Payment methods in Malaysia

Home to 32 million people and 137 languages, Malaysia’s GDP has grown steadily over the last 40 years, making it a unique proposition for businesses everywhere. And now it’s going cashless. In a recent study, Visa found that 70% of Malaysians are in favor of the country ditching cash in exchange for digital payments.

Financial incentives are being offered for lower-income individuals to sign up for digital wallets, important in attracting some of the 19% of Malaysians without access to a bank account. A wave of companies are vying for market share in the lucrative digital wallet space. 40% of the population use them while online banking accounts for 50% of Adyen’s volume in the market. Credit card payments are less prevalent, with penetration of only 20%.

In 2020, Adyen launched local acquiring in Malaysia to help businesses achieve higher authorisation rates, better customer experience and deeper data insights.