for each interbank cash withdrawal for its CRM services.
Malaysia is the fourth market outside Japan for Seven Bank's ATM installations. Other markets include the US, Indonesia and the Philippines, with more than 21,000 ATM installations as of 2024.
Seven Bank president Masaaki Matsuhashi said the company's main goal is to provide a convenient alternative to consumers, especially 7-Eleven Malaysia customers.
“7-Eleven will make it a one-stop [store] for everyone. For example, like buying a coffee [at 7-Eleven], you can also go there and then withdraw your money — in just one stop,” Matsuhashi said at the press conference after the launch.
Reachful also plans to provide a uniquely added value by combining retail and financial services in the future following the CRM launch.
“Currently, we are doing the CRM and the ATM, but it depends on the future chances that we will get. We will maybe have a collaboration and do banking too,” Matsuhashi said.
“We are also considering having the facilities to the nearest supermarket and maybe petrol station in the future,” he added.
Shares of 7-Eleven Malaysia closed unchanged at RM2, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.34 billion.
SMRT shares settled unchanged at RM1.16, giving it a market capitalisation of RM537.19 million. The counter is down 10% this year.